Ingredients of the future

At Agropur we’re strong believers in dairy’s tremendous potential to improve the world. And we’re equally convinced of the dairy industry’s bright future. That’s why we make ongoing investments in research and development.

To give one example, an outstanding 2017 research project on glycomacropeptides (GMP) earned us the prestigious Breakthrough Award for Dairy Ingredient Innovation from the American Dairy Products Institute and Dairy Foods Magazine.

What is GMP? Glycomacropeptides are peptide fractions of one of the milk proteins, kappa-casein, released in whey during the cheesemaking process. Our research successfully produced a GMP isolate of unprecedented purity. While purity levels in the industry have historically hovered around 60%, Agropur can now deliver a 95% pure product.

GMP has a wide variety of applications. Currently, it is used primarily to help meet the nutritional needs of children with phenylketonuria (PKU), a hereditary disease that prevents the body from assimilating the amino acid phenylalanine. The resulting accumulations in the body can reach toxic levels and impair normal brain development in children.

Another application is in dentistry, where GMP can be used to prevent cavities and plaque formation. This makes GMP an ideal ingredient in oral hygiene products like toothpaste and mouthwash.

Other examples of Agropur innovation in action include specialized products like Alpha-lactalbumin isolates, used to produce infant formula that more closely resembles breast milk, and other specialized lactose derivatives.

And these applications are but a few examples of the myriad uses of dairy.

Who knows what other exciting innovations the future holds!