Vitalus, a supplier of customized dairy ingredients to the food, beverage and nutraceutical industries, has developed a proprietary technology to produce a prebiotic from milk permeate, a milk by-product.
This prebiotic can be used in infant formula and other foods, including dairy products and beverages, fruit drinks, and fruit preparations, to enhance their nutritional characteristics.
The company says commercializing the new ingredient will help the dairy industry transform a currently unused by-product into a value-added functional food product.
The investment comes from the Growing Forward 2 AgriInnovation Program, a five-year initiative.
Vitalus, based in British Columbia, supplies dairy ingredients around the world, and sources milk from Canadian farms where the use of natural or synthetic bovine growth hormones is not permitted.
The company’s other products include whey concentrate, whey isolate, milk protein concentrates, pasteurized cream and whipping cream.