FrieslandCampina gets closer to 2’-FL approval for use in infant formula in China

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The company’s Aequival 2’-FL is a human milk oligosaccharide ingredient that supports infants’ microbiome health.

Photo © AdobeStock.com/ucchie79

Photo © AdobeStock.com/ucchie79

The branded ingredient Aequival 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL) has been approved by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) for use in China’s early-life nutrition market. MARA’s approval of this production strain is the first step toward making Aequival, an ingredient from FrieslandCampina Ingredients (Amersfoort, the Netherlands), eligible for use in infant formula as a health-promoting ingredient. The next step is for the ingredient to be approved as a “final nutrition fortifier.”

As a human milk oligosaccharide, Aequival 2’-FL acts as a prebiotic ingredient that supports infants’ microbiome health. Notably, FrieslandCampina’s galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) ingredient is also approved in China. In a press release, the company said this means that “FrieslandCampina Ingredients will soon become the only provider of both human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) in China.”

Formulators in China can combine both of these ingredients. “This united proposition is highly appealing to brand owners in the early-life nutrition sector thanks to the complementary benefits the two types of oligosaccharide may offer when combined,” the firm’s press release states. This includes stimulating beneficial Bifidobacterium longum levels in a species-specific manner.

“This is great news both for us and for our Chinese customers—current and future,” added Cindy Zhao, general manager, FrieslandCampina Ingredients China. “The Chinese market has very specific circumstances that a combined GOS and HMO offering is the ideal response to. Here, health benefits are a significant priority for people selecting an infant milk formula: approximately 90% of parents say they are looking for them. For instance, gut health is a priority for 80% of parents of young children, and emerging scientific research is shedding a light on the gut health benefits that prebiotics like GOS and HMOs may have.”

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