Research has unveiled strong prospects for dairy products with enhanced CLA, says Dr. John Kennelly.
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Dr. John Kennelly
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With continued research and development progress, CLA shows excellent promise to become a valuable marketing feature of dairy products in the future, says Dr. John Kennelly, a professor of dairy cattle nutrition and metabolism and Dean of the University of Alberta Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics.
"CLA has shown significant health promoting properties," says Kennelly, leader of the CLA Network's dairy production and development module. "In the dairy module, our role is to generate knowledge to support the commercial potential of CLA for dairy products. As this progress is married with progress on the human health front, we can take great steps forward to benefit both the dairy industry and consumers of dairy products."
Kennelly presented an overview of CLA Network dairy module progress at the CLA Summit 2007 conference.
Among the highlights, he outlined how, at the production level, researchers have conducted several studies to provide insight into the biology of milk synthesis. This has identified several regulatory factors that influence the amount and type of CLA in milk.
"We've focused a lot on what happens in the rumen and now we're extending that to the small intestine and mammary gland," says Kennelly. "We've made great strides in developing production strategies that will support specific, consistent CLA levels to provide a basis for product development opportunities. This includes opportunities for products with enhanced levels of natural CLA."
In dairy animals, the majority of CLA appears to be produced in the mammary gland, notes Kennelly. In conjunction with partners, researchers in the CLA Network have pursued fundamental research to better understand the conditions that cause enzymes in the mammary gland to make best use of the feed-derived material – called substrate – that's available for CLA synthesis. "This can further help us in designing diets that optimize CLA production," he says.
Several studies have also focused on dietary factors that influence CLA in milk, says Kennelly. This research has included initiatives to identify new feed ingredients and to develop new feeding strategies to affect CLA increases in milk. One of the most simple and effective strategies identified is to supplement dairy animal diets with plant oil or seed that is high in linoleic acid.
"Already, we have shown that by using practical dairy feeding strategies it is possible to increase the concentration of CLA in bovine milk by five times or more," says Kennelly. Researchers are currently working with partners on a grazing experiment, to take a closer look at why grazed animals produce higher levels of CLA. "A theory we're exploring is that different bacterial populations present in a grazing situation may have some effect."
Along with attaining high levels of CLA in milk, researchers have worked on strategies to minimize the amount of substrate required to reach those high levels. "This will help reduce costs associated with the substrate," says Kennelly. "It will also minimize any detrimental effects of increased substrate on overall digestion in the rumen."
At the level of product development, dairy module researchers have worked on several fronts with industry partners to bring new products to the market that feature enhanced natural CLA levels. This effort involves work with Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, to prepare regulatory pathways for CLA-enriched products as they advance further toward commercialization stages.
A key accomplishment for module researchers has been to establish a base level of CLA in the milk of dairy cattle at the University of Alberta's Dairy Research and Technology Centre. They are using this milk for a variety of research purposes, including to generate products such as butter oil, for use in experiments to study the health benefits of naturally-produced CLA.
The work is also addressing the need to standardize and optimize these CLA-enhanced products for use in future human health trials, notes Kennelly. "We've determined the extent of natural variation in CLA levels in dairy products. This will help us to ensure consistency of those levels."
Reprintable with credit. Individual articles in the Report on CLA Summit 2007 are available for reprint, with acknowledgement of the source: The CLA Network. For broader reprint requests or reprint assistance contact the CLA Network at CLAnetwork@gov.ab.ca.
