Research

Dairy crucial for children’s health

By Samantha Tennent

A World Health Organisation study shows the importance dairy products play in the growth and development of children.

In 2019, the global burden of severe acute malnutrition of children was estimated to affect 14.3 million children between six months and five years of age, and estimates a million children die with severe acute malnutrition each year. But these deaths can be prevented through the administration of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF).

With trial work exploring alternative protein sources to reduce costs of

RUTF, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a joint statement confirming at least 50% of the proteins in

RUTF should come from dairy products.

Experts continually stress that the essential amino acid (EAA) content of animal-based proteins, like dairy, contribute to their superior quality compared with plant-based proteins.

“We welcome the WHO’s decision to prioritise dairy-based recipes as an effective way to treat and reduce acute malnutrition in children,” deputy chairperson of the Standing Committee

Nutrition and Health, International Dairy

Federation and senior nutrition scientist at Dairy UK Erica Hocking says.

“This reflects the strong and robust data which supports the benefits of milk proteins for the growth and development of children.”

The statement came from the WHO jointly with the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations System

Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSSCN) and the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

They confirmed the available evidence was not enough to justify a change in the current recommendation that RUTF should have at least 50% of protein coming from dairy.

Their report states the efficacy outcomes favour the standard RUTF, while there is no robust data from producers to demonstrate that reducing the dairy content will reduce the costs and resource requirements of RUTF.

Therefore the group did not recommend the use of the reduced/ no dairy formulations, but noted the potential of these alternative formulations if more evidence of efficacy and cost-effectiveness is generated.

First developed in 1996, RUTF are soft or crushable foods that can be consumed easily by children from the age of six months without adding water. Before their development, the only treatment options available required preparation and administration by qualified health workers and was only used in hospitals.

But with RUTF, most children aged six months or older with severe acute malnutrition can be safely treated in their communities, without requiring admission to a health facility or a therapeutic feeding centre. Successful treatment involves timely detection of severe acute malnutrition in the community, quick assessment of appetite and treating those without medical complications with RUTF, combined with basic orally-administered medication to treat infections.

Milk is considered the most expensive ingredient in standard RUTF. The suggestion is to replace dairy with alternative sources of protein to significantly reduce the costs while maintaining the nutritional composition of RUTF recommended. If produced locally at a lower cost, the alternative formulations may improve the scalability of treatment.

Although reducing the cost of RUTF would increase access to treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition, more evidence is needed to support alternatives.

The link between dairy consumption and child health is well known.

Dairy is a nutrient-rich package that contains not only high-quality protein, but also the essential nutrients calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iodine and vitamins B2 and B12, which are all important nutrients for child development.

The proteins found in dairy are in many ways superior to plant proteins, providing a complete source of high-quality protein and better digestibility.

WHO’s determination is another example of the numerous scientists, nutritionists and expert bodies that continue to recognise the essential role that dairy provides in nourishing the world, particularly children and vulnerable populations.

Dairy is an irreplaceable component of the food system, and WHO again determined that it must continue to be the protein of choice in lifesaving malnutrition interventions. n

Deputy chairperson of the Standing Committee Nutrition and Health, International Dairy Federation Erica Hocking says they welcome the World Health Organisation’s decision to use dairy products to combat malnutrition.

Whey to go

Global dairy industry research innovator and leader Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded Massey University’s most prestigious honorary award, the Massey Medal.

The award is in recognition of his outstanding and ongoing contribution to Massey University and the New Zealand food sector in multiple leadership, advisory and governance roles.

In his citation at the College of Sciences’ graduation ceremony, Professor Jeremy Hill said Marshall has had a profound impact and has “made a real difference to not only Massey University and the national food sector, but to NZ and the global food sector”.

“Amongst wide-ranging achievements, his work laid the foundation for waste and environmental performance of dairy factories and the development of NZ milk protein products, an industry now worth billions of dollars,” Hill said.

“Much of this is chronicled in Whey to go: Whey Protein Concentrate: A New Zealand Success Story, a story Dr Marshall contributed to as both a co-author and major contributor to innovations covered within it.”

Marshall says he began studying science because he was good at maths and chemistry at school. He completed a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Canterbury in 1963 and joined the staff of the NZ Dairy Research Institute, which was undergoing a major expansion.

He attended the University of Birmingham where in 1964 he gained a Masters in Biological Engineering for a thesis on the production of yeast grown on whey using continuous culture,” he said.

Marshall’s work on the standardisation of milk powders and international science-based advocacy in the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and Codex is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in annual export receipts. He also undertook a PhD at Massey to research the continuous fermentation of whey to produce lactic acid as a means of waste disposal, which in turn could be used to acidify milk to produce casein.

Over many decades, he maintained a strong and wide-ranging commitment to Massey.

As corporate technical and R&D manager for the NZ Dairy Board and chief executive of the NZ Dairy Research Institute (NZDRI), he was ultimately responsible for the hugely successful NZ Dairy Industry Graduate Training Programme (DIGTP) partnership between Massey and the dairy industry.

Marshall says his work on whey protein concentrate in the mid-60s and early 70s is among many career highlights. Encouraging cleaner dairy factory waste disposal has also been a strong feature of his work.

“During the 50s, it was common practice to dispose of whey into streams “because it gave you big eels. But that had to stop,” Marshall recalls.

“There’s still work to be done on the environmental [improvements] and there’s still work to be done on developing new products.

“I tried to do the best I could with what I had in front of me.” n

Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded the Massey Medal for his outstanding and ongoing contribution to Massey University and the New Zealand food sector. Kevin Marshall with his wife Julie (third from left), and daughters (from left) Nikki Taylor, Alana Wilson, Kerry Marshall and Debbi Hurley.

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