NutriOne aims to add value to dairy with canola

The technology allows for the shelf life extension of oil-based products, thereby offering up the potential for food manufacturers to use value-added lipids in their products.

NutriOne foresees application of this technology to enhance the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid content of foods through the use of canola oil.

The firm claims the technology increases the shelf life of such oil-based foods by 50 percent, and sees the diary industry as the main client for such a process.

"We think the dairy industry has a saturated fat problem," NutriOne CEO Ian Morrice told NutraIngredients-USA.

"We could replace these fats with polyunsaturated fats."

Enhancing products with canola oil would be done so as to garner health claims on labels.

Canola oil has less omega-3 or omega-6 than flaxseed, according to Morrice, but is more stable.

The United States Food & Drug Administration recently approved a qualified health claim on canola oil's potential to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, owing to its unsaturated fat content.

Canola oil is said to be high in healthy unsaturated fats (93 percent) such as ALA (alpha-linoleic acid), free of cholesterol and trans fat, and has the lowest saturated fat (7 percent) of any common edible oil.

"The patent basically uses a natural process to extend the shelf life of the oil, which is then spun off into various applications," said Morrice.

The process allow for the use of a mid-range canola oil in foods, according to Morrice – meaning it has higher nutritional value and a lower oleic acid content.

The new technology will be developed for adding omega-3 (derived from canola oil) to milk and ice cream.

"This intellectual property is primarily focused on the exploding functional food industry with sales growing from $80bn globally in 2005 to $95bn (estimate) in 2006," said Morrice.

Morrice said NutriOne is in talks with various companies for use of the technology, but would not provide further details.