In 2012 our founders were challenged by Dr. Bruce German, UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology, to not just focus on a new way to heat-treat human milk but also focus on protein retention.
Why is this so important? Getting the bad stuff out–such as bacteria, viruses, molds, and spores–is critical to help reduce premature infant’s risk of NEC, morbidity, mortality, and sepsis. But, this cannot be done at the risk of denaturing key proteins, immune factors, and HMOs.
“We knew we needed to process the milk in a way that was different from traditional methods, like pasteurization,” explained Glenn Snow, Co-Founder, CEO, and inventor of the Gentle-UHT processing method. “In a lot of ways we were heads-down and focused on getting harmful bacteria such as Bacillus cereus out, but Dr. German refocused us to find a balance, keeping protein retention as high as possible.”
Bacillus cereus (Bc) is a human pathogen commonly found in soil, food, and is present in approximately 14% of breast milk. Healthy adults and newborns are typically able to fight this bacteria, but premature infants lack the sufficient immune system, leaving them vulnerable.
Bc is known for activating Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating intestinal disease. Unfortunately, 25 to 50% of the babies who get NEC will die, and survivors often face life-long health challenges.
Finding a Solution
Human milk processing dates back to the 1980s through the early 2000s. Techniques such as Holder Pasteurization or batch pasteurization were developed where human milk is processed at 145 degrees for 30 minutes.
“In our testing, we found that ‘cooking’ the milk for 30 minutes results in a high denaturing of proteins, a key part of human milk that premature infants need for healthy growth,” explains Snow, “Upwards of 30% of key glycoproteins and immune factors are removed while also not removing or inactivating Bc.”
“Another downside to pasteurization is that it doesn’t kill all the potentially harmful bacteria that premature infants are susceptible to. It acts as a shelf-extension technology, still requiring the pasteurized breast milk to be frozen.”
To solve these problems, we needed to rethink human milk processing from the ground up.
Gentle-UHT is an inline process where indirect heat is applied to the milk. Unlike other processing methods, steam is not shot into the milk and then pulled back out using a vacuum chamber. This significantly reduces the denaturing effect on the proteins.
“It’s about keeping the good stuff in and leaving the bad stuff out. That’s what Gentle-UHT allows us to do,” explained Snow. “It’s really exciting to look back and see how we stepped up to Dr. German’s challenge, balancing the complex needs of premature infants.”
