Consumers are becoming increasingly nutrition-focused, seeking out foods that provide specific health benefits when shopping at the supermarket. They’re demanding more nutrition out of each bite while asking farmers and the food industry to keep their food fresh and flavourful.
Enriched foods are produced by adding a specific nutrient or nutrients to a food-producing animal’s diet, resulting in a naturally nutrient-enhanced consumer product.
For example, docosahexaenoic acid- (DHA) rich algae can be mixed into the traditional diet of a dairy cow, providing the animal with this essential fatty acid for improved performance and health as well as the production of DHA-enriched milk for human health benefits.
The producer can capture a higher return on investment as a result of increasing consumer demand for value-added products, such as DHA-enriched milk products.
Enriching a dairy cow’s diet with algae naturally incorporates DHA into the milk, creating a more nutrient-rich product that is without off flavours or odours. The enriched milk does not require any additives or preservatives and delivers a consistent amount of DHA in each serving.
DHA-enriched milk has all of the benefits of conventional milk, plus the following additional benefits:
- DHA is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and improved cognitive function.
- DHA is necessary for healthy brain and eye development and may improve learning behaviour.
- Naturally enriching the dairy cow’s diet with plant-based DHA produces a fresh, traditional milk that is without off-flavours and free of any unnecessary additives.
- Lowering the omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio may reduce inflammatory response in the body.
- Plant-based DHA is consistent, safe, traceable and non-GMO.
- DHA has a healthier fat content.
DHA has been extensively studied for its role in human health. It has been shown to support healthy brain and eye development in children and reduce the risk of both cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline in older age.
However, this essential omega-3 fatty acid cannot be efficiently produced within the body; it must be consumed through diet.
DHA is delivered to infants via their mothers during pregnancy, then through breast milk or enriched formula. After this life stage, there is often a nutritional gap, as most children and adults regularly consume significantly less than the daily amount of DHA recommended by experts.
Dietary sources of DHA, such as salmon and mackerel, are not commonly found on the plates of Canadian consumers, which leads to less-than-optimal levels of DHA intake.
The opportunity exists for food producers to fill this nutritional gap with DHA-enriched dairy, created naturally by simply increasing the DHA in dairy cattle diets. Producers have the opportunity to create a healthier food product for consumers by improving the nutrition of the animal.
“Awareness is growing amongst Canadian consumers on the importance of omega-3 fatty acids,” says Becky Timmons, global technical director of Alltech Algae. “They are learning that DHA is essential to their health, but do they know where to find it?
“By feeding animals a diet rich in DHA, we can shift the omega-6-to-omega-3 ratio towards disease prevention levels through consumption of whole foods instead of supplements or artificially fortified foods.”
Fish oil supplements or fatty fish, like salmon, are the most common dietary sources of DHA omega-3. Fish meal and fish oil fed to livestock ensure a healthier animal and a healthier final product for the consumer.
However, due to increasingly limited availability, sustainability issues, contamination risks, inconsistency and the rising price of fish meal and oil, farmers are searching for alternatives.
Algae form the base of the aquatic food chain. They feed crustaceans, which are consumed by the fatty fish that are later processed to make fish meal and fish oil for animal feed and human nutritional supplements due to their high tissue DHA content from the algae in their diet.
By substituting algae, the base of the marine food chain, as a natural source of DHA in a cow’s diet, dairy producers have the opportunity to return this essential fatty acid to the diet for the benefit of the animal and consumer.
Feeding algae to dairy cows enables producers to create a new generation of functional foods enriched with traceable and sustainable DHA omega-3 fatty acids.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics defines a functional food as a food that provides additional health benefits that may reduce disease risk or promote good health.
In short, functional foods provide added value to the consumer, offering more health benefits in each bite. 
References omitted but are available upon request. Click here to email an editor.
Nikki Putnam is a registered dietitian nutritionist with Alltech.
