SOLMILK

Objective:

The main objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive solution aimed at giving response to the need for personalized diet of people, especially children, with allergy to cow’s milk proteins. This solution includes the development of specific food ingredients with reduced allergenicity, or more tolerable products for sensitive population, as well as the technologies and processes for obtaining them, and the development of rapid monitoring and control tools to test the allergenic potential of developed products.

Specific objectives:

To achieve the main objective, the following partial scientific-technical goals will be addressed:

• Design and development of at least one new hypoallergenic infant formula (prototype), alternative to current hydrolyzed formulas, from new sources of protein, including both its formulation and its correct characterization.
• Development of new protein hydrolysates and new ingredients from unused fractions (e.g. whey), with new features.
• Development of new tools for assessing and monitoring food safety by the detection of milk and soy protein, in order to validate the safety of developed food matrices and providing new tools for monitoring and decision-making regarding the management of allergens in the global food industry.
• In vitro validation of the safety and tolerability of the developed products.
• Scaling-up (pre-industrial level) and clinical validation of the safety and tolerance of developed prototypes. Improve production processes, seeking flexibility to adapt to changes in demand. Optimization of production resources.
• Implement a test market for products developed and launched new products with high added value.

Thus, the SOLMILK project will promote the generation of innovative products for the dairy food industry, with high added value in the market and with excellent organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. It will also allow to drive new applications for novel technologies and strategies studied, which will be of great importance for the future incorporation of these technologies in the food industry. This project will also promote the use of highly reliable monitoring tools adapted to a wide range of food matrices. In the end, this project will contribute with the food industry (in particular, the dairy sector) and the biotechnology sector, to meet a growing demand of society, through the future incorporation of new specific products, with greater nutritional and sensorial quality, and certainly safe for a particularly sensitive population.