Barriers and opportunities in dairy reformulation

Consumers associate dairy foods with being natural and healthy¹​​ but in processed dairy categories such as flavored yogurt, beverages and processed cheese, there’s greater potential for innovating through formulations to improve nutritional value.

But every market is different when it comes to requirements and recommendations for caloric content, fat, sugar and salt in foods.

In the European Union, reformulating processed dairy products to reduce salt, sugar, or fat content presents several challenges.

“There are technological barriers, especially in cheese production, as salt is integral to the traditional cheese-making process, ensuring food safety and proper texture,” said the European Dairy Association’s Alexander Roth.

“Lowering salt levels can result in cheeses that cannot be properly sliced or grated, complicating both consumer and industrial use. Similarly, unlike highly-processed foods where the levels of trans fatty acids (TFAs) can be reformulated, naturally occurring ruminant TFAs in milk fat cannot be altered as they are an integral part of milk.

“Secondly, modifying the natural composition of dairy products affects their taste and texture. For instance, reducing fat can alter the creamy mouthfeel of dairy products, while reducing sugar might affect the sweetness and overall flavour profile, leading to decreased consumer acceptance. Thus, reformulating dairy products to reduce these components involves navigating technological, sensory, nutritional, and regulatory challenges while considering consumer acceptance.”

Regulation in the EU has significantly influenced reformulation activity in the dairy sector, Roth added. As of 2016, reformulation initiatives in the EU focus heavily on reducing salt (across 23 countries), trans fat (20 countries), total fat (20 countries), saturated fat (18 countries), and added sugar (20 countries).

 “The EU legal framework, particularly Regulation 1234/2007, establishes specific standards for the nutritional composition and protected designations of milk and milk products,” Roth said.

“These regulations ensure that any changes to the traditional production processes, such as reducing salt, sugar, or fat content, do not compromise the authenticity and quality of dairy products.

“The need to comply with these regulations has led the dairy industry to carefully balance consumer demands for different dairy options with the necessity to maintain product quality and safety.”

Besides regulatory compliance, consumer demand is the key driver in reformulation activity, the EDA spokesperson added. “There is a continuous push to innovate and develop dairy products that meet the evolving preferences of consumers.

“The broad range of existing low-fat dairy products, such as semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, demonstrates the industry's responsiveness to these demands, offering consumers options that align with their desire without sacrificing the nutritional benefits of dairy.

So which dairy product categories have been successfully improved in terms of nutritional value through reformulation?

According to Roth, different types of fat-reduced milk and yogurt have stood the test of time whilst giving consumers choice without compromising on nutritional value. “For decades, products such as whole, semi-skimmed, and skimmed milk have been available, allowing consumers to choose lower-fat alternatives,” he explained. “Similarly, low-fat varieties exist across all dairy product categories, including yogurt, fermented milk, cheese, cream, and butter, aligning with consumer demand.”

But some dairy products remain challenging to reformulate - especially certain cheeses and quality-labelled products - due to regulatory, technological, and consumer acceptance issues.

“Defined cheeses and products with quality logos are subject to strict regulations that limit the extent of possible reformulation,” Roth said. “For example, reducing salt in cheese is particularly difficult because salt is crucial for preserving the cheese, inhibiting the growth of pathogens, and ensuring proper texture and flavour. Lowering the fat or sodium content in these products often requires the use of additional ingredients and additives to maintain texture and flavour, which may not meet consumer expectations.”

Over in the UK, with the introduction of regulations to restrict the promotion and advertising of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS), manufacturers have been innovating to develop new products that are non-HFSS.

Recent research from the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) estimates that 44% of food companies have reformulated their products or undertaken new product development in response to the HFSS promotional restrictions in England. However, the report also highlights that 13% of companies surveyed said that HFSS legislation has been a barrier to reformulation.

The Food and Drink Federation told us reformulation can also be influenced by regulations specifying certain criteria in order to make nutrition or health claims: for example, to say ‘reduced sugar’ on packaging, the product must be at least 30% less sugar compared to similar products on the market.

“Nutrition and health claims are very useful tools in communicating a healthier option to consumers,” a spokesperson for the trade body said. “However, we believe we could go further to encourage consumers to make healthier product choices, for example by industry and government working in partnership to promote positive and practical messaging about healthier choices in public health campaigns.”

For manufacturers, reformulation projects present a range of challenges, from the significant time and investment required, through to regulatory requirements to ensure the product complies with composition standards, nutritional claims and labelling requirements.

“For example, salt, fat and sugar have different technical functions in recipes. Salt acts as a preservative to control moisture and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, fat is important for mouthfeel and flavour, while sugar plays a vital role in sweetness, texture and fermentation – especially in yogurt and ice cream.”

Some dairy products also have set minimum requirements to contend with; for example, many traditional hard cheeses are protected by designated origin or geographical indication, with some of these stipulating the minimum amount of milk fat that must be in the product, we were told.

As for drivers of reformulation activity, the UK’s sugar reduction program​ has driven reformulation in and seen companies reduce the sugar content of pre-packed milk-based beverages by nearly 30% over three years, and by 13.5% for yogurts and fromage fraise over five years, the FDF said.

“As a competitive industry, manufacturers have been quick to respond to the growing demand for healthier dairy products, as well as to support the government’s voluntary reformulation targets on salt, sugar and calorie reduction,” a spokesperson for the trade organization told us.

“According to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, between 2015 and 2020 there were large reductions in sugar across dairy products. This includes a 13.5% reduction for yogurts and fromage frais, and a 7.2% reduction for the ice cream, lollies and sorbets.

“However, many consumers still want the ability to choose a full-fat option, especially in premium products where quality, taste and texture are key selling points.”

In terms of salt, the official report on the food industry’s progress towards meeting the 2017 salt targets found that both cheese and butter had met their average salt target, Dairy UK told us.

“Despite our success as an industry, challenges to reformulation do remain,” a spokesperson said. “For example, salt performs an essential role which goes beyond taste, especially in cheese: it inhibits the growth of unwanted organisms, controls the breakdown of protein for texture and flavour development, and develops cheese characteristics such as colour and crust. The very viability of our great British cheeses depends on using the correct amount of salt during food production and there are hard limits to what can be done to reformulate any further.

“When it comes to sugar reduction, a great amount of work has been carried out to achieve the reductions outlined above but the sector is reaching the limit of what is possible with the technology currently available. Another challenge is a consumer shift towards “natural” products with no additives – which further limits manufacturer options for sugar reduction.

“Dairy companies have made significant efforts to reformulate their products in recent years and will continue to do so where technically possible and where this poses no risk to food quality and safety.”