Health professionals are just one of the sources for consumer information on the benefits of protein. Fitness, nutrition and culinary influencers promoting a high-protein diet have a large impact on the lifestyle decisions of their loyal followers, and as the influencers’ followers amass, so does the need for protein fortified products. U.S. dairy proteins have the ability to boost high-quality protein in products to help consumers meet the recommended 20 to 30 grams at each meal.

Foods that are commonly consumed in the U.S. during lunch and dinner naturally contain higher protein. However, there’s opportunity to increase the presence of protein during the early morning hours.

Breakfast has maintained its status as a trend and focus area for the food and beverage industry. New product varieties, prepping techniques and flavors have been popping up in both traditional and innovative breakfast items. This presents an opportunity for formulators to bring high-protein versions of the breakfast items consumers are experimenting with to market.  

Add Protein to Trendy Breakfast Items

What better product to link to breakfast than milk? Protein ingredients derived from milk are high in protein, are clean label friendly and have a range of functional benefits in finished products: solubility, flavor enhancement, heat stability, gelling, foaming and emulsification. The versatility of dairy protein ingredients allows them to be formulated into a variety of product options, such as:

• Pancake mix with whey protein
• High-protein yogurt
• Strawberry sunrise waffle
• Savory kimchee-se pancake
• Portable protein-packed breakfast bites

All of the above formulations contain two dairy proteins that are naturally derived from milk — casein and whey proteins. Milk protein contains 80% casein and 20% whey proteins. Ingredients made from milk protein have the same protein ratio found in milk, and whey protein ingredients contain only the whey portion.

Formulating with U.S. Dairy Proteins            

Whey protein ingredients include whey protein concentrates (WPC), which range in protein from 34% to 89% protein, and whey protein isolates (WPI), which have a minimum of 90%. Milk protein ingredients include milk protein concentrates (MPC) and isolates (MPI) with similar ranges in protein as whey protein ingredients. The U.S. dairy proteins with protein levels 80% and higher are widely used to increase the protein level in foods.

Download this technical report for more information on formulating with dairy proteins and their characteristics.

The Case for Whey and Milk Proteins

Whey and milk proteins are perfect for increasing protein levels in breakfast foods because they are a high quality, complete source of essential and non-essential amino acids. Whey proteins notably stand out as one of the best sources of branched chain amino acids, including leucine, which stimulates muscle protein synthesis more so than other protein alternatives.