FrieslandCampina swaps heat pasteurization for UV-C in whey protein production

What Happened

FrieslandCampina patented a process using Lyras UV-C sterilization technology to produce serum protein concentrate for infant formula, cutting energy use versus thermal pasteurization while better preserving heat-sensitive bioactives like immunoglobulins and lactoferrin.

Why It Matters

Heat-sensitive bioactives like immunoglobulins and lactoferrin are exactly what infant formula manufacturers most want to preserve and exactly what thermal pasteurization damages — a UV-C route that cuts energy use while protecting them addresses both the cost and quality side at once.

Less energy, better-preserved bioactives — the kind of win that spreads quietly across an industry.

FET's Takeaway

This is the kind of process substitution — same regulatory category, better preservation, lower energy cost — that tends to spread quietly across an industry once one major dairy processor proves it out at scale.