Calcium Fortification Made Easy

One of the fundamentals of nutrition is that calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. The mineral also plays a key role in blood clotting, regulates the passage of fluid through cell membranes, regulates nerve impulses and muscle contractions, can have a positive effect on blood pressure, and, when ingested with dairy, has been shown to have a weight-control effect.

Despite calciums vital role in good health, the body does not produce it, so calcium must be obtained through food or dietary supplements. It can be found naturally in dairy, green leafy vegetables and almonds, yet many people still fall short of the recommended daily intake levels. Foods and beverages fortified with calcium, notes Albion Human Nutrition, can help consumers meet their calcium needs.

In the most-recent USDA surveys, calcium was seen to be lacking in a great portion of the populace, especially in the diets of those who need it most, like children and adolescents, as well as women of all ages, says Max R. Motyka, M.S., R.Ph., director, sales & marketing. Calci-K, a calcium potassium phosphate-citrate complex, was developed to provide a calcium ingredient that is totally dispersed in dairy products, especially milk, and has great bioavailability.

Company-commissioned research on the absorbability of Calci-K found that, taken alone, the ingredient was absorbed at approximately 76% of the efficiency of the same amount of calcium ingested as milk. When Calci-K was co-ingested with milk, it was absorbed as efficiently as the milks naturally occurring calcium, thus doubling the amount of calcium absorbed. This finding was unusual, as food typically reduces the absorbability of an added ingredient.

Further, Motyka notes, Calci-K is virtually tasteless. You dont even know its there. And it not only provides calcium, but also a substantial amount of phosphorus and potassium. So it is really a three-mineral fortificant in one.

Calci-K forms a colloidal dispersion when added to solutions with a pH between 3.5 and 8.0, and no additional stabilizers are needed to keep the ingredient in solution. Calci-K has also demonstrated stability in UHT processes. It is best suited for milk fortification, but works in a variety of dairy products, like butter, as well as soy-based products, beverages, infant foods, powdered dairy products and other pH-neutral foods.

Adding 27 grams of Calci-K to a gallon of water produces a water providing 300 mg of calcium per 8-oz. serving, without any palpable change in taste, odor, color or consistency, Motyka says.

Albion Human Nutrition

100 Maple Park Blvd., Suite 110

St. Clair Shores, MI 48081

Phone: 800/222-0733

Website: albionminerals.com