Bovine colostrum has evolved to be a “super nutrient” with a high concentration of bioactive factors and essential nutrients. Production of colostrum powder should thus be as gentle as possible to maintain the bioactivity. Research and studies on the technical details in the production of bovine colostrum powder is as important as research on the chemical structure of the commodity. Both factors are important in order to develop the optimal product to be used in research on therapeutic effects in clinical trials.
Bovine colostrum surplus
Bovine colostrum is the first milk produced by cows to give to their newborn calf. The calf needs about 5 liters of colostrum to secure its immunity and functionality of the gut. The cow produces 10-15 liters of colostrum, leaving 5-10 liters in surplus that can be collected by the farmer and used for other purposes. We only use such surplus colostrum collected from healthy dairy cows in our products. The colostrum in our products comes from Holstein-Friesian cows in Denmark. The company is responsible for the full production line and do not use subcontractors or purchasing product. Our products consists of pure Danish intact bovine colostrum.
Keep the milk matrix intact
Colostrum is the optimal first nutrition for neonates and it contains all the nutrients necessary to give the newborn the best possible start on life. It is a product optimized by nature to be a "super nutrient" rich in bioactive factors and nutrients and with a complex milk matrix that is important for the bioactivity and effect of most of the components in the fluid. Several studies have reported that intact bovine colostrum provides better effects when digested orally as diet supplement compared to synthetic products, altered colostrum products, heavily processed colostrum, and like.
Based on these facts, our most important focus when working with colostrum is to keep the production process as simple and gentle as possible to protect and preserve all the bioactive factors and nutrients in the colostrum. This is important, as the beneficial effects from bovine colostrum seems highly dependent on the presence of an intact milk matrix inclusive fat. During the production, we do not remove or add anything to or from the colostrum during the production process, except water during the spray drying. We have developed a technology that make it possible to maintain the intact milk matrix in our colostrum powder.
On the dairy farm
The process begins with the dairy farmer collecting surplus colostrum from healthy dairy cows and puts it directly in 10-liter buckets delivered sterile from the company. The buckets with colostrum are placed in a deep freezer at the farm after the dairy farmer have performed the first quality check of the collection.
• First quality check is visual and performed by the dairy farmer directly after collection to secure the general quality of the colostrum.
Collection and transport of colostrum on dairy farms
The company empty the deep freezer at the dairy farmer and transport the colostrum back to the company fabric. Before the transportation, the second quality check is performed on the general cleanness of the collected colostrum.
• Second quality check is a visual check on the general cleanness of the colostrum.
The transportation of the colostrum from the dairy farm to the company is completed in the company’s vans with documented temperature during the transport. At the company, the colostrum is stored frozen in our freezing facilities, directly beside our dairy facilities.
In the freezing facility
When the buckets is placed in our freezing facilities the third quality test of the colostrum is performed. Each bucket is tested separately and all buckets are marked to defend the traceability. First, the colostrum are inspected visually to secure that no foreign matter is present, such as hay straws or like. If any foreign matter is present the whole content of the bucket is discarded. Afterwards, each bucket is tested for the quality of their contents.
• Third quality test is performed on each bucket with collected colostrum and includes a test for:
o Visual inspection for foreign matters
o Bacteriological contamination
o Antibiotic residues
o IgG-concentration
If any bacteria or antibiotic residues is detected, all colostrum in the specific bucket is discarded. The test for IgG-concentration is used as a measure of the quality and amount of bioactivity in the colostrum. A strong positive correlation exists between IgG-concentration and other bioactive components in unpasteurized bovine colostrum. The higher the IgG-concentration, the higher the quality of the colostrum. After the quality tests, the remaining colostrum is stored in the freezer until it is used for production. The program is approved by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration as quality control and sampling by the authorities is fulfilled with the results published subsequently.
Production of bovine colostrum powder
Before the production of bovine colostrum powder, the collected colostrum from the freezing facility is lumped into one batch in order to secure homogeneity in the final product. The production process consist of three steps conducted in a sterile environment:
1. Thawing and crushing of the frozen colostrum
2. Pasteurization of the liquid colostrum
3. Low-temperature spray drying
It is important to keep the temperature and time as low as possible, in order to maintain as much bioactivity as possible. We have worked with production of bovine colostrum products for more than 25 years, and have developed a specialized extra gentle method to pasteurize and spray dry the colostrum in order to maintain an intact milk matrix in the colostrum. The whole process from frozen colostrum to the final powder is carried out quickly, and the temperature is constantly kept very low, except during the pasteurization where the temperature meets official criteria.
The colostrum powder is the final product, but before packaging, the fourth quality check is performed to test and secure the quality of the powder. Powder that does not pass this quality check is discarded.
• Fourth quality test is performed to secure the quality of the powder an includes a test for:
o Solubility of powder and flow availability
o Organoleptic test for flavor, color and smell
o Microbial load
o Antibiotic residues
o IgG-content
Finally, the colostrum powder is packed into sachets or 250g tubs in a protected atmosphere to secure the durability of the product. The product is now ready for the web shop, drugstores or hospitals.
We currently provide bovine colostrum powder to the clinical trials in the projects NEOCOL and NEOMUNE.
Quality management system
Our quality management system ensures quality and food safety in all phases from product development to production, analysis and sales. The products from Biodane Pharma A/S are produced in compliance with European Food Regulation and Hygienic Standards (HACCP, ISO 22000).Our quality system strictly demands extra measures to be taken for food safety and traceability throughout the production line for the handling of raw materials, the production and the packaging. We thus have control with every single step in the production line, from the milking of the cows on the farms to the product is ready for sale. Our products are produced and packaged on our own production plant, using our own patented technologies.
