ROSELLA KONING
Frieslandcampina, Amersfoort, the Netherlands

In recent years, the infant nutrition market saw the introduction of a new ingredient: Milk Fat Globular Membrane, in short MFGM. Introductions of products with MFGM are increasingly seen in infant nutrition, ranging from products targeted at the youngest infants to young child formula for children of all ages. Most recently, MFGM has been included in products for pregnant and lactating women to support the infant’s prenatal development (1).

This sudden popularity across different products categories raises the question: what is MFGM and what makes it so special? Simply put, MFGM is the membrane surrounding a fat droplet. It is formed during the secretion of fat globules from the epithelial cells of the mammary gland. This process creates a trilayered phospholipid membrane which serves as a protective structure and is a vehicle for the triglycerides that form the core of the fat globule (2). MFGM’s main claim to fame is its numerous bioactive components, such as glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and its high variety of proteins (3). MFGM’s components were already found to have multiple health benefits for infant growth and development (4). The cu ...