2023 December Board Book

consumers compared to non-consumers. The current study measures mucosal protection in an intervention trial in which adults are supplied with twice daily servings of yogurt. Researchers hypothesize that mucosal immunity will be improved within two weeks of daily yogurt consumption and that this protection dissipates by two weeks after the yogurt is discontinued. This information is needed to determine the potential of dairy products to impact a novel aspect of gut health. Industry Benefit: The desired impact of this project will be the first scientific evidence for the effect of a dairy product on novel markers of gastrointestinal protection. The researchers additionally expect to gain sufficient preliminary data to design a randomized controlled trial comparing dairy and non-dairy yogurts for GI health. The picture of success is that this research will provide scientific evidence for use by the Dietary Guidelines of Americans Committee regarding the consumption of dairy-based yogurt for gastrointestinal health. 2023 – 2024 Characterization of Oligosaccharides in Cow’s Milk vs Non-Dairy Alternatives Researcher: Dr. Daniela Barile, UC Davis Food Science and Technology 2024 Budget: $81,044; CMAB REQUEST $60,783 (Year 2) Background: Plant-based non-dairy beverage alternatives represent a fast-growing segment in new food product development, driven by the perception of consumers that plant products are more sustainable than animal-sourced ones. Although plant-based beverages are presented to consumers as dietary alternatives to cow’s milk, they are not inter changeable with respect to their nutritional properties. Despite having a similar appearance and texture, the composition and nutritional value of plant-based beverages and bovine milk are fundamentally different with dissimilar biological impacts on the host. In fact, milk, with its complexity of bioactive molecules, provides substantial health benefits that cannot be replicated by plant-based beverages. Industry Benefit: The results from this work will aid in building a posi tive image for dairy products by displaying the beneficial activities of milk oligosaccharides which are simply not replicated in alternative dairy-free products. Another expected impact is to help the Californi industry to increase or maintain the market demands for dairy products by demonstrating unique health and nutrition benefits of dairy, compared to competitive products that impact the demand and market share. Because consumers are keenly aware of the importance of the gut microbiota for health, and one strategy to manipulate the microbiome consists in consuming prebiotic oligosaccharides that can selectively feed beneficial bacteria in the intestine. The industry can leverage that consumer awareness to educate on the superiority of true milk oligosaccharides, in terms of number of structures, composition and functionality by comparison to anything found in plant-derived dairy alternatives. 2024 International Milk Genomics Consortium Sponsorship and Symposium Support 2024 Budget: $38,500 ; CMAB REQUEST $28,875 Background: The International Milk Genomics Consortium (IMGC) is a scientific society created in 2004 by researchers from the University of California Davis and colleagues with the original goal to sequence the lactation genome which was published in Genome Biology in 2009.