Casein Proteins as a Vehicle to Deliver Vitamin D3: Fortification of Dairy Products with Vitamin D3 and Bioavailability of Vitamin D3 from Fortified Mozzarella Cheese Baked with Pizza

• Main Author: Al-Khalidi, Banaz
• Other Authors: Vieth, Reinhold
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Vitamin D; fortification; dairy proteins; casein
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33319

Current vitamin D intakes in Canada are inadequate. The extension of vitamin D fortification to additional foods may be an effective and appropriate strategy for increasing vitamin D intakes in the general population. Cheese is potentially an ideal candidate for vitamin D fortification. We introduce the potential use of casein proteins as a vehicle for vitamin D3 fortification in industrially made cheeses where we found that over 90% of vitamin D3 added to milk was retained in both Cheddar and Mozzarella cheeses. Use of casein proteins for vitamin D3 fortification did not fully prevent vitamin D3 loss into whey. However the loss was minimized to approximately 8%. We then show that vitamin D3 is bioavailable from fortified Mozzarella cheese baked with pizza suggesting that the high temperature baking process does not significantly breakdown vitamin D3. Our findings could have important implications in increasing fortified food options for Canadians.