🎥 Checkerspot teams up with Huvepharma to produce human milk fat analog at scale

The lipid helps babies absorb essential nutrients such as calcium and fat-soluble micronutrients. Confers immunological and anti-inflammatory properties, states CEO John Krzywicki, who explains Checkerspot has “received a strong level of outreach” from leading infant formula players. Others, including several principal brands, formulate with conventional vegetable oils such as high-oleic sunflower, rapeseed, or soybean oil.

While these are safe and suitable for infants, they do not provide the specific concentration or structural arrangement of palmitic acid that breast milk delivers. “With this innovation, we are introducing a step-change improvement: a fermentation-derived oil that more closely replicates the natural structure of human milk fat without relying on palm oil. It is free from environmental contaminants and potential processing adulteration, while ensuring a premium level of protection, quality, and consistency.” Checkerspot and Huvepharma aim to position algal oil as “both a superior nutritional solution for infants who cannot be breastfed and a scalable, sustainable alternative to palm-derived sn2 palmitate oils,” he explained.

Checkerspot is initially filing regulatory dossiers for the use of the oil in infant nutrition products in the US, EU, and China. Labeling will vary by country, said Krzywicki, “But we anticipate that the approach could follow the precedent used for algae-derived DHA in infant formula, ensuring clarity and compliance in each market.” Watch our interview with Krzywicki at the Future Food-Tech summit in London: