Dairy products like milk and cheese are known to prevent dental caries, or tooth decay, in humans and animals. Research has shown that the casein protein component of dairy products is responsible for this effect.
In nature, the enzymes in the mouth and stomach produce peptides from milk protein. There is a group of peptides called casein phosphopeptides that stabilise calcium and phosphate, maintaining them in an amorphous or soluble form known as ACP. Calcium and phosphate are the building blocks of tooth enamel. Normally they are highly insoluble, but in the presence of these peptides they remain soluble and bioavailable. When this peptide-calcium phosphate complex is delivered to the teeth in a chewing gum, paste or mouthwash, or even potentially in food, the peptides bind to the tooth surface and effectively provide a reservoir of soluble calcium and phosphate at the surface of the tooth.
Professor Eric Reynolds, head of the School of Dental Science at the University of Melbourne in Australia, undertook research to produce CPP-ACP complex in the laboratory using milk casein and Pancreatic Trypsin Novo (PTN) concentrate. The research has been ongoing for many years and the university now holds patents relating to CPP-ACP in many countries.
The patents were licensed to the Australian dairy company Bonlac Foods Ltd, who built the first full-scale processing unit to manufacture the CPP-ACP complex, which is marketed under the trade mark Recaldent.™
Novozymes and its distributor in Australia, Oppenheimer, worked very closely with Bonlac Foods in 1999 during the development phase to optimise the production of Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP). A concentrated version of the enzyme PTN was made exclusively for this application. The trypsin activity as well as the side activities play an important role in obtaining good yields of Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP).
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Siddique Samad (Business Development Manager at Novozymes covering Australia and New Zealand), Dr Ian Mitchell (Scientific Development Manager at Cadbury Schweppes), Vince Zappia (Operations Manager at Cadbury Schweppes in Melbourne) and Marnie Semmens (Sales Manager at Oppenheimer) in front of the only processing unit of its kind in the world producing the CPP-ACP complex trademarked Recaldent.™ |
Success in JapanThe first company to use Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) was the Adams confectionery business. They incorporated Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) into sugar-free chewing gum that was marketed in the USA, Japan and four European countries.
Recaldent™ chewing gum has been very well received in Japan, where it has been sold over the counter and also through dental surgeries since 2000.
Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) is also used in Trident White Gum, a leading whitening gum in the USA. Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) gives an added benefit to this high-end oral care gum.
Apart from gums, Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) is used in a paste that is recommended by dentists for a variety of dental indications.
A global dental materials company based in Tokyo by the name of GC Corporation has developed a concentrated paste containing Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) that is known as GC Tooth Mousse in most parts of the world and as MI (Minimum Intervention™) Paste in the USA and Japan.
“Unexplored opportunities”
In 2003 Cadbury Schweppes group acquired the Adams confectionery business and decided to purchase the Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) business from Bonlac Foods at the same time. A new exclusive licence was entered into with the University of Melbourne, and the manufacturing of Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) was moved from the old Bonlac Foods site at Toora to a Cadbury Schweppes manufacturing site in Scoresby, a suburb of Melbourne. The technology and Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) ingredient are now marketed internationally by Cadbury Schweppes.
According to Geoff Webster, the Commercial Manager of Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) at Cadbury Schweppes in Melbourne: “The interest from my own organisation and from third parties is sure to grow. There are lots of unexplored opportunities for the Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) technology in confectionery, food and drinks, and in the oral care area such as toothpaste and mouthwash.”
He travels to different parts of the world explaining the virtues of Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP), often accompanied by Professor Eric Reynolds, who presents scientific data based on numerous trials. For example, tests conducted by the University of Melbourne have shown that Recaldent™ (CPP-ACP) is capable of blocking the effects of sugars and acids on teeth.
An acidic fizzy drink that doesn’t attack your teeth? A chocolate bar or sweet that negates the effects of sugar on the teeth? These are interesting product concepts to be explored in future.