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The great majority of infant formula (FM) for neonate’s nutrition are produced using ingredients from cow milk. Recently, some countries, such as China and New Zealand, are turning their attention to the use of ovine milk ingredients for FM production. In this study, a pilot plant process has been set up to produce infant formula ingredients from Sarda sheep milk. To meet the nutritional needs of neonates (0–6 and 6–12 months of age) two different liquid milk-derived formulations (IF1 and IF2, respectively) obtained mixing whole milk, skimmed milk, and whey milk ultrafiltration concentrate (retentate) were produced. Compositional analysis of milk, retentate, and the final IFs showed that the two formulations contain elements of nutritional interest, such as well-balanced content of high biological value proteins (casein:whey proteins ratio of 30:70 and 60:40 for IF1 and IF2, respectively), vitamin A, E and B5, cholesterol, minerals, nucleotides, free amino acids and essential fatty acids (n–6:n–3 ~1), compatible with the growth and development needs of neonates. Therefore, the obtained IF1 and IF2 can be proposed as valuable ovine dairy ingredients for FM manufacturing. Further studies will be necessary to verify the adaptability of the developed process from laboratory to industrial scale application.

China is the largest global consumer of infant milk formula (IMF). Chinese consumer preferences towards IMF have evolved over time but have also been rocked in recent years by COVID-19 with major implications for the IMF industry, globally and within China. This study is the first to document parents’ preferences toward IMF since the outbreak. We used novel methods to do so, through an online choice experiment of 804 participants that included risk perceptions and socio-demographic variables. Our study finds that Chinese parents continue to prioritize quality and safety attributes of IMF represented by functional ingredients, organic labelling and traceability information. Notably, it also finds greatly increased confidence in Chinese domestically produced IMF and an underlying preference away from expensive products. This implies that the era of ‘go for foreign’ and ‘go for the most expensive’ in IMF purchasing may be coming to an end. The shift in sentiment is driven by the longer-term revitalization of the Chinese dairy industry, accelerated by COVID-19. Understanding these trends will be of major benefit to both Chinese producers and non-Chinese exporters of IMF.

Lipid oxidation (LO) is a recognised problem in dairy powders due to the formation of volatile odour compounds that can negatively impact sensory perception. Three commercial dairy powders, fat-filled whole milk powder (FFWMP), skim milk powder (SMP), and infant milk formula (IMF), stored under different conditions (21 °C, 37 °C, or 25 °C with 50% humidity), were evaluated by consumer acceptance studies, ranked descriptive sensory analysis, and LO volatile profiling using headspace solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME GCMS) over 16 weeks. Significant (p = 0.001) differences in the concentration of LO compounds and sensory perception were evident between sample types in the different storage conditions. The sensory acceptance scores for FFWMP and SMP remained stable throughout storage in all conditions, despite the increased perception of some LO products. The IMF sample was perceived negatively in each storage condition and at each time point. Overall increases in hexanal, heptanal, and pentanal correlated with “painty”, “oxidised”, “cooked”, and “caramelised” attributes in all samples. The concentration of some LO volatiles in the IMF was far in excess of those in FFWMP and SMP. High levels of LO volatiles in IMF were presumably due to the addition of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the formulation.