05/27/08 Borden's Makes It Better

Borden Makes it Better. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. My wife and I are pretty conscious of the decisions we make of the grocery store. We watch for fairly natural products with low fat and sodium content and of course any added value the product may have. The Borden company has recently introduced a new line of products according to Brand Manager, Erin Turley. TURLEY: We introduced a new product that started to show up on shelves in March called Borden's Essentials which is fortified with protective antioxidants and basically helps consumers support a healthy immune system. An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. For you and I that would mean a slow down in the aging process. Antioxidants have become a big concern for many people looking for better food products. Turley says they have several choices. TURLEY: It's offered in 2% singles as well as mozzarella string cheese and we really feel like we are providing mom with an easy choice to make her family healthier. What we were trying to do with Borden Essentials was offering the consumer something new and different that really offered a benefit that no other brand could offer. Cheese and dairy products are already a good staple for the body but according to Turley the Borden Essentials takes it a step further. TURLEY: This gives you 20% of your daily value of vitamins A & E which regular cheese does not and both vitamin A & E are protective antioxidants which helps support a healthy immune system. So in addition to all the great benefits that cheese already has with the excellent source of calcium and the vitamin D and phosphorus, these products also offer the vitamins A & E. Borden's spent some time in the research and development phase before bringing the Essentials product to the consumer. TURLEY: We worked with our R&D counterparts to identify the right antioxidants to put into this product. For example, when you put vitamin C into cheese, it has some affect on the cheese that causes the shelf life to be much shorter. So we worked with our R&D folks to identify the appropriate antioxidants that would work well within cheese and we did a lot of consumer research up front to identify the fact that this was a compelling consumer benefit. If you are interested in finding the Borden's Essentials product, visit elsie.com for a list of locations. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.