Nutricia
Nutricia is a Danone brand that specialises in therapeutic food and infant formula, including medical nutrition for babies with specific needs. The former company, N.V. Nutricia., was established in The Netherlands by brothers Jan and Martinus van der Hagen, who started the production of infant milk formula in 1896 and diabetic milk products and iodine enriched milks in 1905. History In 1885, the German Professor Alexander Backhaus developed a technique in his laboratory that removed the more slowly digested casein protein from cow’s milk, leaving behind only the faster dissolving and more easily digestible whey proteins. Backhaus’ new formulation was better tolerated and closer in composition to human milk. Since the composition of cow’s milk was not appropriate for feeding infants and could, at that time, be a source of disease contributing to high infant mortality across Europe. Professor Backhaus filed a patent and presented his invention at a medical conference in Berlin in 1896 where Dr. Johannes van der Hagen, a medical doctor, and Dutch Public Health Inspector, was in the audience. Johannes introduced Professor Backhaus to his brother, Martinus van der Hagen, who owned a factory in The Netherlands producing margarine and dairy products. Professor Backhaus granted them