Abstract: The present invention concerns a process for producing a dry cereal composition, comprising (a) fermenting phytic acid containing cereals by phytase-positive lactic acid bacteria at a temperature below 45° C., until a pH of at most 5.9 is reached, (b) heating the fermented cereals obtained in step (a) to a temperature in the range of 40-55° C., for a period of at least 1.5 h; (c) drying the fermented and phytase treated cereals originating from step (b) to obtain the dry cereal composition. The present invention is ideally suited to reduce the phytate content of fermented cereals, thereby increasing the bio-availability of minerals. The invention further contains the dry cereal composition obtainable by the process according to the invention, especially having a molar ratio of phytate to iron of at most 1, and the use thereof in increasing the bio-availability of minerals.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a process for manufacturing an infant formula product comprising: (a1) providing an aqueous mixture having a protein component and a carbohydrate component, (a2) subjecting the aqueous mixture to a heat treatment step, (a3) subjecting the heat-treated, aqueous mixture to a fermentation step using a bacterial fermentation culture; (b) mixing the fermented, aqueous mixture with a lipid component; (c) subjecting the fermented, aqueous mixture comprising the lipid component, the carbohydrate component and the heat-treated protein component to a homogenization and emulsification step to obtain a homogenized oil-in-water emulsion having a total solids content in the range of 45-73 wt %; (d) conveying the homogenized emulsion into an extruder, independently adding digestible carbohydrates and optionally dietary fibres to the extruder and extruding the contents of the extruder to obtain an extruded material; (e) preparing an infant formula product from the extruded material.