Now ideas for wellness

About Meiji

At a Glance

At a Glance

Get to know Meiji at a glance – from our core business to our most important numbers.

Food

Our Nutrition Initiatives

Our Nutrition Initiatives

Our goal is to improve the lives of people of all ages around the world through nutrition, from infants to older adults, and we are dedicated to achieving this goal.

Pharmaceuticals

R&D

Medical needs are always diversifying – here's how Meiji is responding.

Meiji Cube Production

This technology provides innovative new answer which solves many problems consumers experienced using regular milk formula. Meiji has developed cube production technology that greatly enhances the convenience and usability of milk formula.

photo of pouring milk powder

Helping Make Childcare Easier

There are common problems that all people who prepare milk formula experience including measurement mistakes and spilling powder. We set out to help avoid these problems by introducing a completely new type of milk formula in the form of easy to dissolve solid cubes.

In order to ensure the solubility of the cubes and to prevent fat release from the solid, a low compression pressure was necessary. By compressing the powder at 2MPa, humidifying the surface and then drying, we found all our criteria had been met in a cube which contains absolutely no additives, is strong enough to resist crumbling and yet readily dissolves in hot water.

By humidifying the surface of the compressed milk, bridging structures1 between the particles are formed in the microstructure of the surface region of the cubes. This results in a hardness that resists breaking or crumbling during transport.
Furthermore, it was very important to be able to control the bridging structures of crystalline metastasis2 in order to be able to facilitate different ratios and compositions of nutrients (proteins, fats, etc.) as part of the cubes.

The photos below show cross sections of both the surface area and the interior area of the cubes. The amount of cross-linking and thus the strength of the structure resulting from humidification can clearly be seen in the cross section from the surface area.
This is the cube production process technology.

  1. bridging structures: formed between particles as a result of partial dissolving of the surface particles.
  2. crystalline metastasis: crystal structure (molecular arrangement) may change.

Solidified milk powder, cross-sections and surface via electron microscopy

photo of solidified milk powder, cross-sections and surface via electron microscopy

Particles near the surface of the molded cubs dissolve as a result of humidification, crosslinks form between the particles resulting in greater shape retention. The interior also becomes relatively secure to infiltration by water.

Dissolution Test – testing the dissolvability of cubes or compressed milk powder

photo of Meiji Hohoemi Raku Raku Cube and Meiji Step Raku Raku Cube

We have adapted this cube production technology to produce both "Meiji Hohoemi Raku Raku Cube" "Meiji Step Raku Raku Cube" products.

Patent No.: JP4062357