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The first made-in-Japan infant milk formula, “Kinomeal”

Success in making powdered cow’s milk

Ohga’s chemical laboratory workshop

Ohga’s chemical laboratory workshop

Ohga was motivated to “make a powdered high quality cow’s milk product, available for anyone to buy.” However, every scientist Ohga consulted with could only shake head and said, “It is impossible to make a powered form of cow’s milk.”

Ohga’s wish was to do whatever it took to reduce early childhood mortality. He could not give up making cow milk powder. He decided to tackle the research by himself at the laboratory workshop he had built across the street from his house.

Then, one day, he came across a clue by a pure luck. He saw a few drops of milk on a lab utensil that had solidified and dried out. The discovery convinced Ohga to think, “There must be a way to make cow’s milk into powder. They add sugar to cow’s milk at home to give to babies. If the powder was made after adding sugar component, it would be more convenient. And, rather than trying to dry cow’s milk alone, it may be easier to mix it with other components and dry it afterwards.”

Without a model product or literature to study, Ohga tackled the experiment every day. It was said, even during the night, he would jump out of bed after dreaming of an experiment, and continued the experiment in his dream in the lab until morning. Ohga’s passion was contagious. Employees also worked hard and together the entire company repeated trials and errors.

Finally, the first made-in-Japan infant milk formula was complete. It was a product created by a complete amateur, who only wished to save lives of babies. Still, it had a reputation of “scientifically it could not be made better.” The product was named “Kinomeal.” Following the start of sales in March 1917, Kinomeal became very popular because of its convenience. It would take another few years, after World War I, until other powder milk products made overseas or produced by other Japanese companies became available in the market.

For reference, the product name, “Kinomeal” was said to be a combination of the German word for child, “kind,” and the English word, “meal.”

ASAHI GROUP FOODS,LTD. become an owner of WAKODO brand products. (As of 1, July 2017)

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