Separation of milk components prior to the butter process

Category: 

Time: 

16.10 - 16.30

Lactose free dairy products have become great success in Finland and other Nordic countries. One of these products is lactose free (LF) butter. During production of LF butter, LF butter milk is formed. This may form a problem because LF butter milk is not easy to convert to powder by drying. It can be used in the manufacturing of other LF dairy products but the timing of the formation of LF butter milk and demand of it may not always match. This causes practical problems in the manufacturing. 

Therefore, triple separation of the milk may be a practical solution. It has several advantages: LF butter can be produced without forming LF butter milk. Recovery of dairy protein from the cream brings savings in raw material costs. Use of lactase enzymes in the manufacturing of LF butter can be avoided. Volume of the butter milk does not change, but its composition changes significantly. Different benefits and challenges of the triple separation will be discussed.

Niina Valkonen, Researcher, Valio Ltd, Finland
M.Sc. (Tech) in Biotechnology and Food Technology from Aalto University. Previous experience: Researcher at St1 Biofuels and Team Lead at Sinebrychoff. Areas of expertise: separation and production technologies, process development, better utilization of raw materials and side streams, and effect of processing on the product properties.