Stefan Klebert, CEO GEA, is impressed by the project’s progress: “We kept this greenfield project on track through the Covid-19 period and the flood in summer 2021: we are on schedule and in constructive co-operation with our long-standing customer.” In the meantime, commissioning of the various process steps is underway.

GEA’s process technology offers short downtimes for the GEA plant and ensures resource-saving operation. In addition, the cleaning-in-place (CIP) concept saves water. Energy-efficient heat exchangers return the otherwise wasted waste heat from the process to an energy cycle for reuse elsewhere.

In the future, Hochwald Foods will process around 800 million litres of milk per year in the new plant into dairy products such as UHT milk, UHT cream, UHT mixed milk products as well as condensed milk and UHT drinking yogurt. Detlef Latka, CEO Hochwald Foods, notes, “Four years ago, the members of our co-operative paved the way for the construction of a new dairy. From the search for land to the planning and construction work, the project is the result of a great team effort of which we can already be proud. We will also overcome the final hurdles together until the start of commercial production next year.”

GEA’s contract includes the execution planning, building, delivery, assembly and commissioning as well as acceptance of all process-related and operational treatment and processing machinery for the manufacturing of the various dairy products. The Mechernich plant focusses on products with a long shelf life. This ensures the quality and taste of food to last six months and longer – even without cooling and preservatives, which in turn improves the environmental balance of the products.

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An estimated 17% of Poles think that it is the taste that distinguishes UHT from pasteurised milk. At the same time, a third of Poles did not know the difference between the fresh and UHT milk. Awareness of the differences is at its lowest among the youngest – 47% of those surveyed aged 18-24 answered “I don’t know” to this question.

Fresh milk undergoes a minimum heat treatment – pasteurisation guarantees health safety for the consumer and at the same time minimises chemical, physical and taste changes of the product. Cold Milk Robico is the first Polish milk produced using microfiltration. According to Andrzej Szczepański, president of Robico, microfiltration gives the possibility to lower the pasteurisation temperature and preserve the activity of natural bacteriostatic milk substances.

As far as packaging is concerned, with the growing ecological awareness of consumers and a very clear trend associated with a healthy lifestyle across Europe, demand for dairy products in glass growing. For example, in the UK, media headlines focus on the return of the daily delivery of glass-packed milk to the doorstep. This trend is also visible in the Netherlands. Also in France, for example, yogurts in glass are becoming more and more popular.

The premium milk market is also growing. In Poland, Robico sees the growing interest with its milk in glass; for the majority of respondents, glass is the packaging that is most associated with freshness of milk. 54% of Poles chose glass as the best packaging for fresh milk, 23% pointed to cardboard, and only 15% of respondents opted for plastic packaging.

Fresh milk is a high-quality product and the inertness of glass helps to protect the packaged product. By combining glass and fresh milk, consumers get a combination in terms of health. Moreover, the advantage of glass is that it can be melted back down and recycled forever. Glass is 100% recyclable, making it one of the most sustainable products available.

Szczepański says, “The highest quality products are packed in the best packaging. Glass packaging is considered to be the packaging material that ensures the highest quality, health, safety and preservation of the natural taste and aroma of the product.

“Choosing glass was an important pillar in our marketing mix when we launched Cold Milk – glass lends its image of health, premiumness, and authenticity to our brand, helping us convey the message of fresh, high quality milk.”

Nutritional values of milk have been known for centuries. The tradition of drinking milk from glass is also very deeply rooted in our consciousness. Now, when the trend of a healthy lifestyle is so visible, also the return to this tradition begins to be noticeable. As research shows, over a third (37%) of Poles use milk daily, most often as an additive to dishes and drinks. A substantial part of the population drinks milk separately every day, as this answer was chosen by 44% of those surveyed.

Magdalena Woronowicz, commercial leader, North-East Europe O-I, says, “Dairy and glass have a very emotional connection. We are proud to be partnering with Robico and to produce the bottles for the only fresh milk in glass in Poland. We are also very proud of the design of the Cold Milk bottle which is featured in O-I’s recent global Design Book which was sent to its clients and the world’s leading design agencies.”

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To that end, Tetra Pak has introduced Intelligent Customisation for its heating systems. The modules, which are based on the company’s technologies in dairy, beverages and prepared food processing, can be combined in any number of configurations, allowing heating to be customised to meet the specific needs of each customer.

Heart of the line

Eliasson explains, “The UHT heating system is really at the heart of the processing line, and is key to making the food safe and available. It is very important and depending on the product, there is a wide range of options — powder, raw milk and formula. It is a significant part of the investment and heating can be the most costly step.”

Typically, customers are looking for two things, Eliasson says – to increase efficiency and improve the performance of the line. Often customers want to diversify the product portfolio and produce new products with value added. This is especially important for the dairy industry, he adds.

“These two demands can be opposite to each other, as dairies follow two production models – highly efficient and high volume, and flexible plants with a range of products. The challenge is to increase both types of production into one unit. A larger dairy plant will have dedicated lines, while a smaller producer will have one production line doing many things,” he notes.

Wide interest

Geographically, interest is fairly widespread, Eliasson says. “Europe has seen quite a lot of interest, where they are producing UHT milk for export to China. It is also being picked up in countries where the trend is moving away from loose milk to packaged, pasteurised and UHT products. UHT fits well with cool chains in developing nations, and we can tailor the equipment to each customer.”

Ola Elmqvist, vice president business unit liquid food at Tetra Pak says, “With our new modular portfolio we are working with the customer in a completely collaborative way. This is crucial since every customer has increasingly different challenges and priorities, that often change over time.”

“We start with detailed discussions about their business, such as the products they produce, their production process, running time, utility costs, and their short term, as well as long term goals. With this, we are then able to provide heating solutions that bring value to their business.”

Tetra Pak has completed trials of the new modular portfolio with customers in Europe and Russia.

Alexander Belyanov, the director of OJSC Bogdanovich GMZ says, “We think the new Tetra Pak Indirect UHT unit for dairy applications is significant. Following discussions from the beginning on the concept development and new area design, Tetra Pak was able to provide us with a new processing line that was tailor-made to our needs to improve plant performance. The new module approach was more convenient in terms of installation, efficiency and performance, plus, all the service media connections are mounted at the same place, making it more accessible and practical.”

The heating portfolio means Tetra Pak can offer full flexibility and upgradability that supports a customer’s current and future needs. For instance, the solutions can be upgraded to support a customer’s product expansion from milk and cream, to beverages with particles, or from baby food purée to a wider range of prepared food products.

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GEA has recently secured a contract with Indonesian ABC Group to supply a EuroClass 800 RE milking system.

According to GEA, the milking system has the potential to expand as the company’s dairy herd grows to meet the demands of its developing market place.

This is in addition to the supply of a complete UHT and aseptic tank including deaeration, separation and homogenisation as well as refrigeration equipment to the company.

Martine Snels, member of the executive board and responsible for GEA’s regions and countries organisation, says, “This project shows the intended customer-focused strengths of the new GEA organisation. We’ve succeeded in making multiple sales because we’ve worked together benefitting ourselves and our customer.”

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The new Daily Fresh milk range is now available in Hema’s 14 stores in Shanghai and Suzhou in 750mL bottles, sourced directly from Fonterra’s farm hub in Hebei province. The product has product labels to match each day of the week in order to emphasise freshness, with stock being replenished overnight ready for each new day.

Initial volumes are currently around three metric tonnes daily, with plans to scale up over time and expand with the retailer as it rapidly grows its footprint of stores across China.

President of Fonterra Greater China Christina Zhu said this new product delivers to growing domestic demand for higher-quality fresh products, as part of the ‘premiumisation’ of China’s consumer categories.

“Shoppers here in China are becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of their tastes and preferences, which are being driven by rising household incomes,” says Zhu. “More than ever before, consumers are consciously seeking products that are fresh, nutritious and safe, and our new product for Hema caters to this.”

According to figures from McKinsey, it is expected that more than 75 per cent of China’s urban consumers will earn RMB 60,000 to 229,000 each year (€7,751-29,215) by 2022. This is up from just four per cent in the year 2000, prompting a marked shift in consumer behaviour and purchasing power.

Linked to this trend is the rise of Hema, which emerged on the scene in early 2016. It is a major sign-post of China’s ‘new retail’ trend, which Alibaba founder Jack Ma coined as being the intersection of online and offline shopping, logistics and data.

At Hema, consumers can either shop in-store using their mobile phones to browse and purchase, or order online for a 30-minute delivery within a three kilometre radius. Hema then utilises the wealth of data it gathers to provide a tailored, personalised shopping experience for each customer.

In addition to the brand new fresh milk range, Anchor UHT milk products and the Anchor Dairy Foods range of butter, cream and cheese items are sold through Hema. The retailer is also a foodservice customer, using Fonterra’s Anchor Food Professionals products in its in-store bakery.

Hema Fresh CEO and Founder Hou Yi says he is excited by the strategic co-operation between the two companies.

“This co-operation between two powerful companies is set to redefine the concept of fresh milk in the new retail era,” says Hou. “As a global leader in the dairy industry, Fonterra is well-known for quality milk pools, world-class breeding techniques and advanced experience in food safety and quality, which matches well with what we advocate.”

Zhu says the new product highlights how Fonterra’s business in China is leveraging the strength of its local milk pool, spread across three farming hubs.

“No other multinational dairy company in China has a local milk pool to draw from, so we are in an advantageous position,” says Zhu. “This milestone with Hema is a sign of things to come and indicates that our push to shift more of our local milk into higher-yielding consumer and foodservice products is well-and-truly underway.”

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According to Tetra Pak, the modules, which are based on the company’s technologies in dairy, beverages and prepared food processing, can be combined in any number of configurations, allowing every heating solution to be customised to meet the specific needs of each individual customer.

Ola Elmqvist, vice president, Business Unit Liquid Food at Tetra Pak, says, “With our new modular portfolio we are working with the customer in a completely collaborative way. This is crucial since every customer has increasingly different challenges and priorities, that often change over time.”

Tetra Pak has completed trials of the new modular portfolio with customers in Europe and Russia.

Alexander Belyanov, the director of OJSC Bogdanovich GMZ, comments, “We think the new Tetra Pak Indirect UHT unit for dairy applications is a significant Innovation. Following detailed discussions from the beginning on the concept development and new area design, Tetra Pak was able to provide us with a new processing line that was tailor-made to our needs to improve plant performance.

“The new module approach was more convenient in terms of installation, efficiency and performance, plus, all the service media connections are mounted at the same place, making it more accessible and practical.”

According to Tetrapak, the new heating portfolio means the company can offer full flexibility and upgradability that supports a customer’s current and future needs. For instance, the solutions can be upgraded to support a customer’s product expansion from milk and cream, to beverages with particles, or from baby food purée to a wider range of prepared food products.

The post Tetra Pak unveils modular portfolio of heating systems appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

According to the co-operative, the site, which was an empty paddock five years ago, now produces more than 80,000 cartons of UHT milk and cream every hour for global markets.

A new line will be up and running by the end of the year. This is the third new line to be installed in the last 12 months.

Each new line can produce 15,000 packs per hour and once this latest expansion is complete, the site will have the capacity to produce up to 45,000 cartons of one litre UHT products every hour.

Robert Spurway, Fonterra’s chief operating officer of global operations, said the continued expansion at Waitoa UHT is being driven by the success of the co-operative’s consumer and foodservice business keeping pace with the ongoing demand for New Zealand dairy.

He says, “Exports of UHT cream in particular have grown rapidly – more than doubling in the past two seasons.

“Much of this growth has been fuelled by Asia as they look to include more dairy in their diet. This has led to some outstanding results – sales of cream to tea kiosks have increased fivefold in the past two years.

“Our $162 million investment [€139.7m} in UHT production at Waitoa over the past five years is part of our strategy to continue to move more of our farmers’ milk into these higher returning products.

“The investment has also created 150 new jobs at the Waitoa site and this has been a real boost for the local community.”

Once complete this new line will bring the site’s total processing capacity to more than 250 million litres of UHT cream and milk per year, Fonterra says.

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The cartons were selected for robustness during long distance export. This is the first of these types of cartons in the Asian markets and the first gable top carton in the UHT milk market creating key differentiation for Arla and the own brand milk products, Elopak says.

There are two products, each with a different design, including whole milk and a range of fat contents. Arla Foods penetrated the market in China in 2016, and to date in 2017 volumes are increasing.

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Blue Pacific develops natural, organic and organic compliant fruit and sweet flavours for a range of food applications including: beverages, fruit preparations, dairy (yogurt and milk), plant-based milks, ice cream, frozen desserts, bakery and nutritional foods and confectionery products.

The opening comes after a $1.5 million (€1.3m) expansion that doubled the space to 3,100 square feet. The centre will increase the company’s application, creation, sensory testing and compliance capabilities for natural and organic flavour and finished food development.

The investment includes labs and offices for quality assurance, quality control, regulatory/product safety, research and development, and new equipment such as a pilot spray dryer and Kardex Remstar high density storage for flavours and raw materials.

Processing capabilities include a microthermics steam injection system with in-line homogenisation and UHT clean-fill to provide a streamlined path to market for new food and beverage products.

Donald Wilkes, CEO of Blue Pacific Flavors, says, “Our vision was to build a world-class innovation center to be the core of our organisation. It is a reflection of the food manufacturing renaissance taking place in southern California and our commitment to meet the needs of a growing organic flavours business.”

The company has added staff in regulatory and quality control and plans to hire additional positions in research and development. The next phase of the investment will include the purchase of additional analytical equipment to support enhanced food safety and quality testing.

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This is the good news about poverty as a whole. Far from being an increasing issue, the World Bank Group says that just over 900 million people globally lived under the extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day in 2012 (based on the latest available data). In 2015, just over 700m were living in extreme poverty, and this number continues to decrease, despite the fact that the world’s population continues to increase – to around 7.5 billion currently.

Projections are for the population to continue to expand to around 10bn by 2050. India is set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Currently, China has 1.4bn people while India has 1.3bn inhabitants.

The population of Africa, a diverse continent, is set to double by 2050 as well. It will also be a young population, unlike Europe. Around 60% of the African population is under 25, while in Europe, only 25% is under that age. Nigeria has the world’s fastest growing population as well.

Luckily, the dairy industry is on hand to help feed all those people, and flavoured milk drinks appeal to younger demographics. The challenge may be in supplying them without complete chill chains, but the increase in long-life, UHT products should help to ensure that people consume dairy, no matter where they are on the planet. It is a good thing.

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What is the most obvious benefit of extending the running times of milk pasteurizers?

From a dairy plant management perspective, it is desirable that running times of processing equipment are maximised to optimize plant efficiency, which in turn keeps operating costs down. Our customers can extend the amount of time during which a plant can output consumable products, while maintaining crucial food quality and safety.

For dairies producing large volumes of pasteurized milk, running one Cleaning in Place (CIP) instead of two means saving about 50 per cent of the cost of CIP per milk pasteurizer per day. Furthermore, the longer running times and reduced number of CIPs may have additional beneficial effects on equipment investment, maintenance costs, production shift management and other key parameters.

The specific benefits of eliminating one CIP cycle per day and line include:

• Reduced CIP cost by approximately 50 per cent (electricity, media, detergents for the specific pasteurizer)
• Increased processing availability by 2-4 hours per day
• Possibility to finish daily production circle within 24 hours, e.g. 20 hours processing + 3 hours CIP + 1 hour preparation time

What was behind the research?

For years, the dairy industry has been looking into possibilities for extending production periods of milk pasteurisers. These typically work at 72-75°C with product holding time of 15-30 seconds and would achieve six to 10 hours of processing time before cleaning was required. The demand for going beyond that limit has been the main motivation for undertaking industrial-scale research on optimising pasteurization running time.

When Tetra Pak decided to investigate possibility for new solutions in 2011, it took over a year to complete the research and several more months to transform it into a white paper for the industry.

What was seen as a barrier to extending the running time? Why has this changed?

Historically, the main limitation for the running time of milk pasteurizers was set by the cheese and powder industries. It has been known for a long time that milk pasteurizers, which effectively kill lots of microorganisms in specific circumstances can also contribute to the growth of some types of thermoduric thermophilic bacteria, which can then be released into a heat-treated product. It takes about six to ten hours before such bacteria in pasteurized milk start to exceed quality specific requirements. It is important to note that these additional bacteria are not harmful to consumers, but may influence the quality of cheese and milk powders.

When we looked closer at requirements of the consumption milk producers, we realised that this segment of the dairy industry does not need to be limited by the same requirements as cheese and powder. We gained this insight by taking a different approach to assessing which kinds of bacteria are important for consumption pasteurized milk. Firstly, this group of products is distributed in very low temperatures of 4º to 8ºC. In such conditions, thermoduric thermophilic bacteria coming from pasteurizers have neither the ability to grow further or influence product quality. Typically, these bacteria are not enumerated when assessing pasteurized milk by total bacteria count incubated at 30ºC. This means that it is possible to allow milk pasteurizers to run for longer without requiring cleaning, which disrupts production and reduces run time.

The effect of extending the production run time of a typical milk pasteurizer was assessed on an industrial scale in a pasteurized consumption milk dairy plant. In those tests, we measured the following:

• Total plate count (TPC) of the raw milk
• Thermoduric count of the raw milk
• Plate count of pasteurized milk on TPC agar from the same sample incubated at 30, 37 and 55°C for 72 hours

Our experimental results showed that consumption milk can be run for 18 to 22 hours, with no risk to food safety and quality. The mesophilic plate count in pasteurized milk stayed unchanged during all tests extending to 18 hours.

Taking into consideration our results, we propose that it is possible to differentiate pasteurization line running times, based on different product requirements, with regard to critical microorganisms. Limiting thermoduric thermophilic bacteria are critical for cheese and powder quality but not significant for consumption milk. As such, approximately eight hours’ running time is still appropriate for cheese and milk powder products to limit such growth to an acceptable level.

How big is the consumption milk market, and where do you see this information being used most, geographically?

Global consumption of white milk amounted to 222.9 billion litres in 2016. There was a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +1.3 per cent between 2013 – 2016 while between 2016 – 2019 it is forecast to reach 1.7 per cent. This growth is mostly attributable to the developing markets, as opposed to developed markets where white milk has been prevalent for decades. Elsewhere, drinking yogurt has already experienced exciting growth and is forecast to continue with CAGR of 5.4 per cent through 2019. (Source: Tetra Pak Compass)

Pasteurized milk is preferred by consumers in many regions like in Scandinavia, the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In Central and Eastern Europe, it still makes up an important part of dairy supplies to consumers, and even in warmer regions around the world where cold distribution of pasteurised milk is possible. There are many producers catering domestic markets and many more producers using pasteurizers for pre-treatment of milk for UHT processing. All of them can benefit from extending running time.

What about other types of products, such as yogurt?

Yogurt milk is prepared in two steps. First, it is pasteurized and fat standardised. In the second step, it is fortified with different dry ingredients and pasteurized again, this time at 95°C. The first step of the process may benefit from the new approach, whereas the second step will still be limited by fouling of the heat exchangers, which is typical for this elevated temperature. In general, all pre-treatment applications (excluding cheese and powder) which utilise pasteurization at approximately 75°C and therefore need to process during a long time, may benefit from this new approach.

Tetra Pak will soon publish a new white paper with the title “Consumption milk pasteurizers can be run much longer than 8 hours”, in which we describe in much more detail how the new assessment methodology allows extended running time for milk pasteurizers. I would like to encourage all those interested to look for it, and welcome you to share comments on Tetra Pak social media channels.

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The new packing line for infant formula is a diversification for STI. The new plant sources raw ingredients in 25kg bags. The outer bags are then stripped to help prevent contamination in the plant, and fills a 2,000-litre mixer in line with the company’s preferred recipe. Both the cans and the product are pre-gassed with inert gas to purge oxygen before entering the GEA IFS-1A can filler that fills 1kg (127mm diameter) cans at a rate of 15 cans per minute.

The GEA canning line includes: manual depalletising; internal can cleaning; UV tunnel; can coding; a manual over-capping station; a manual secondary packaging station into standard corrugated cases with tape sealer; case coding; and a manual palletising station.

Michael Marren, regional sales manager for GEA Application Centre Dairy, says, “This is an interesting project as the customer has no previous experience in this market. We are able to use our experience in the sector, and our scope of supply, to develop a complete mixing and filling system for STI that meets their needs. It’s a complete turnkey solution so we own the performance guarantees for both linked systems and for achieving the required residual oxygen (RO) level in the final packed product.”

GEA is also supplying equipment and solutions for other projects within the industrial hub including plants for the production of: UHT milk, juice, yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, cheese and butter. The hub project also includes the building of a brewery and water processing plant.

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Cows generally prefer a temperate climate but in hotter climates are reared at higher altitudes or housed in air-conditioned accommodation, in order to provide a fresh milk supply. Milk reconstituted from powder is an important option in non-milk producing locations. Distinguishing between fresh and reconstituted milk is an important challenge for the analyst, especially where fresh milk commands a premium price.

There are some parts of the world where milk was not widely consumed, although the convenience factor and wider availability of UHT milk is also changing this.

Milk composition

Foods composition tables show that cow’s milk contains a wide range of nutrients. Such tables are useful for obtaining nutritional information on most of the foods that we consume. However, one drawback is that they only report average values and do not account for variations in composition arising from season, diet, breed of cow and stage of lactation. As an example, Chen et al. (2014) reported variations in composition and properties of bulk milk collected on 25 occasions over a complete year. A selection of data is shown in Table 1, which includes the mean value and the range found for pH and the main components in milk. It needs to be more fully appreciated that milk, being of biological origin, is variable in composition. There is potential for employing variations of raw milk to make “best use “ of milk and this is starting to receive more attention ( Chen et al., 2017a, 2017b)

Production and use

The top four bovine milk producers in the world are the US, India, China and Brazil. Table 2 shows some of the major milk producers worldwide and also their populations. The amount of milk produced per head of population has been calculated and this reveals who is producing surplus to national requirements and those countries which are not, ie, the major exporters and importers of milk products.

The situation in the UK is worth further discussion. We are approximately the tenth largest milk producer in the world and we consume about 50 per cent of this as liquid milk. This is the highest in the world and the vast majority of this is pasteurised. In the US it is approximately 20 per cent and in Ireland about 10 per cent. Thus we are the foremost nation of milk drinkers.

Options for using milk are relatively simple. The simplest is to consume it as liquid milk, or it can be converted it into a range of products. In the UK, cheese production accounts for about 30 per cent of the milk produced. The main by-product is whey. Industries have evolved to utilise whey and this is a now a valuable revenue stream for cheese manufacturers and whey processing specialists. It takes about 10 kg milk to make 1 kg of a hard cheese like cheddar, which will generate about 9 kg of liquid whey. Whey protein concentrates and isolates are widely available for a wide variety of health related uses, including sports nutrition.

Milk composition can be easily modified by physical separation processes. The fat in milk can separated by centrifugation and recombined with skim milk to produce milk with a variety of fat contents and creams ranging from 12 per cent to upward of 50 per cent. Protein may also be concentrated by ultrafiltration for high protein drinks.

In recent times, semi-skimmed milk has become popular. Its fat content has been reduced from about four per cent to about 1.5 per cent but it retains a reasonable mouthfeel. Skim milk, which contains about 0.1 per cent fat, is also a popular option, but it has a more watery mouthfeel. However, the mineral and water soluble vitamin contents of both these reduced-fat milks is approximately the same as the original milk.

Heat treatment

Milk is usually heat treated, primarily to make it safe for consumption. In the UK it is predominantly pasteurised. This is the simplest way to use milk and we do this exceptionally well in the UK.

Heat treatment ranges from pasteurisation and extended shelf-life, which both require refrigerated storage, through to sterilisation. Again sterilisation can be performed in the container at 115 -120 ^oC for 15 to 30 min or by ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing. This involves heating product up to 140 ^oC and holding it at that temperature for a short period of time. It is then cooled and packaged aseptically, to maintain it sterile. In the UK, most milk is pasteurised and distributed and stored chilled. In contrast, in France and Belgium, over 90 per cent of liquid milk is UHT processed.

Sterilisation provides a product that can be stored without refrigeration and which may have a shelf-life of six months or longer. Most of the plant protein beverages are UHT sterilised.

Worldwide, white milk still dominates the dairy beverages sector. In 2015, 216 billion litres were consumed. In contrast, soya milk was 17.8 billion litres and the emerging RNGS (rice, nuts, grain and seeds) category was 8.3 billion litres. In a recent article it was stated that there are over 15 products in this latter category. The most common are almond, coconut, oats and rice. All of this is heat treated.

Nutrients

Milk contains an essential range of minerals and vitamins. When milk is converted to products, the aim is to ensure that the nutrients that are found in milk are retained in the products.

Milk provides a very cheap source of protein, something which should be more widely appreciated. Table 3 has been compiled by purchasing products in a local supermarket. The cost of the purchase, its weight or volume and its declared protein content allow the cost of purchasing one gram of protein to be calculated. The table contains the approximate price we pay for protein for a variety of popular products in the UK diet. It shows that those two staples of the English diet, namely bread and milk, are the cheapest protein sources and eggs are not far behind.

Many nutritional studies show that people are more likely to benefit from including milk and milk products in their diet than excluding them. At one time free school milk was supplied to every child in the UK, and at that time childhood obesity was not the problem that it now is. Some things which are of current concern are increases in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Rickets is also on the increase. One of the main problems in the elderly is muscle wastage. Protein and calcium are very important nutrients to reduce this.

Milk intolerances

A small proportion of the population may show intolerance to milk. However, it is often considered to be more of a perceived problem than a real problem. It is estimated that only 0.01 per cent of Northern European populations lacks the enzyme to digest lactose.

“Almost 12 million people in the UK consider themselves to be lactose intolerant” ( Bee, 2016). For many Britains, milk phobia has little medical basis. Formally diagnosed problems are a fraction of the figure who think they have a problem. More common is secondary lactose intolerance, which is temporary and might occur after a bout of illness. There are some strategies for tolerating dairy products and it is accepted that people can also learn to tolerate lactose

Breast milk is the first food to be naturally available to babies. It has had an eternity to evolve in order to provide adequate nutrition at the start of life. Infant formulations aim to mimic breast milk in composition. It is an undisputable fact that breast milk contains more lactose than bovine milk. From this, one might assume that all infants are born with the ability to digest lactose, but in many parts of the world, lactose intolerance is widespread. One explanation is that the ability to digest lactose is easily lost quite quickly in some populations and it is not clear (to me) why this is the case.

Some people may be intolerant to protein, the most common and fashionable at the moment being gluten (wheat protein) intolerance. The main protein fraction in milk is casein, but there are different types of casein. One casein fraction is β-casein and most bovine milk contains both A1 and A2 forms of β–casein. Some individuals may be intolerant to A1 β-casein and this can be overcome by consuming milk containing only the A2 B-casein milk. Such milk is available and sold as A2 milk. In Australia, about 10 per cent of milk consumed is A2 milk. Such A2 milk is now available in the UK, but is in its infancy, with about two million litres a year being consumed. It is still milk with nothing added, as the cows have been selected to produce milk containing only the A2 variant of β-casein. Another strategy is to switch from cow’s milk to goat’s or sheep, buffalo or donkey, depending on where you are living.

Another interesting development is the availability of melatonin milk in Ireland (Lullaby milk). Melatonin is a natural sleep-inducing hormone and cows which are milked at night time produce milk containing higher amounts of melatonin, thus providing a natural sleeping potion. It is well known that milky drinks consumed before bedtime help many people to sleep well, but there has not been any scientific basis for this.

Internet and social networking

The internet is now a very important source of information about food and nutrition. However, it is not only an excellent means of disseminating information, but also disinformation. In the political world, the term “fake news” is applied, but false information also abounds about milk and milk products. Unlike scientific literature it is not regulated, scrutinised and subject to peer review.

Through the internet and social networking, there is a worrying movement aimed toward removing milk and milk products from our diet and replacing them with a range of products. One category that might appear to be in direct competition are plant protein beverages, such as soya, almond, coconut, rice and oat products. It is important to question why this is happening and the wisdom of such advice. Some information about the cost of purchasing protein from these drinks is shown in Table 3.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these products and as part of a balanced diet they provide variety. However, many of them are very low in protein and in some other important nutrients and provide an expensive means of providing protein to the diet. Thus they should not be considered as substitutes for milk. For example, protein from a coconut beverage is almost 70 times more expensive than that from milk.

There may also be intolerances to many of the plant protein beverages. Many of them provide allergen advice. For example, the main component of soymilk, which is the soybean, is a declared allergen on the label. Many people have severe allergies to some nut products. In almond drinks, the main ingredient is listed (in bold) as an allergen and in oats, gluten is listed as allergen. Rice and coconut beverages list no allergens, but there will inevitably be some people who will be allergic to these products.

Reasons for milk

A person giving up dairy products or thinking about doing so should seriously consider their reasons for taking this course of action. It should be monitored in some objective way as to whether it is improving their health and wellbeing, especially if they are going to advocate that others follow their example. Between the age of 10 and 20, bone mass increase is at its maximum. Unfortunately, failure to achieve adequate bone mass at this time may only become evident 20 to 30 years later, when osteoporosis may set in. Calcium and vitamin D are two important nutrient requirements at this stage of life. Dairy products will provide the calcium, and outdoor living and sunshine the vitamin D.

If it is because the dairy substitute product is providing the person with a cheaper and better source of protein, then this is not correct. The cost of protein is considerably higher in coconut and rice beverages, compared to cow’s milk, and there is less information about protein quality and anti-nutritional compounds in these other products. As a strategy for consuming alternative protein sources, this is an expensive and impractical solution. Further, the person may well be allergic to some of the proteins in these products, or they may contain other dietary allergens or irritants.

It may be because the person considers them to be more natural than milk. In fact the reverse is true. They are usually fortified with minerals and vitamins. Therefore, if a person is one of the “ anti-additive” brigade and switches from milk to these beverages, then wires have really been crossed. Dairy milk can be labelled as milk and nothing else, while the first ingredient declared on most of these plant beverages is water.

The fact that milk has no added water can be verified by its freezing point, which is consistently about -0.52ºC across the world. In a recent survey the freezing point of 14 different soymilks on the UK market ranged between -0.09ºC down to -0.65ºC. In beverages, the freezing point reflects the amounts of small molecules in the product, eg, sugars, salts and vitamins. This wide range found for the freezing point of soymilk reflects large variations in its composition. Its freezing point will depend upon the soybean source and the amounts of other additives. So, when buying soymilk, its composition is going to be much more variable than that of cow’s milk.

If the concern is that milk is heat treated, then so are all these other plant protein beverages. In fact most plant protein beverages are UHT processed. In contrast, most milk in the UK is pasteurised and is consumed within seven to 10 days.

Milk is a very important source of minerals, especially calcium. However, it is much less appreciated that calcium in milk from different species varies. Human milk contains about 7.5 mM calcium, cow’s and goat milk about 30 mM, sheep milk about 50 mM and some animals such as bears contain over 100 mM.

The content of calcium and some other minerals of feed materials used in plant protein beverages are also given in Table 4. These are presented on a dry weight basis (ie, in powdered form) to help to make comparisons. This shows that most of the raw materials used for plant protein beverages contain much less calcium than milk. Thus when they are used to produce beverages, they need to be fortified with calcium, which is another additive. It is interesting that calcium is fortified to levels found in bovine milk, and not to levels found in human milk.

Most plant protein beverages contain added sugar. Some of these are not very palatable without added sugar and sugar may be added as fruit juices in some products. Recent health guidelines recommend that no more than five per cent of our calories should be derived from added sugar.

Some confusion is evident about how the plant protein beverages are described, and for some the term milk is applied, especially for soy products. It is curious that they wish to use “milk” as a descriptor. Where it is used as marketing tool, it suggests that there is a grudging respect for those attributes of milk that are considered worthy of emulating. But rather than buy a product that would like to be milk, why not consume the real thing?

According to information provided on the labels, most plant protein beverages are not suitable for consumption by babies and infants. Why ever not? Some typical labelling advice is that they are not suitable for children under two years old or that they can be introduced as part of a balanced diet from six months of age, or that they are suitable as a main milk alternative from two years.

They also have very different ratios of K /Na to milk and also to bodily tissue, which may also be an important issue.

The main ingredient in plant protein beverages is water. Water itself is not just water, as it may contain variable amounts of minerals. For some products, water quality is crucial to product quality. For example, in brewing and beer production the water is “Burtonised” to modify its mineral content to that found in water from Burton on Trent. To date, I have seen no mention of the role of added water quality and composition of these products.

Conclusions

Milk and milk products are facing a hostile assault on-line. Often, much of this is pure science fiction. For example it does not appear in the alkaline diet, while it is closer to being alkaline than most foods recommended on that diet.

One should look closely at those who advocate and practice a dairy-free diet and judge whether they both are and look healthy and at the science underpinning their hostility to milk.

Like all foods, plant protein beverages are produced to be enjoyed. However, they are expensive ways to purchase water and protein and they are usually fortified with calcium, minerals and vitamins. Thus, they are much less natural than milk. Many profess to contain allergens and some are not suitable for babies and younger children. One should think very carefully about using these exclusively to replace milk from the diet. Some of the possible adverse effects may take a long time to be noticed. Replacing something natural with something that is not natural is not a logical thing to do.

There is increasing evidence that increased milk consumption will decrease risk factors associated with coronary heart disease, artereal stiffness, type 2 diabetes, rickets and even colorectol cancer. There is no such evidence yet for plant protein beverages.

References

Bee, Peta, What’s wrong with milk from a cow?. The Times, April 26^th, 2016

Chen, B., Lewis, M.J. and Grandison, A.S. (2014), Effect of seasonal variation on the composition and properties of raw milk destined for processing in the UK, Food Chemistry, 158, 216-223.

Chen, B.Y., Grandison, A.S. and Lewis, M.J. (2017) Best use for milk – A Review I-Effect of breed variations on the physicochemical properties of bovine milk. International Journal of Dairy Technology, 70-3-15

Chen, B.Y., Grandison, A.S. and Lewis, M.J. (2017) Best use for milk – A Review II – Effect of physiological, husbandry and seasonal factors on the physicochemical properties of bovine milk, DOI: 10.1111/1471-0307.12355

Deeth, H.C and Lewis, M.J. (2017) High temperature processing of milk and milk products, Wiley Blackwell

McCance and Widdowson’s, Composition of Foods Tables (5^th Edition), 1991, Royal Society of Chemistry, MAFF

Dr Mike Lewis is a recognised academic and has written more than 100 scientific papers, book chapters and textbooks over a period of 45 years. He currently runs food workshops throughout the world and is a consultant to the industry.

Table 1 The pH and composition of bulk raw cow’s milk, taken on 25 occasions over a period of one year (taken from data in Chen et al., 2014)

Table 2 Milk production worldwide ( adapted from data in Deeth and Lewis, 2017)

Adapted from data in Deeth and Lewis (2017)

Table 3 The cost of protein (pence/g) from different food products, based on price paid and declared protein content

Table 4 Nutrient content of milk powdered and some dried ingredients used in plant protein beverages taken from McCance and Widdowson’s Composition of Foods Tables

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Packaging is one of those things we very much take for granted in our western European houses and workplaces. It is only when we start looking at how packaging can transform a sector – for example, the growth of UHT milk in Brazil – that we see, for all its issues with disposal and recycling, that packaging has made our lives much easier. It offers us food that is stable and fresh for longer, and free from contamination. In a way, modern society is built on packaging.

We often forget that. So I am looking forward to seeing what new innovations manufacturers have to offer. And hope to catch up with some of you at the show.

In conjunction with Interpack, Save Food, the conference on the fight against hunger, was also being held. The programme focused on India this year, which is a key dairy market, and one where packaging can make a difference in the loss of milk to market.

No matter what days you are there, I would encourage you to visit Innovationparc, where Save Food will be featuring ongoing presentations. These will be featuring representatives from the World Packaging Organisation, and packagers such as Mondi, which will cover how the barrier properties of packaging minimise food waste. That’s just one day. Please visit www.save-food.org for more information.

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Super Brand Mall attracts more than 20 million shoppers per year and boasts 250,000 square metres of retail space.

The full Anchor China range of UHT milks, milk powders, cheese and butter is on display at the store, where shoppers can also craft their own recipes, view videos of New Zealand farms and play interactive games.

Famous Chinese actor Tong Dawei joined the store launch event, sampling products and helping to develop recipes using Anchor products.

Christina Zhu, president of Fonterra Greater China, says, “Today’s Chinese consumers are much more brand conscious and brand loyal than previous generations, so finding ways to create experiences and emotional connections with the brand is a key part of our ongoing brand building strategy for Anchor in China.

“This higher level of discernment among consumers is driving strong demand for premium goods, so this pop-up is a high profile opportunity for us to remind shoppers of the premium nature of Anchor.”

Vice president of China Brands, Chester Cao said that brands in China need to integrate their online and offline presence to reach consumers in the digital age.

“Our pop-up store is recognition of that need to integrate,” he explains. “Online and offline go hand-in-hand and events like this are a great way to tell our story in a more real and engaging way.

“We’ve had great feedback from shoppers on the farm videos in the store, seeing the green grass and blue skies where New Zealand cows graze is unique for many people in China and it helps them understand Anchor’s provenance in more depth.”

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The company processes 14 million litres of milk per day and makes fresh milk, curd, butter milk, lassi, ice cream, paneer, butter, ghee, milk powder, flavoured milk, milk sweets and UHT milk and dairy whitener.

Nara notes the company aims to achieve $1 billion in (€920m) revenue in the next five years, with a focus on added value products. It has outlets in 15 Indian states. The company recently acquired the dairy business of Reliance Retail, making Heritage Foods a pan India player.

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I started at Tetra Pak as a quotation engineer involving a lot of direct contact with customers. Listening to their feedback and helping them achieve their goals always motivated me. Following this, I transitioned into a more technical role, working first as a process engineer and then an automation engineer, which helped me translate the customer’s needs I was so familiar with from my previous role into machine functionality.

Now that I am a product manager I can explain the values and benefits of the machinery that we have, in order to fit the needs of the customers, plus I have an influence into the development of new ideas suggested by our customers.

Q: What other projects have you been working on for Tetra Pak? 

I worked on the development of Tetra Pak’s OneStep technology, which combines pasteurisation and UHT treatment into one single step, first launched in 2010.

This allows customers to cut their operating costs in half while still maintaining a consistently high product quality. Plus, it supports a smaller environmental footprint by requiring less stainless steel, less energy and less water than conventional pasteurisation and UHT treatment conducted in two separate steps. We now have a good geographical spread for OneStep technology for the production of UHT milk, which has been installed in Spain, Sweden, Hungary, South Africa, China, Russia and Brazil.

I have also been involved in a business transformation project to improve our development processes and prioritisation. By efficiently capturing the requirements of our customers, we can deliver the right products faster to the market.

Q: Where do you think the next breakthrough will come in dairy processing? 

As technological and digital infrastructure continues to improve, I believe we will see more self-learning instruments, peopleless plants and the deployment of artificial intelligence. Outside of this, I foresee further evolution of the environment focus and how it is assessed, with an even greater emphasis on delivery of products and processes with the lowest possible environmental footprint.

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

For me, the OneStep technology project was a great achievement. It was a significant challenge to combine two important processes in the production of milk without compromising on food safety. This one continuous step enables customers to reduce operational costs by up to 40 per cent. Building on this, one of the key components in OneStep technology is the standardisation unit.

With its precision, it enables dairy producers to get the most from the milk they produce without giving away too much cream. We know that customers are looking to create as much value as they can from the products they produce, and it has already achieved field success with dairy cooperative Arla Foods.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you? 

To stay up to speed with the development teams, I often attend their daily ‘scrum’ project meetings, which last for a maximum of 15 minutes and help us share information in an agile way about project progress. Speaking and collaborating with colleagues across the globe has become normal for us, and so I often have virtual meetings with colleagues and partners online to discuss projects we are working on.

Plus, being a product manager, I also have to consider the long-term direction and needs of products in the market, and so essentially my day is a balance between the now and the future.

Q: Outside of work, what are your hobbies/interests? 

My main hobby outside of my day job is working with horses, again it is a balance between the daily work that needs to be done, such as maintaining the stables, feeding and healthcare to the more creative side that involves the training and performance improvements you want the horse to achieve. I find it truly mentally relaxing, even if it is physically a lot of hard work.

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In 2015, the food & beverage segment accounted for the largest share in the equipment market in terms of value, and is projected to grow at a higher CAGR from 2017 to 2022. The various dairy products that undergo aseptic processing and packaging include, UHT milk, creams, fermented dairy products, concentrated and condensed milk, flavored & formulated dairy products, and other dairy products. Beverage products include, fruit juices, carbonated drinks, tea, coconut water, and energy drinks.

The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the fastest-growing market for packaging as well as the equipment market of the aseptic processing market, owing to its increasing economy with a large population base ready to spend on processed food and rapidly growing consumer markets of China, India, and Japan.

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Between January and September 2016, UHT whole milk accounted for 73.5% of the total sales volume of drinking milk in the sector. UHT milk drinks followed with a market share of 14.1%.

According to industry experts, the longer shelf life of UHT milk and the pleasant taste of milk with relatively high fat content are the success factors of these products.

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