Whey - part one

Headnote

In the first instalment of a two-part review, Ernest Mann reports on whey use in different industries

This review is devoted to the recently published Proceedings of the second International Whey Conference. Held in Chicago, USA, in October 1997, the event was co-sponsored by the International Dairy Federation (IDF), the American Dairy Products Institute and the US National Committee of the IDF (1).

Into the 21st century

Bernie Horton (2) opened the first session, on general and economic aspects, with an overview entitled Whey processing into the 21st century. He demonstrated how, through modern science and technology, whey has been transformed from a source of a few major ingredients to one of a multiplicity of ingredients.

A German author discussed a co-ordinated whey promotion programme in Germany (3) where whey processing companies have joined forces. They have formed a working group of the Dairy Industry Federation and have launched several research, publicity and marketing projects.

A survey of whey product marketing in North America (4) was followed by a contribution from a representative of New Zealand Milk Products Inc in the USA (5). This traced the development of the whey protein concentrate (WPC) industry from a New Zealand perspective.

The final paper in this session (6) was devoted to a description of the composition and activities of the European Whey Products Association.

A review called Whey processing and separation technology: state-of-the-art and new developments (7) opened the second session, on processing technologies. This covered cross-flow microfiltration, back pulsing, feed flow pulsation, whey protein precipitation by various means and the separation of whey proteins without precipitation.

A report from the University of Madison, USA (8), gave the results of a study evaluating, on a laboratory scale, a packed column process for the manufacture of whey protein isolate (WPI) from WPC using SP-type cation exchange beads.

The leakage of whey proteins through ultrafiltration membranes during processing can present a problem. New Zealand workers (9) reported the results of a study on the adaptation of a non-aqueous gel permeation chromatographic method. It is designed to obtain a better understanding of the pattern of protein leakage in New Zealand ultra-filtration plants.

The role of Westfalia separators in the processes of whey separation, clarification and concentration were discussed in...