Classification of Milk / Dairy products
There are different classes in which all the milk products are categorized:
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| 7 Classes of milk | dairy products |
1. Milk Cream and its Products:
By definition, milk cream must contain more than 18% milk fat. Therefore, fat percentage in the milk cream products may vary from 18% to 40%.
Examples of milk cream products:-
· Light cream / coffee cream / table cream: It must contain 18-30% milk fat.
· Heavy cream: It contains not less than 36% milk fat.
· Whipped cream: Air and gas bubbles are injected into the cream in order to increase the texture of the cream – it must contain 30-36% milk fat.
· Half and Half: It is prepared by mixing both milk cream and fresh milk in a definite proportion. It contains about 10.5% milk fat.
Concentrated Milk Products:-
These are derived after complete or partial removing of water contents in the milk. In this way, these can be preserved for a longer period of time. Examples of such products are;
· Homogenized concentrated milk
· Skimmed milk or fat-free milk
· Vitamin D concentrated milk
Flavored Milk Products:
Eggnog is prepared with a combination of milk cream and egg yolk. 6.0 % Butter fat + 1.0 % egg yolk and 0.5% emulsifier also added. Egg yolk is added to enhance the flavor and mineral contents of the product. Likewise, various fruit flavors are also added to milk such as banana flavor, orange flavor, strawberry flavor, chocolate flavor and vanilla flavor and marketed as flavored milk
Cultured Milk Products:
Mostly these are acidified milk products. We add specific bacterial culture in the milk and obtain such product. Example of such products are yogurt, cheese, Lassi etc. Yogurt which is prepared with a monoculture of lactobacillus, streptococcus and micrococcus bacteria. These bacteria ferment the milk lactose into lactic acid due to which curdling of the milk protein starts and we get it as yoghurt.
Reconstituted / Recombined Milk Products:
Reconstitution of milk is the mixing of different separated components/constituents of milk, and homogenizing them to make complete milk. International Law prohibits manufacturing and preparation of such products because there are many chances of adulteration and contamination at each step. Such products are only prepared and used for research and study purposes.
Frozen Milk Products:
Major example of such products is ice cream
Dry Milk Products:
Milk powder is example of such products