Acid Whey as an Ingredient in Consumer Products is an Untapped Goldmine

20 Jun 2016 --- Acid whey is a valuable raw material that can be used to create high quality and nutritious consumer products, according to Torben Jensen, Category & Application Manager for Fresh Dairy Products at Arla Foods Ingredients. Whey is a traditional byproduct that comes from the production of various dairy products, including cheese. However, in recent years, whey has emerged as a high value product in its own right, particularly now that the protein trend is so strong. This means that whey, as a high quality dairy protein, also has a sustainability advantage from a marketing perspective.

These were some highlights discussed during the FoodIngredientsFirst webinar last week, entitled “Maximize Your Dairy Production Set-Up To 100% Yield,” which was sponsored by Arla Foods Ingredients.

The high protein trend has led to high global product launch activity across various product categories. Innova Market Insights has reported that the dairy category has been the most impacted, enjoying a 30% compound annual growth between 2010 and 2015. The category has seen a high growth in new product development in high protein yogurts such as Greek yogurt and skyr, first in the US and later elsewhere. In fact, Innova Market Insights has reported that there were over 8 times as many Greek yogurt launches tracked in 2015 as in 2010, with strong growth for the last several years.

Speaking during the webinar, Jensen described acid whey as an untapped goldmine that contains the same minerals as milk, which means it offers the same benefits to bones, teeth and general health. But it is often disposed of in waste streams or sold for little or no profit to farmers for use in animal feed. Jensen highlighted the widespread belief that acid whey has no added value: “In general you can say it’s very low value for the producers. It’s not even close to what you get from milk, it’s a few eurocents per kilo and in some situations you are even asked to pay to get rid of it as waste.”

As a result, Arla is currently running the Maximum Yield campaign. During the webinar, Claus Andersen, Category & Application Manager at Arla Foods Ingredients spoke about Arla’s new milk protein-based solution that enables dairies to utilize 100% of their milk in the manufacturing process – with zero by-products or waste. The solution called Nutrilac HiYield can be used to create a range of high quality dairy products that traditionally generate acid whey and permeate during production, including Greek yogurt, cream cheese, Feta, Mascarpone, Ricotta, quark and skyr.

Andersen added: “If you go back 30 years, whey protein from cheese making was viewed as a by-product with little value. Now it is recognized as a high value ingredient with almost endless possibilities in multiple sectors such as dairy, bakery and sports nutrition. We are at a similar stage now with acid whey. It is an exceptional raw material, but many processors don’t know how to unlock its potential.”

Arla’s Nutrilac HiYield can be used to create a range of high quality dairy products that traditionally generate acid whey and permeate during production. In the case of Greek yogurt, for example, in traditional processes only 33% of the milk ends up in the finished product: the remaining two thirds is acid whey. However, with Arla’s HiYield, 100% of the milk is used in the finished product, with no acid whey generated. Andersen said: “We have worked with this HiYield production method for quite some years in other food ingredients. In the last 3-5 years, our team of specialists have implemented these solutions at quite a lot of customers. We have customers today producing cream cheese, feta cheese and Greek yogurt, so we see the interest for this being quite significant.”

It is said to be a flexible solution that requires little or no adjustment to existing production lines for common dairy products such as stirred yoghurt and cream cheese, because it eliminates the need for separation and filtration equipment. During the Q&A session of the Webinar, Jensen highlighted the process: “It’s important the acid whey is cooled and pasteurized right after separation because you have to upgrade this acid whey as a new raw material in the dairy, you need to make sure that there will be no contamination during storage. That way you kill the bacteria and destroy the enzymes, so you will have a more stable product during the shelf life before you process it further. The cooling is also important, but the most important is to pasteurize it right after separation. After that you can store it in your factory like you store the milk and use it in the next 2 or 3 days.”

by Liesbeth Thijssen