Keeping the pinta fresh
15 Jan 2000
The sudden transformation of a pint of milk into yogurt could be delayed by new technology from Westfalia Separators. The company claims that its high-speed centrifugation system can increase the shelf-life of fresh milk by five days without any change in taste, texture or price.
Pasteurisation of milk is a long-established process to keep milk fresh, but the product still sours in a matter of days. Increasing the shelf-life beyond this has always involved high-temperature treatment, which kills off the bacteria that sour the milk, but significantly alters the taste.
The Westfalia system, by contrast, involves spinning pasteurised milk in a high-speed centrifuge. `The forces in the centrifuge are such that bacteria are "spun out" of the milk before it leaves the dairy,' the company says. This has two advantages: it increases the life of the milk, as the lower the bacterial concentration, the slower the souring process; and it helps dairies control their product quality, as the bacterial count of milk leaving the dairy is always the same, regardless of variations when it went in.
`Express Dairies, Unigate and MD Foods have already adopted this technology,' comments Westfalia managing director Richard Montanaro. `We expect the other leading dairies in the UK soon to follow their lead.'
