What is milk?
Milk is a liquid (an emulsion of fat droplets in water) which is produced by female mammals who have just given birth to a descendant and serves as food for those offspring. Milk made up of fats, proteins, lactose and salts. The milk that people produce hot milk. Cow's milk is usually used for the production of milk for the food industry. One liter of cow weighs 1030 grams. Be goat's milk, sheep's milk and camel milk used on a much smaller scale. In Europe and Russia is also produced horse milk. Buffalo milk is used almost exclusively for the production of cheese. Previously, because it corresponds in composition, donkey milk used as a substitute for milk. In the north of Scandinavia and Russia is also used reindeer milk; in Russia even moose milk.
Fat in milk
Milk contains fat. In raw milk, the percentage of milk fat, about 3.5% (35 g / l). By skimming the fat content is reduced. In 1940 was introduced the milk standardization in the Netherlands, the minimum and maximum fat determines (skim) milk that may be sold under different names. Today it is defined in the Decree on Dairy:
Processing
For better preservation of milk is raw milk in the dairy a number of operations. In order to make a longer shelf life milk most of the bacteria have to be slain. Boiled milk, however, has a strongly altered taste. The trick is to find a compromise between durability and taste.
- pasteurization (heating at 72 °)
- sterilization (by heating at 120 °)
- UHT sterilization (short-term heating at Ultra High Temperature)
- bactofuge®, a special type of centrifuge in order to purify milk of bacteria and spores
- cooking (heating until the milk boiling, is typically not factory-applied)
- wells (colostrum)
Milk from various dairy products can be produced. Think yogurt in all variations, buttermilk, various vlasoorten, cheese and butter.
Cow's milk allergy
In some people, the immune system reacts abnormally to cow's milk proteins, making them develop eczema on the skin. This is most common in infants and young children. Usually they have later in life no more trouble here. 2 to 6% of babies have this allergy.
Lactose intolerance
Some people have an inability to convert milk sugars, making them increase intestinal complaints.
The majority of mankind (except for very young children) are lactose intolerant; large parts of the Western European, North African, Central African population and the North American population constitute an exception.
A liter of milk or yogurt contains an average of 40 grams of sugar (4 grams per 100 ml) in the form of lactose. This in contrast to cheese, wherein the lactose by lactic ferments is converted into water and carbon dioxide. Cheese is a better choice than milk or yogurt for people with lactose intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome.
The lactose is composed of two sugars, glucose and half the other half galactose. Galactose has been shown through research that the neurodegenerative damage, increased stress hormones, causing a reduction of active antioxidants in the blood and chronic amnesia.