from Sci.chem
Subject: Re: non-Dairy food products
Summary: Manufacture of casein
Keywords: casein, manufacture, origin
Message-ID: <4680@kitty.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 91 05:11:44 GMT
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY

In article <1991Feb5.160707.29319@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> forbes@aries.scs.uiuc.edu
(Jeff Forbes) writes:
>>      What are the sources of casein and the caseinates
>>      which are constituents of non-dairy food products?
        Skim milk.
>>      Is spoiled milk the major (or only?) source?
        Casein is primarily obtained from "fresh" milk, although a small
amount is recovered from outdated dairy products.  Larger fluid milk
plants have machines which automatically slit open and drain milk from
outdated milk cartons as removed from store shelves.  Such recovered milk
is then sold to firms that extract casein and other products.

>>      If so how can it be called non-dairy?

        Casein is a protein, and as such is a condensation product of
amino acids which are connected through the amide (peptide) bond -CONH-.
There are different forms of casein containing various combinations of
amino acids.

        I suppose it can be argued that once casein is extracted from milk
and is purified as a purely chemical product, it has lost its relationship
to milk and cows - and is therefore "non-dairy".  However, I'm not saying
that *I* espouse this explanation, and I'm not suggesting that *you* believe
it, either.

>>      And ...is it natural?
>>      or is it non-dairy because its synthetic?

        No matter how I attempt to answer these questions, I'm going to
be wrong - so I'll pass! :-)

>Casein is indeed made from milk by acidification. I guess that it can be 
>used in "non-dairy" products, since it is fat free. One interesting fact is 
>that almost all of the casein used in this country is imported.

        There is a rather interesting explanation for casein being imported
from such countries as New Zealand, Austrialia and Argentina - as opposed
to being produced in the U.S.  Due to USDA price support policies, it has
historically been economically advantageous for skim milk in the U.S. not
destined for direct consumption to be dried and processed into non-fat milk
powder - as opposed to being processed into casein.  Therefore, it is far
more economical to import casein from other countries that are rich in
milk production.  Also, production equipment for casein is simpler and less
expensive that spray drying production equipment for powdered milk, making
it more attractive for less industrialized countries to produce casein than
powdered milk.

Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp.  "Have you hugged your cat today?"
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