From Farm to Table

The consumption of dairy products, made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats and buffalo, among other mammalian species, is almost as old as human civilization, with evidence of these products stretching back many millenia. The production of different kinds of dairy products originated as different ways to preserve the valuable nutritional goodness of milk components (lactose, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals) and make the milk safe for consumption, using basic principles like fermentation, heating, separation, dehydration, acidification, smoking and salting, which are the keys to producing products like cheese, butter and yogurt. Many dairy products today are still produced using the same basic principles, and in this book an introduction to the origins, constituents and properties of milk is given, alongside an outline of the ways in which dairy products are made including the development of advanced products like infant formula and formulated nutritional products. The text introduces, at an introductory level, the chemistry and microbiology of milk, as well as the principles of the main processes used like spray-drying, fermentation and pasteurization, to underpin understanding of how the properties of the main dairy products emerge. The book, which finishes with a discussion of the challenges and threats facing dairy today, is designed to be accessible to a wide range of non-specialist readers who may have an interest in milk and dairy products and want to learn more about this fascinating and ancient branch of the science of food.