Lime and the variety of milk products

Slaked lime put to use in the production of whey and lactose

A very large variety of products can be made from milk, not just cream, cheese, yoghurt and butter. Milk is also the basic ingredient for some functional products. Slaked lime plays a significant role in their production.

Among the functional products made from milk are whey and lactose. Whey is almost fat-free and contains easily digestible protein. In powdery form, it is put to many uses, also in pig fattening. Additionally, some kinds of cheese, like Ricotta or Ziger are made from whey. As whey protein is quickly absorbed by the body, it is very fashionable with athletes aiming for strength, as it builds muscle.

Slaked lime neutralizes
The two types of whey are sweet and sour whey. They differ mostly in the way they are produced. A large milk processor in the south of Germany treats milk with a strong acid. Then sour whey precipitates as a white, very thick mass, which can be liquefied by stirring. Before use, this quite acidy solution has to be made less acidy to reach a level just slightly more acidy than neutral. For this, a suspension of slaked lime, also called slurry, is added. In the end, the product is used directly as a liquid or is dried.

Lactose for the pharmaceutical industry
The remaining solution apart from the whey contains lactose (milk sugar). It is separated from the liquid and produced as a white powder. Lactose has a light sugary taste. It is used as a basic material, inter alia, for lactic acid, and is added to frozen foods to improve their texture. Due to its reasonable price, its wide availability and the fact that it has practically no harmful effects, lactose is used by the pharmaceutical industry as an excipient in the production of pills.

High purity is a requirement

As the said end products are sold on to the food and pharmaceutical industries, a significant focus is put on the purity and the hygienical perfection of each of the ingredients used in the process. The lime offered by KFN meets these criteria to the fullest. Its outstanding purity has been known for a long time now. As our production facility has been certified as food safe under ISO or FSSC 22000 respectively, KFN also guarantees that no impurities will be found in its final products.

Dr. Dirk Sewing, Head of Research and Development

As the sources for this text, mostly reports from our clients as well as articles on Wikipedia were used.