Milk - Food product for Humans

In many cultures of the world especially the Western world humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy using the milk of other animals in particular, cow's as a food product. For millennia, cow milk has been processed into dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, and especially the more durable and easily transportable product, cheese. Industrial science has brought us casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additive and industrial products.

Humans are an exception in the natural world for consuming milk past infancy. Most humans lose the ability to fully digest milk after childhood i.e they become lactose intolerant. The sugar lactose is found only in milk, forsythia flowers and a few tropical shrubs. The enzyme needed to digest lactose is lactase which reaches its highest levels in the small intestines after birth and then begins a slow decline, unless milk is consumed regularly. On the other hand, those groups that do continue to tolerate milk often have exercised great creativity in using the milk of domesticated ungulates not only of cows, but also buffalo, camels, donkeys,goats, horses, moose (elk), reindeer, sheep, water buffalo & yaks.

Animal milk (Cow's milk)
Raw milk
It is the milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized.

Pasteurized milk
The act or process of heating a beverage or other food such as milk or beer to a specific temperature for a specific period of time in order to kill microorganisms that could cause disease, spoilage or undesired fermentation.

Homogenized milk
Mechanical treatment to break up and redistribute the fat globules throughout the milk to prevent the cream rising to the surface.

Toned milk
Dried, skim milk added to a high-fat milk such as buffalo milk to reduce the fat content but maintain the total solids.

Skimmed milk
Skimmed milk (UK) or skim milk (US) is made when all the cream, also called milk fat is removed from whole milk. Sometimes only half the cream is removed, called semi skimmed milk. Skimmed milk is more popular in the United States than Britain. Skimmed milk contains less fat than whole milk, which means that many nutritionists and doctors recommend it for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Condensed milk
Cow's milk with sugar added & reduced by evaporation to a thick consistency.

Evaporated milk
Concentrated & unsweetened milk made by evaporating some of the water from whole milk.

Powdered milk / Dry milk / Dehydrated milk
Powdered milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it for, milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for economy of transportation. Available as Dry Whole Milk (DWM), it is most commonly produced as Non-Fat Dry Milk (NFDM) also known as Dried Skim Milk (DSM).

Baked milk
Baked milk is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia and Ukraine. It is made by cooking boiled milk on low heat for eight hours or more. In rural areas baked milk has been produced by leaving a jug of boiled milk in an oven for a day or for a night until it is coated with a brown crust. Nowadays baked milk is produced on an industrial scale as soured or fermented baked milk, traditionally known as ryazhenka. It is free of bacteria and enzymes, can be stored safely at room temperature for up to forty hours. Home-made baked milk is used in preparing a range of cakes, pies and cookies.

Scalded milk
Scalded milk is milk that has been cooked to 82°C/180°F. At this temperature bacteria and enzymes in the milk are destroyed. Since pasteurization technique is being followed nowadays, which accomplishes both of these goals, milk is typically scalded simply to increase its temperature. Some of the uses of scalded milk are,

• used in the original recipes for bechamel sauce to prevent the sauce from thickening excessively.
• used for baked bread results in a more tender loaf.
• used for producing a firmer yogurt, as the acid produced during the yogurt development causes less whey separation.
• cafe au lait, baked milk and ryazhenka also use scalded milk.

Plant milk
Plant milk is a general term for any non-dairy substitute for animal-based milk products. The most popular variety by far is soy milk. Two of the most common reasons for consuming plant-based milk are lactose intolerance and the observance of a vegan diet.

Types of plant milk are grain milk, legume based milk, nut milk & seed milk.

Grain milk

Barley milk
Oat milk
Quinoa milk
Rice milk

• Amazake
• Horchata
• Kokkoh
• Sikhye

Legumes based milk

Lupin milk
Pea milk
Soy milk
Peanut milk

Nut milk

Almond milk
Cashew milk
Coconut milk
Hazelnut milk

Seed milk

Hemp milk
Sesame seed milk
Sunflower seed milk