Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured

dairy product Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...

made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

than liquid milk and does not need to be refrigerated, due to its low moisture content. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for the economy of transportation. Powdered milk and dairy products include such items as dry whole milk, nonfat (skimmed) dry milk, dry

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mod ...

, dry

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard ...

products and dry dairy blends. Many exported dairy products conform to standards laid out in ''

Codex Alimentarius The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food production ...

''. Powdered milk is used for food as an additive, for health (nutrition), and also in

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

(saturating agent).

History and manufacture

While Marco Polo wrote of Mongolian

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

troops in the time of

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...

who carried sun-dried skimmed milk as "a kind of paste", the first modern production process for dried milk was invented by the Russian doctor

Osip Krichevsky Osip (Russian ''О́сип'') is a Russian male given name, a variant of the name Joseph. Notable people with the name include: * Osip Abdulov (1900–1953), Soviet actor * Osip Aptekman, Russian revolutionary * Ossip Bernstein (1882-1962), Russia ...

in 1802. The first commercial production of dried milk was organized by the Russian chemist

M. Dirchoff ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respe ...

in 1832. In 1855, T. S. Grimwade took a patent on a dried milk procedure, though a William Newton had patented a vacuum drying process as early as 1837. In modern times, powdered milk is usually made by

spray drying Spray drying is a method of changing a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying with a hot gas. This is the preferred method of drying of many thermally-sensitive materials such as foods and pharmaceuticals, or materials which may req ...

nonfat

skimmed milk Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat. Background Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was recommende ...

, whole milk, buttermilk or whey. Pasteurized milk is first concentrated in an evaporator to approximately 50 percent milk solids. The resulting concentrated milk is then sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving fine particles of powdered milk solids. Alternatively, the milk can be dried by drum drying. Milk is applied as a thin film to the surface of a heated drum, and the dried milk solids are then scraped off. However, powdered milk made this way tends to have a cooked flavour, due to

caramelization Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and ...

caused by greater heat exposure. Another process is

freeze drying Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature Food drying, dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, removing the ice by Sublimation (phase transition), sublimation. This ...

, which preserves many nutrients in milk, compared to drum drying. The drying method and the heat treatment of the milk as it is processed alters the properties of the milk powder, such as its solubility in cold water, its flavour, and its

bulk density Bulk density, also called apparent density or volumetric density, is a property of powders, granules, and other "divided" solids, especially used in reference to mineral components ( soil, gravel), chemical substances, ( pharmaceutical) ingre ...

Food and health uses

Powdered milk is frequently used in the manufacture of

infant formula Infant formula, baby formula, or simply formula (American English); or baby milk, infant milk or first milk (British English), is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prep ...

, confectionery such as chocolate and caramel candy, and in recipes for baked goods where adding liquid milk would render the product too thin. Powdered milk is also widely used in various sweets such as the Indian milk balls known as gulab jamun and a popular Indian sweet delicacy (sprinkled with desiccated coconut) known as chum chum (made with skim milk powder). Many no-cook recipes that use nut butters use powdered milk to prevent the nut butter from turning liquid by absorbing the oil. Powdered milk is also a common item in UN food aid supplies, fallout shelters, warehouses, and wherever fresh milk is not a viable option. It is widely used in many developing countries because of reduced transport and storage costs (reduced bulk and weight, no refrigerated vehicles). Like other dry foods, it is considered nonperishable and is favored by survivalists,

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A His ...

, and others requiring nonperishable, easy-to-prepare food. Because of its resemblance to

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

and other drugs, powdered milk is sometimes used in filmmaking as a non-toxic prop that may be insufflated.

Reconstitution

The weight of nonfat dry milk (NFDM) to use is about 10% of the water weight.Gisslen wrote, "910 g water + 90 g nonfat dry milk" ⟹ 90 g/910 g ≈ 0.0989 = 9.89%. Gisslen also wrote, "14.5 oz water + 1.5 oz nonfat dry milk" ⟹ 1.5 oz/14.5 oz ≈ 0.1034 = 10.34%. There's a value range, depending on weight system used, of 9.89-10.34% NFDM based on water weight when reconstituting nonfat or skim milk. Alternatively, when measuring by volume rather than weight, one cup of fluid milk from powdered milk requires one cup of water and one-third cup of powdered milk.

Nutritional value

Milk powders contain all 21 standard amino acids, the building blocks of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

s, and are high in soluble

vitamins A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrie ...

and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

. According to USAID, the typical average amounts of major nutrients in the unreconstituted nonfat dry milk are (by weight) 36% protein, 52% carbohydrates (predominantly

lactose Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix ...

), calcium 1.3%, potassium 1.8%. Whole milk powder, on the other hand, contains on average 25–27% protein, 36–38% carbohydrates, 26–40% fat, and 5–7% ash (minerals). In Canada, powdered milk must contain added

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 ...

in an amount such that a reasonable daily intake of the milk will provide between 300 and 400

International unit In pharmacology, the international unit (IU) is a unit of measurement for the effect, not mass of a substance; the variance is based on the biological activity or effect, for the purpose of easier comparison across similar ''forms'' of substance ...

s (IU) of vitamin D. However, inappropriate storage conditions, such as high relative humidity and high ambient temperature, can significantly degrade the

nutritive value Nutritional value or nutritive value as part of food quality is the measure of a well-balanced ratio of the Nutrient#Essentiality, essential nutrients carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins in items of food or Diet (nutrition), diet con ...

of milk powder. Commercial milk powders are reported to contain oxysterols (oxidized cholesterol) in higher amounts than in fresh milk (up to 30 μg/g, versus trace amounts in fresh milk).p 296 in "Toxins in Food" by W.M. Dabrowski and Z.E. Sikorski, CRC Press, 2004, Oxysterols are derivatives of cholesterol that are produced either by

free radicals In chemistry, a radical, also known as a free radical, is an atom, molecule, or ion that has at least one unpaired valence electron. With some exceptions, these unpaired electrons make radicals highly chemically reactive. Many radicals spon ...

or by enzymes. Some free radicals-derived oxysterols have been suspected of being initiators of atherosclerotic plaques. For comparison, powdered eggs contain even more oxysterols, up to 200 μg/g.

Export market

As of 2020, the largest producers of milk powder are Europe, New Zealand, China, United States and Brazil. European production of milk powder in fiscal year 2019–2020 was estimated at around 3.0 million tonnes of which the main volume was exported in bulk packing or consumer packs. Australia also has a significant milk powder export industry, exporting over 13,000 tonnes of skim and whole milk powder in fiscal year 2020–2021, to a value of approximately AUD $83 000 000. Brands on the market include Nido, from the company

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, sin ...

, Incolac from the company Milcobel, Dutch Lady from FrieslandCampina and Puck from Arla Foods. Some of the largest businesses in the industry are Nestlé, Danone, Lactalis, Fonterra, FrieslandCampina, Dean Foods, Arla Foods, Dairy Farmers of America, Kraft Foods, Saputo, and Parmalat.

Adulteration

In the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, melamine adulterant was found in Sanlu

, added to fool tests into reporting higher protein content. Thousands became ill, and some children died, after consuming the product.

Contamination scare

In August 2013, China temporarily suspended all milk powder imports from New Zealand, after a scare where

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium '' Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, feeling tired, and trouble speaking. This may then be followed by weakn ...

-causing bacteria was falsely detected in several batches of New Zealand-produced whey protein concentrate. As a result of the product recall, the New Zealand dollar slipped significantly based on expected losses in sales from this single commodity.

Use in biotechnology

Fat-free powdered milk is used as a saturating agent to block nonspecific binding sites on supports like

blotting A blot, in molecular biology and genetics, is a method of transferring proteins, DNA or RNA onto a carrier (for example, a nitrocellulose, polyvinylidene fluoride or nylon membrane). In many instances, this is done after a gel electrophoresis, t ...

membranes (

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or nylon), preventing binding of further detection reagents and subsequent background.p 82 in "Lab Ref, Volume 2: A Handbook of Recipes, Reagents, and Other Reference Tools for Use at the Bench" by A.S. Mellick and L. Rodgers, CSHL Press, 2002, It may be referred as Blotto. The major

of milk,

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins ( αS1, aS2, β, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of the proteins in human ...

, is responsible for most of the binding site saturation effect.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powdered Milk Instant foods and drinks Dried foods Milk Russian inventions Food powders