1
History and Scope of the Book
1.1 Setting the Scene
Bovine milk is the main source of milk in the world today. Table 1.1 illustrates some production data for the leading bovine milk producing countries in the world. The first column shows total milk production, whereas the second shows milk production expressed as per head of population. Thus countries like New Zealand and Ireland (see footnote) produce large quantities per capita, whereas countries such as China, although positioned in the top five milk producers in the world, are most probably not producing sufficient milk for their increasing populations who are developing a taste for milk and milk products. USA and Brazil are also large producers of bovine milk. Much of the milk in Brazil is consumed as liquid milk with a fair proportion being UHT processed.
Table 1.1 Leading producers of bovine milk in 2012, with populations and production per head of population.
from: http://dairy.ahdb.org.uk/market‐information/supply‐production/milk‐production/world‐milk‐production/#.VzxQVHn2aUk and world population figures
| Milk production, 2012
(billion L) | Population
(billion) | Per capita consumption (L/person) |
| United States of America | 90.9 | 0.318 | 286 |
| Russian Federation | 31.6 | 0.146 | 216 |
| New Zealand | 20.0 | 0.0046 | 4350 |
| United Kingdom | 13.9 | 0.065 | 214 |
It is very exciting time to be writing a book on high‐temperature processing, particularly ultra‐high temperature (UHT) processing. UHT is a continuous process and as such is applicable to any product that can be pumped through a heat exchanger and then aseptically packaged, although the vast majority of products are either milk or milk‐based. UHT milk and milk products are now global commodities and are being transported large distances to all parts of the world. In a number of traditional milk‐drinking countries, for example, UK, Greece and Australia, pasteurised milk is still the milk of preference and the cooked flavour that is associated with UHT and sterilised milk is given as a major reason for maintaining this status quo (Perkins & Deeth, 2011). In contrast, in some other countries much more UHT milk is consumed than pasteurised milk. For example, in France, Belgium and Portugal, more than 90% of all liquid milk purchased is UHT‐treated, whereas in the UK, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, it is less than 10%. Similar variations are also found in other parts of the world, with less than 5% of UHT milk being consumed in India and USA but over 60% in Vietnam and China. In other words, availability and also preferences for pasteurised or sterilised milk vary from country to country. Some examples for Europe and other parts of the world are given in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2 Percentage of drinking milk which is UHT processed in various European countries and worldwide.
Information from Wikipedia and Datamonitor (China has the largest forecast growth increase in UHT milk consumption over the period 2012 to 2020. India also has a high projected growth rate but is starting from a much lower base level).
Recently, there has been a substantial increase in UHT capacity in all parts of the world. In part, this is to supply the increased demand for UHT milk from China. It is also predicted that there will be an increased demand from Africa and other parts of South East Asia. Since UHT milk does not require refrigeration and has a long shelf‐life, it provides a very convenient way of providing good quality milk to large populations in remote areas, without the need for the expensive cold chain infrastructure. UHT milk is now transported to China and other parts of South East Asia from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and even longer distances from USA and several countries in Europe. Both large multinational conglomerates and much smaller companies are engaged in these activities.
The demand for UHT milk is increasing worldwide. It has been estimated that the compound annual growth rate for UHT milk in the world between 2013 and 2019 will be 12.5%, with the global market reaching USD 137.6 billion in 2019 (Persistance Market Research, 2014). In locations where fresh milk is not available, UHT milk can be produced from milk powder. Also milk demand is increasing in locations where there has previously been no strong culture of drinking milk; there is a continuing investment in UHT capability in various parts of the world to meet this demand.
Demand for UHT milk is not the only factor that is changing in relation to the market for milk and milk products. The variety of milk‐based beverages is constantly expanding. In the early days of UHT processing, only white milk and some cream products were processed. The variety in milk drinks has since mushroomed and now includes flavoured milk and products containing additives offering health benefits, derived either from naturally occurring components in the milk or non‐milk components, such as plant extracts, fruit juices and other substances such as melatonin and dietary fibre (see Tables 1.3 and 1.4). There are also many products of non‐dairy origin; these are covered in more detail in Chapter 9.
Table 1.3 Some drinking milk products available commercially or being developed.
| Full‐cream, skim, semi‐skim – HTST, ESL, UHT, sterilised |
| Goat’s, sheep, buffalo’s, horse and camel’s milk |
| Soy, almond, oat and other plant “milks” |
| Calcium and other minerals |
| Plant sterols and stannols |
| Omega‐3, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) |
| Microparticulated whey protein |
| Dietary fibre (e.g., β‐glucan, inulin) |
Table 1.4 Some high‐temperature‐processed milk products from different countries.
| Product | Country | Brand Name | Format | Other comments |
| On‐the‐go snack | USA | Dynamoo | UHT, 8 fl oz, boxes | |
| Red‐bean flavoured milk | Taiwan | Acacia Lover | UHT, 250 mL bottle | |
| Fruit and milk drink | France | Danoo Mon fruit prefere | 1 L re‐sealable carton | Acidic product |
| Milk shake | USA | Cold Stone Milk Shake | UHT, 12 fl oz plastic bottle | |
| Nutritious weight loss shake | UK | USlim | UHT,... |
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