Anhydrous milkfat manufacture

Butter should be stored at 4.4°C or lower or at less than — 17.8°C, if it is to be held for more than 30 days (62). The International Dairy Federation (IDF) has produced specifications for milkfat (64), which include reference to the feedstock. (These specifications relate to the time of manufacture but are often used as purchase standards.) The highest grade, anhydrous milkfat (AMF), must be produced from fresh milk, cream, or butter, to which no neutralizing substances have been added. It should have a clean, bland flavor when tasted at 20-25°C and a peroxide value (PV) of less than 0.2 meq oxygen/1 kg fat. Anhydrous butter oil may be produced from butter or cream of different ages and has no pronounced, unclean, or other objectionable taste or flavor. The term butter oil should be used where there is no pronounced unclean or other objectionable taste or odor. The FAOAVHO Codex standard for milkfat is shown in Table 15 (65). 

The quality assurance program for manufacture of butter oil, or anhydrous milkfat (AMF), also focuses on the quality of the raw materials. Naturally, many of the same considerations apply to handling raw cream for AMF manufacmre that apply to butter, except that vacreation is not used. As it is stored under ambient conditions, care against oxidation is essential. Oxidation is perhaps the most important mechanism by which milkfat deteriorates in quality. As the oxidation reaction is autocatalytic (i.e., the products of the reaction act as catalysts to promote further reaction), the normal quality-control tests, peroxide value and free fat acidity, could give misleading results when applied to stored butter. Methods of deaeration have been developed that could reduce potential oxidation (74). 

Other Uses. The use of butter or anhydrous milkfat requires more added emulsifiers in ice creams and ice milks, because the naturally occurring milkfat emulsion will have been destroyed in the manufacturing process. Milkfat is also used in fresh cream, frozen cream, dry cream, and plastic cream. Ice creams contain a high level of milkfat, and its manufacture uses substantial quantities of milkfat worldwide. 

Hypoallergenic Butter. A U.S. patent was granted in 1992 for the manufacture of hypoallergenic butter (136). The patent has limited claims. The product is a sterile butter-like product made from anhydrous milkfat it contains no nonfat solids (99.9% free of NFS). 

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