Whey lactose syrup production

Some individuals are unable to metabolise lactose and are lactose intolerant. This is because they lack the enzyme lactase that is needed to metabolise lactose. Lactose intolerance is common in those parts of the world where humans do not consume any dairy products after weaning. In practice this means in Asia, which means that most of the world s population might be lactose intolerant. It is possible to produce lactose removed skim milk. Another approach with lactose is to hydrolyse it to its constituent monosaccharides. As well as avoiding lactose intolerance this allows a syrup to be produced from cheese whey. These syrups are offered as an ingredient for toffees and caramels. 

In comparison with sucrose (the annual production of which is 93 x 106 tonnes) and glucose or glucose-fructose syrups, only relatively small quantities of lactose are produced. However, it attracts commercial interest because it has some interesting properties and is readily available from whey, a by-product in the production of cheese or casein. World production of cheese is c. 1.4 x 107 tonnes, the whey from which contains c. 6 x 106 tonnes of lactose c. 0.3 x 106 tonnes of lactose are contained in the whey produced during casein manufacture. According to Horton (1993),... 

Another reason for the reduced use of milk powder is the availability of substitute ingredients such as lactose, whey powder or syrups and speciality milk powder replacers. The speciality milk powder replacers are produced by the dairy industry from milk or whey components, combining them to produce a product that will act as a substitute for milk powder but is less expensive. 

The production of sweet whey syrups is becoming increasingly important due to the use of carrier-bound lactase (P-galactosidase, EC. 3.2.1.23). In these syrups, lactose is hydrolyzed to glucose and galactose. Concentration to 60-75% solids is achieved by evaporation. 

Imitation milk—Imitation milks purport to substitute for and resemble milk. These products usually contain water, corn syrup solids, sugar, vegetable fat (coconut, soybean, cottonseed), and protein from soybean, fish, sodium caseinate, or other sources. Although imitation fluid milks do not contain dairy products as such, they may contain derivatives of milk such as casein, salts of casein, milk proteins other than casein, whey, and lactose. Sometimes vitamins A and/or D are added. Ingredient composition, and hence nutrient composition, vary widely. The American Academy of Pediatrics considers imitation milk products inappropriate for feeding infants and young children. 

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