Dairy-Derived Emulsifying Salts for Clean-Label Process Cheese
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional manufacturing of pasteurized process cheese relies on non-dairy-derived emulsifying salts like sodium phosphate and sodium citrate, which are derived from mineral deposits, disrupting the calcium and pH equilibrium in the dairy matrix, necessitating a cleaner label solution.
Innovation Solution
Utilize the naturally occurring phosphate and citrate present in milk to emulsify and hydrate proteins in dairy products, eliminating the need for added emulsifying salts by adjusting the phosphate-to-calcium ratio through demineralization and concentration processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If non-dairy-derived emulsifying salts like sodium phosphate are added to transform dairy mixtures into molten homogenous process cheese, then the transformation efficiency and homogeneity are improved, but the product label cleanliness and consumer perception deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes calcium from the dairy mixture through chelating agents, eliminating the need for non-dairy emulsifying salts. The calcium removal process allows native dairy phosphates and citrates to perform the emulsifying function, thereby taking out the harmful non-dairy chemicals while maintaining the desired homogeneity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the dairy mixture to self-emulsify using its own native components (phosphates and citrates naturally present in milk) rather than requiring external emulsifying salts. By removing calcium and adjusting pH, the system allows the dairy ingredients to serve their own emulsifying function, eliminating the need for non-dairy-derived additives.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If phosphate and citrate chemistry is leveraged without additional emulsifying salt chemicals, then the product label cleanliness is improved, but the process complexity increases due to demineralization and concentration steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces chelating agents as intermediaries to facilitate calcium removal. These agents temporarily bind calcium ions, enabling their removal from the system, and then release them or are removed themselves. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall process by providing a controlled mechanism for calcium removal without requiring complex direct demineralization equipment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Produces dairy products with a cleaner label by leveraging native dairy-derived emulsifying salts, maintaining flavor, texture, and performance characteristics while avoiding non-dairy-derived chemicals.
Implementation Method 1
demineralizing the starting dairy material to remove at least one of chloride (Cl−) or calcium (Ca+), by for instance subjecting the starting dairy material to ion exchange
Implementation Method 2
The step of concentrating may involve one or more of evaporative heating, spray drying or reverse osmosis or forward osmosis
Implementation Method 3
The step of concentrating may involve one or more of evaporative heating, spray drying or reverse osmosis or forward osmosis
Implementation Method 4
a portion of the unbound phosphate within the sodium and phosphate equilibrium disrupts the dynamic equilibrium between bound and free calcium in the matrix by binding free calcium in the environment, causing a redistribution of protein bound calcium out and into the unbound environment liberating protein to emulsify the milk fat within the matrix
Implementation Method 5
This effectively hydrates the protein via solvated sodium ions exchange on the aspartic and glutamic acid residues on the protein from the sodium phosphate, or otherwise solvated free sodium in the environment
Data Source
AI summary
Dairy products are produced by subjecting a starting dairy material to nanofiltration to remove monovalent ions to produce an ion-depleted dairy permeate; passing the ion-depleted dairy permeate through an ion exchange column and subsequently with a sodium-containing eluting solution to produce sodium phosphate and sodium citrate derived from the starting material; concentrating the sodium phosphate and sodium citrate; and combining the concentrated sodium phosphate and sodium citrate with dairy components. The dairy product contains an amount of the concentrated sodium phosphate and sodium citrate sufficient to cause fat in the dairy product to be emulsified and protein in the dairy product to be hydrated. In addition or alternatively, a dairy by-product stream may be subjected to ion exchange to remove calcium therefrom; concentrated, and combined with dairy materials naturally containing phosphate and citrate in order to adjust the citrate+phosphate-to-calcium ratio to reach an emulsified dairy product.