It's a battle of the senses. Your brain tells you to cut dietary fat and drink skim milk, but your eyes rebel at the sight of breakfast cereal swimming in watery, bluish milk. And, when your mouth craves a creamy texture, skim milk just won't do.
It's time for a truce. Utah State University food scientists have developed and patented a process that means you can have your skim milk and like it, too.The process involves adding rennet, the enzyme normally used to coagulate milk for cheesemaking. A relatively short time after the rennet is added to skim milk, the coagulating action of the enzyme is stopped by pasteurization. In cheesemaking, coagulation continues until large curds form.
Food scientist Paul Savello, explains that the process alters the way the liquid refracts light and eliminates the slightly blue tint associated with skim milk. The process makes skim milk appear as white as milk with 2 percent fat, he said.
But looks aren't everything. In addition to improving the milk's appearance, more than three-quarters of those participating in taste tests reported that the treated milk had a creamier mouthfeel than regular skim milk.
"The process is very simple and completely safe. The caloric content of skim milk remains the same because no other calorie-containing additives are used in the process," Savello says. In addition, the procedure should be compatible with methods already used in milk processing plants.
In a recent issue of Utah Science, published by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, researchers say they are adapting the process for commercial operations and will license the technology.