Thermal processing of dairy products

Milk is a fluid product produced by female mammals that provides the nutritional requirements of the neonate. As such, it is remarkably rich in many essential food constituents, such as amino acids (supplied for ingestion in the form of protein), lipids, sugar (lactose), minerals, and vitamins. However, this richness also makes milk a fertile medium for the growth of microorganisms, which either spoil the product or present a risk of food poisoning or food-borne disease. In addition, there are a number of enzymes of different types (e.g., proteases, lipases) in milk that can contribute to undesirable changes during storage (e.g., lipolysis can induce rancidity), and treatment or intervention to inactivate or control such activities is often essential to the prolonging of the acceptable shelf life of dairy products.