Dairy based Beverages

MILK BEVERAGE WITH RAGI

A preparation of ragi (finger millet) in milk is a refreshing and satiating drink for older infants, growing kids and adults. NDDB has developed a simple technology for manufacturing milk beverage with ragi for commercial production at the dairy plants. The pasteurised variant of product can be packed using pouch filling machine used for milk.  The sterilised variant has a shelf life of 45 days at ambient temperature.

WHEY-BASED DRINK

Liquid obtained during production of shrikhand, paneer, chhana and cheese is called whey. Whey contains 5.5-7.0 percent total solids consisting of lactose, milk protein, minerals and  water-soluble vitamins. In India, at present, most of the whey is usually drained off causing great loss of valuable nutrients and adding to the problem of environmental pollution.

Two variants of refreshing whey-based beverages which can be useful to dairies generating whey:

  • Maska whey beverage: This product has been developed using combination of shrikhand (maska) whey, mango pulp and other additives.
  • Whey-based beverage with spices: It has been developed using combination of Cheese/Paneer whey and Indian spices. Manufacturing process for lactose hydrolysed variant is also available.

Manufacturing of whey beverages at a dairy plant requires pasteurisation and packaging facilities only. It can also be manufactured using the existing infrastructure for lassi/chhach, where available. The pasteurised product has a shelf life of 10 days at 80C or below when packed in polyfilm. 

FLAVOURED MILK

Flavoured milk has sugar, flavouring and colouring added to make it tastier to consume. It is generally manufactured by in-bottle sterilisation or Ultra High Temperature (UHT) processing with aseptic packaging.

For larger volumes, some capital investment for specific equipment such as automatic bottle-filler-cum-sealer and rotary bottle steriliser or aseptic processing and packaging unit may be required. If a dairy plant has infrastructure for UHT milk processing, the same can also be used for flavoured milk. The product does not contain any added preservative and has a shelf life of 6 months when sterilised in glass bottles or UHT processed and aseptically packed.