On the eve of the start of the International Milk Week, which will be held in Uglich and will begin tomorrow, SuperFood talked to Elena Topnikova, Director of VNIIMS of Butter and Cheese Making, Doctor of Technical Sciences.
Milk Week is a large Forum that the institute holds every year: producers from various cities of Russia (and not only) come to Uglich with one idea: to develop the dairy industry.
We decided that this is a great occasion to talk about “milk”: why do we adults need milk? What role does it play in the creation of special food and how is it enriched?
In order – about the most important thing.
– Elena Vasilievna, are there any peculiarities in milk, which is used for the production of specialized food products? Is it somehow different in composition from milk from supermarket shelves?
– There are requirements for raw materials for the production of specialized products – baby food, nutrition for pregnant women, lactating women, and so on. They are described by separate clauses of the Technical Regulations “On food safety” (021/2011), “On the safety of specialized products” (027/2012) and “On the safety of milk and dairy products” (033/2013).
Anything that contains preservatives, GMOs and pesticides is not allowed into production; farm animals should not be exposed to drugs – antibiotics, hormonal substances, growth stimulants, and so on.
For raw milk for the creation of baby food, there are more stringent requirements for total bacterial contamination – these provisions are also specified in the standards for raw milk.
And there are also restrictions on the titratable acidity of cottage cheese – this applies to nutrition for young children. Spreads and salted butter are prohibited for use. Hydrogenated fats and fats with a high content of saturated fatty acids are unacceptable.
For the nutrition of schoolchildren and preschoolers, there are fewer such restrictions, and it is permissible to use vitamins and certain mineral salts in its creation. If the product contains flavors, they should only be natural. Drinking milk for this age category can be pasteurized, sterilized and ultra-pasteurized, as well as fortified with vitamins and iodine.
The mass fraction of protein in such milk is at least 3%, the fat content is in the region of 2.5%–3.5%. And nutrition for adults already has a greater run in fat content.
– And if we talk about a relative of milk – cheese: what are the functional products based on it? For example, with a high calcium content in the composition.
– The amount of calcium in the composition depends on the type of cheese. In soft varieties, this component is least of all (about 500 mg / 100 g), and the maximum content is in hard species (up to 1300 mg / 100 g).
Calcium is converted into cheese from milk, the clotting of which forms a casein-calcium-phosphate complex (milk clot).
Scientists of our institute have developed a special functional product – “Zdorovyachok” cheese paste made from whey protein albumin with added calcium. Vitamin D and flavoring components can also be added there, as well as enrichment of the product with iodine.
The technology of such a paste is available – for its implementation, you need the appropriate raw materials and a melting boiler.
Cheese paste with calcium and vitamin D has proven itself well as a product of therapeutic and prophylactic nutrition for women. Consuming it regularly reduces the risk of osteoporosis, and these are not just words: there have been clinical trials of the product that have proven such an effect.
– Why is cow’s milk the most widespread and used in food?
– For eating and making dairy products, milk can be used not only from cows, but also from goats, sheep, mares, camels, buffaloes and even donkeys. There are farms where moose milk is obtained. All these types differ significantly in composition – for example, sheep and buffalo milk contain a lot of fat; goats have about the same fat as cow’s milk, but it is very finely dispersed, which makes it easier to absorb during digestion. There is more protein in sheep, camel and buffalo milk. The ratio of casein to whey proteins, the amount of lactose and mineral salts in the formulations vary.
But of all farm animals, cows are the most productive, and their lactation period is longer.
Leaders in the production of raw cow’s milk are the Republic of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, the Udmurt Republic, Krasnodar and Altai Territories, Rostov, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Kirov, Leningrad, Belgorod, Moscow regions.
– Recently, I often hear the opinion that we – people – by and large do not need animal milk, because it is not intended for our body. What changes will happen if you give up milk and dairy products for good?
– Initially, animal milk is intended for feeding their offspring – like human milk, which contains substances that perform the protective function of the child’s immunity.
In fact, there are many useful properties of milk:
• It helps to fight colds;
• Drinking milk at night promotes sound sleep;
• Milk contains vitamins – A, D, B1, B2, B12 – and minerals – calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, iron, fluorine, iodine;
• In case of low fat content, milk helps to lose weight, because it promotes effective fat burning;
• Drinking milk regularly reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
And every age should have its own dairy products. For example, for the older generation – from fermented milk and less fatty raw materials: over the years, the metabolic rate slows down, and such products are easier to digest.
It is necessary to look for a replacement equivalent to milk if a person excludes it from the diet. I believe that if there are no contraindications, then it is inappropriate to refuse such a source of nutrients. If we completely abandon milk and dairy products, then we risk lowering immunity, reducing the metabolic rate, and worsen the condition of bones and skin.
– By the way, many cosmetologists and dermatologists, on the contrary, say that giving up dairy products is a guarantee of clean skin, because milk can contain hormones and because it has a high insulin index. Can this be refuted?
– I am not a nutritionist, but I can say that the scientific literature often indicates the opposite.
For example, at the Japanese Research Center under the direction of Dr. Hiromi Kimoto-Nira, an experiment was conducted on the effect of milk fermented by lactic acid lactococci on the skin condition.
The experiment involved 23 women from 19 to 21 years old – they were divided into two groups. Participants in the first group had to drink a glass of milk every day for a month, and for the second group, this product was replaced with ordinary yogurt. And at the end of the experiment, the scientists assessed the general tone, elasticity, degree of dehydration, sebum level.
It turned out that the first group of subjects had a much better skin condition. Women who drank milk produced more sebum, which is the natural defense of the skin. Therefore, scientists reasonably believe that the rejection of “milk” deprives us of the natural ability to rejuvenate the skin.
The anti-aging effect of serum has been known for a very long time; the wound-healing properties of butter and ghee were known in ancient Rome. In the modern world, masks are made at home, most of which are created with a milk component – and all this already confirms the beneficial properties of milk.
Due to the presence of vitamins A and E in milk and dairy products, aging processes are slowed down and recovery processes are stimulated; B vitamins promote the development of new cells of the epidermis, help relieve inflammation and irritation.
Of course, there are probably exceptions – after all, everything is individual and depends on a particular organism.
– Surely you know what a kefir mushroom (milk, Tibetan) is. It is sold in some pharmacies and is home grown. Much has been written about its medicinal properties in various sources. How widely is it used in manufacturing?
– This is a kind of living organism of irregular shape with a tuberous and folded surface. It includes a symbiosis of bacteria and microorganisms, which include lactic acid sticks and lactic acid lactococci, acetic acid bacteria and yeast, which easily get along with each other on the stroma of the fungus. It is these microorganisms in symbiosis, getting into milk and fermenting lactose, form a special taste and smell: fermented milk, slightly spicy, yeast.
At enterprises, live and dry kefir fungi are used for the preparation of starter cultures.
Growing them at home is much more difficult, since this process requires cleanliness, strict adherence to temperature conditions, timely transplantation of fungi, periodic separation of parts, and so on. And at home, you can easily ruin the kefir mushroom or disrupt the balance of symbiotic microorganisms – this will affect the quality of the resulting fermented product.
Therefore, it is better to buy kefir from a reliable manufacturer: this is important, because some may not use fungi in production, but a certain composition of starter cultures. In this case, the drink should already be called “kefir product”.
In Russia, the production of kefir is very common. About 3 million tons of fermented milk products are produced annually, about 35% of which is kefir. Now, by the way, there is a fashionable theme “biokefir” – when not only fungal sourdough is added to milk, but also bifidobacteria. There are many manufacturers of such products throughout the country.
– Very soon – a large Forum “Milk Week”. What are your expectations from the event?
– First, a meeting with our partners: this is a step towards developing new solutions to industry problems;
Secondly, these are new connections – not only with Russian, but also with Belarusian enterprises, of which there will be many among the participants.
Milk Week can generate new ideas for the development of research in our field – in the field of cheese and butter making.
And, of course, improving the image of dairy products from many manufacturers: we will have a big quality competition – its results will be posted on the website in the collection “Dairy Pride of Russia”.
The material was prepared by Alexandra Goryunova