Nutritional quality assessment in dairy products: A perspective

Abstract

Many consumers are interested in the relationship between food quality and nutritional value when choosing to buy food. Dairy foods include a wide variety of foods such as liquid milk, fermented milks, cheese, cream, butter, and ice cream. Consuming milk and dairy products improves the overall nutritional quality of the diet. The chemical composition of dairy foods influences their nutritive value. Dairy foods provide substantial amounts of essential nutrients including fat, protein, lactose, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, some vitamins (e.g., A, B1, B2, B12, and D), bioactive peptides, and lipids. Nutritional quality assessment is the key for protecting the high nutritional value of milk from farm to marketplace. This chapter deals with evaluating modifications and changes in nutritional components of milk and milk products in the course of processing, including recent processing techniques for minimal nutrient losses.