Concentrating Milk

Water is heavy, and transporting products containing it, such as milk, is costly. As a result, the dairy industry has been concentrating milk by membrane processing—reverse osmosis or ultrafiltration—and shipping it to manufacturers for use as a food ingredient. This not only reduces transportation costs, but also provides other benefits to the manufacturer.

For example, if cheesemakers in the upper Midwest are short of milk for cheesemaking, they can order this concentrate from other locations, …