Fromage Fraisse takes Poland by Storm Can U.S. production be far behind?
Assisting in the development of new food and beverage products is a challenge Membrane System Specialists undertakes with considerable enthusiasm. When the products show great promise for new market opportunities, the company's enthusiasm turns to unbridled excitement.

Membrane System Specialists, a worldwide supplier of filtration-based products and services, is frequently called upon to help companies determine the best way to incorporate filtration-based technology into new food and beverage product development. Most often, this research is conducted with a high degree of confidentiality. Occasionally, food product development specialists are willing–even proud–to share their product application for development in other non-competing markets. Such is the case with Membrane System specialists' partner and sales agent in Poland, Milk Hydrosan.

Membrane System Specialists President David Hibbard and Operations Director Al Buza Recently returned from overseeing installatin of an ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis system at a pilish dairy plant devoted exclusively to production of Fromage Fraisse. Fromage Fraisee, literally translated "fresh cheese," was developed by Milk Hydrosan's President Grzegorz Augustyniak and is a new entry into Poland's dariy product offerings.

The rich, cheesecake-like yogurt has found a strong foothold in Poland, where it is produced in appealing citrus, berry, and chocolate flavors. (Unlike yogurt products that Amercians are familiar with, the typical yogurt produced in Poland has a thin consistency and is consumed as a beverage. Fromage Fraisse provides a distinct alternative.)

According to David Hibbard, there is not a similar product available in the United States marketplace. "It seems to me that there is a unique opportunity for development of a premium, all natural dessert product using filtration technology that American consumers would find very refreshing," he said.

The Process
Membrane System Specialists' role in the production of Fromage Fraisse began a year ago, when Milk Hydrosan was preparing for production of the new product. Hibbard and other engineers at Membrane System Specialists provided technical expertise to fine-tune the process that is used to create Fromage Fraisse.

Whole milk is cultured using a combination of cheese and yogurt cultures and then ultrafiltered to concentrated the mass. The whey protein retained becomes a key component of this fresh dessert product. A feeder/mixer blends the concentrate with various fresh fruits and flavorings. The product is then packaged in yogurt-style cusps onsite. A Membrane System Specialists reverse osmosis system has been incorporated to ensure high water quality for the ultrafiltration system wash process.

"Fromage Fraisse is batch processed in Poland," Hibbard said. "However, the process could easily be modified for continuous production."

The Future
Helping Milk Hydrosan perfect development and production of Fromage Fraisse was a very rewarding experience, Hibbard said. In fact, the companies have made a commitment to partner in other ventures in the Polish marketplace.

What the future holds for Fromage Fraisse in the United States is yet to be seen. "I know there's a niche for this product in the United States," Hibbard said. "It's just waiting for an innovative, enterprising company to accept the challenge from our friends in Poland to bring this already-proven product to tables across America." Membrane System Specialists stands ready to help.

Ask The Doctor
Performance of NF-70 Nanofiltration Membranes Edging Out Standard RO Membranes in Low Concentrate Applications
The advent of nonofiltration membranes opened a new domain in the area of membrane applications for processors familiar with reverse osmosis separation. These nanofiltration membranes have a molecular weight cutoff in the range of 200-300 Daltons (or a salt rejefction in the range of 45-50 percent)–which is still not adequately tight for many applications in the dairy industry. For example, in a typical whey processing operation, concetration of whey by traditional nanofiltration membranes results in a permeate Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of 2000-6000 mg/lit for concentration factors in the range 2-4 (two to four times volume reduction of feed).

Recent advances in membrane processing have led to the development of a new class of nanofiltration membranes (NF-70) that have a n optimum combination of flux and rejection characteristics and which may find niche applications in the dairy industry. These membranes are characterized by a salt rejection of 70 percent and exhibit unexpectedly high organic rejection. A comparison of NF-70 nanofiltration membranes and standard dairy stream such as UF permeate from whey (feed solids of 5.3 percent) is given below.

In a recent commercial installation, NF-70 nanofiltration membranes were used to replace standard dairy RO membranes to yield a 47 percent increase in the overall membrane surface area was the same between the NF-70 nanofiltration and RO membranes (the plant processes UF permeate to 10 percent total soldis concentration). There was only a marginal increase in the permeate COD.

Ultrafiltration of Milk Focus of MSS Presentation
Members of the academic and professional communities recently gathered at the J.R. Brunner Protein Symposium in Michigan and heard a presentation by Dr. Bala Raghunath, Membrane System Specialist's technical director.

The presentation, entitled "Ultrafiltration of Milk: On-Farm Processing and MPC Production," focused on optimization of concentration/diafiltration levels in high milk protein concentrate production and on meeting the challenge of stringent U.S. Food and Drug administration guidelines for ultrafiltering raw unpasteurized whole milk on farm.

A key component of Dr. Raghunath's presentation was demonstrating the importance of various parameters in optimizing the design of an ultrafiltration/diafiltration process, including the existence of an optimum point for diafiltration water addition.

Diafiltration increases permeate flux by reducing the absolute protein concentration and viscosity, thereby reducing membrane area requirements; however, since it entails the addition of water, which has to be removed as permeate, it also increases permeat flow and can increase the membrane area required.

Based on a continuous processing operation, most often used in commercial applications, Dr. Raghunath presented the following equation for optimizing the diafiltration process with the lowest membrane area requirement: Y=a completely permeable component and X=a completely retainable component, in water: X^opt=K₂ (1 = 1n(X^opt/X*) where K₂=P Y/(1-P) where P is the desired purity of component X; X* is the 'gel' concentration of component X.

The above analysis was also extended to a multiple component system and an overall optimization analysis was carried out for the combination ultrafiltration/diafiltration process for a continuous operation mode. Total capital investment was the variable for optimization; three cases were considered. The first was based on using a uniform membrane module spacer inall stages in the second case, total capital investment was based on actual module spacer thickness required for a particular stage. In the third case, analysis also included ultrafiltration permeate handling (concentration using a reverse osmosis system to a fixed total solids concentration).

For more information on Dr. Raghunath's presentation, call Membrane System Specialists at 715-4321-2333.

Profile-Tiffany L. Gonshorowski
As Membrane System Specialists new coordinator of marketing and customer service, Tiffany Gonshorowski has been busy leaning about the company's products and services–and about the customers Membrane System Specialists serves.

Her responsibilities include maintaining contact with customers to ensure their product needs are met and keeping them apprised of new products and service available.

Tiffany also has responsibilty for trade show prepartion and development of public relations and marketing materials.

She earned a degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, with minors in Communication and Technical Writing.

MSS Online
For the past few months, we've been implement a new voice mail system. With many of our representatives traveling to work sites all over the world, we needed a telephone system that alloweed us to access messages at any time, so we could communicate with our customers more efficiently.

In addition to voice mail, Membrane System Specialists is also in process of constructing a Web Site: Look for us to be on the Internet in the very near future! FYI: Our E-mail address is membrane@wctc.net.

University of Manitoba study demonstrates effectiveness of Micro-SteelTM processing
A study recently sponsored by Beatrice Foods, Inc. and Conducted researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada using Membrane System Specialists' Micro-Steel^TM stainless steel system proved the system can remove significant levels of fats proteins, and carbohydrates from waste cleaning materials generated during the processing of dairy products including fluid milk, ice cream, and cheese.

According to the research findings published in the Journal of Dairy Science, "The Micro-Steel^TM membrane system performed efficiently on samples from separator flushes, diluted flavored ice cream, and combined effluent, despite the much higher initial COD and suspended solids of these dairy effluents than of the controlled dairy products." While this dairy effluent is typically disposed of, the Canadian research team found that the use of the porous stainless steel micromembranes allow for up to an 89 percent recovery of the chemicals from the permeate stream.

Membrane System Specialists' introduced the Mirco-Steel^TM system five years ago to offer industry leaders an effective process for meeting stricter regulations for waste management. The Micro-Steel^TM also produces both cost savings in chemical usage and a marketable by-product.

For more information on the research conducted by the University of Manitoba, call Membrane System Specialists at 715-421-2333.

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