Editing Dairy (section)

==Industrial processing==
{{Main|Dairy products}}
[[File:StanhopeFactory.JPG|thumb|A [[Fonterra]] cooperative dairy factory in Australia]]
[[File:Fromagerie77.jpg|thumb|Interior of a cheese factory in [[Seine-et-Marne]], France]]
[[File:Satamaito Dairy (001).jpg|thumb|A [[tank truck]] parked in front of the Satamaito dairy in [[Pori]], Finland]]
Dairy plants process the raw milk they receive from farmers so as to extend its marketable life. Two main types of processes are employed: heat treatment to ensure the safety of milk for human consumption and to lengthen its shelf-life, and dehydrating dairy products such as butter, hard cheese and milk powders so that they can be stored.

===Cream and butter===
{{Main| Creamery}}
Today, milk is separated by huge machines in bulk into cream and skim milk. The cream is processed to produce various consumer products, depending on its thickness, its suitability for culinary uses and consumer demand, which differs from place to place and country to country.

Some milk is dried and powdered, some is condensed (by [[evaporation]]) mixed with varying amounts of sugar and canned. Most cream from New Zealand and Australian factories is made into butter. This is done by [[churning (butter)|churning]] the cream until the fat globules coagulate and form a monolithic mass. This butter mass is washed and, sometimes, salted to improve keeping qualities. The residual [[buttermilk]] goes on to further processing. The butter is packaged (25 to 50&nbsp;kg boxes) and chilled for storage and sale. At a later stage these packages are broken down into home-consumption sized packs.

===Skimmed milk===
The product left after the cream is removed is called skim, or skimmed, milk. To make a consumable liquid a portion of cream is returned to the [[skim milk]] to make ''[[low fat]] milk'' (semi-skimmed) for human consumption. By varying the amount of cream returned, producers can make a variety of low-fat milks to suit their local market. Whole milk is also made by adding cream back to the skim to form a standardised product. Other products, such as [[calcium]], [[vitamin D]], and flavouring, are also added to appeal to consumers.

===Casein===
[[Casein]] is the predominant [[phosphoprotein]] found in fresh milk.  It has a very wide range of uses from being a filler for human foods, such as in [[ice cream]], to the manufacture of products such as [[cloth|fabric]], [[adhesive]]s, and plastics.

===Cheese===
{{Main| Creamery|Cheese}}
Cheese is another product made from milk. Whole milk is reacted to form [[curd]]s that can be compressed, processed and stored to form cheese. In countries where milk is legally allowed to be processed without [[pasteurize|pasteurisation]], a wide range of cheeses can be made using the bacteria found naturally in the milk. In most other countries, the range of cheeses is smaller and the use of artificial cheese curing is greater. [[Whey]] is also the byproduct of this process. Some people with [[lactose intolerance]] are able to eat certain types of cheese. This is because some traditionally made hard cheeses, and soft ripened cheeses may create less reaction than the equivalent amount of milk because of the processes involved.  Fermentation and higher fat content contribute to lesser amounts of lactose. Traditionally made [[Emmental cheese|Emmental]] or [[Cheddar cheese|Cheddar]] might contain 10% of the lactose found in whole milk. In addition, the ageing methods of traditional cheeses (sometimes over two years) reduce their lactose content to practically nothing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilovecheese.com/lactose_intolerant_faqs.asp |title=DairyGood.org &#124; Home |publisher=Ilovecheese.com |access-date=17 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730190352/http://www.ilovecheese.com/lactose_intolerant_faqs.asp |archive-date=30 July 2013 }}</ref> Commercial cheeses, however, are often manufactured by processes that do not have the same lactose-reducing properties. Ageing of some cheeses is governed by regulations;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.farmhousecheesemakers.com/pdo-our-provenance/ |title=Example of cheese regulations: "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" must be aged for 9 months |publisher=Farmhousecheesemakers.com |access-date=17 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711084008/http://www.farmhousecheesemakers.com/pdo-our-provenance// |archive-date=11 July 2014 }}</ref> in other cases there is no quantitative indication of degree of ageing and concomitant lactose reduction, and lactose content is not usually indicated on labels.

===Whey===
In earlier times, [[whey]] or '''milk serum''' was considered to be a waste product and it was, mostly, fed to pigs as a convenient means of disposal. Beginning about 1950, and mostly since about 1980, [[lactose]] and many other products, mainly food additives, are made from both casein and cheese whey.

===Yogurt===
Making [[yogurt]] is similar to making cheese, only the process is stopped before the curd becomes hard.

===Milk powders===
Milk is also processed by various drying processes into powders. Whole milk, skim milk, buttermilk, and whey products are dried into a powder form and used for human and animal consumption.  The main difference between production of powders for human or for animal consumption is in the protection of the process and the product from contamination. Some people drink milk reconstituted from powdered milk, because milk is about 88% water and it is much cheaper to transport the dried product.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

===Other milk products===
[[Kumis]] is produced commercially in Central Asia.  Although traditionally made from [[horse|mare]]'s milk, modern industrial variants may use cow's milk.
In India, which produces 22% of global milk production (as at 2018), a range of [[List of Indian dairy products|traditional milk-based products]] are produced commercially.