ABSTRACT
The manufacture of cheese from milk generates approximately 9 lb of whey for each 1 lb of cheese. This by-product of cheese manufacturing has posed serious disposal problems for many cheese makers. Table 1, shows that sweet whey, derived from most rennet-coagulated cheeses, is approximately 93% water and 6.35% solids, with about 76% of the solids being lactose. Acid whey, derived from acid-coagulated cheeses, is compositionally similar to sweet whey except it has higher lactic acid and ash contents. Using a ratio of 9 lb of whey produced for each 1 lb of cheese, it can be calculated that approximately 74 billion lb of whey was produced in 1998 when U.S. cheese production (including cottage cheese curd) totaled 8.23 billion lb, according to the National Agricultural Statistical Service, USDA (1999). Approximately 1.18 billion lb of dry whey was produced for human and animal consumption. This dry whey represents approximately 25% of the whey solids resulting from cheese manufacture during the year. The remaining whey solids were used as concentrated whey for human and animal food (122 million lb), whey protein concentrates (288 million lb), lactose (469 million lb), partially delactosed and demineralized whey (105 million lb), whey solids in wet blends (37 million lb), fermented whey products (including ethanol production), sewage disposal, land disposal, or animal feed.
