ABSTRACT
Snacks are items consumed during nontraditional meal hours, a concept where string cheese and yogurt have been habitually consumed. Dairy products account for 18% of all between-meal snack choices among young children (2- to 8-years-old), where dairy desserts, yogurt, and puddings represent 30% of all dairy snack servings. All dairy categories have been sources of innovative snacks such as crunchy cheese, rolled-up snacks, functional milks, and whey-based beverages. In terms of manufacturing, novel processes such as low-temperature extrusion of reduced-fat ice creams and non-thermal technologies such as high hydrostatic pressure are being adopted. In this chapter, readers can find the history of dairy-based snacks, composition, processes, and the most important trends, exploring the alternatives of the use of milk as a source of healthy and convenient products. Milk, dairy-based products (cheese and yogurt), and byproducts (whey and buttermilk) are sources of different snack alternatives following new consumer trends as health-conscious, portion-controlled sizes, and the “indulgent” segment. The drive for innovation is the increase in global sales that require the development of unique flavors, lactose-free alternatives, and better-for-you options. Dairy-based beverages are used as carriers of different flavors, bioactive compounds, and desirable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, fiber, proteins, prebiotics, and probiotic microorganisms in order to satisfy new consumers. Among the indulgent dairy-based snacks, the traditional ice cream stands as one of the most relevant, with high acceptability of premium alternatives containing more than 14% of butyric fat in its base composition. Dairy-derived foods are sources of convenient snacks for different segments of the population. New developments of milk-based indulgent snacks will continue to grow in fluid and solids products, fermented and non-fermented alternatives, and as carriers of novel health-promoting components.
