ABSTRACT
The relative importance of other quality marks depends on usage. Milk can be consumed as a beverage, in which case flavor is of paramount importance. Most consumers tend to dislike a cooked flavor and, therefore, low-intensity pasteurization is generally preferred. Others use milk primarily in coffee or tea, in cooking, in baking, etc., where the absence of a cooked flavor is mostly not essential (if not too intense) and shelf life may be the most important quality mark. Consequently, sterilized milk is often favored. One may even use milk preserves like evaporated milk, dried milk, or — for some uses — sweetened condensed milk.
