Nobody knows exactly when people started drinking the milk of cows, goats, sheep or camels and using it to make foods such as butter, yoghurt, quark or cheese. That milk tastes good and has many "inner values" was apparently already known to the Sumerians: 5,000-year-old clay tablets show that they kept dairy cows. In modern times, milk has been in the spotlight as a natural and healthy drink and food for several decades now, once a year on International World Milk Day, 1 June.
Material, product and service solutions from Freudenberg Filtration Technologies ensure high food and consumer safety in the production of milk and dairy products.
As with other foods, hygiene is the top priority when processing milk and dairy products. Not only on World Milk Day, but all year round, Freudenberg filters and Freudenberg know-how help to prevent contamination that is hazardous to health in the manufacturing, storage, filling and packaging process - in a variety of ways with a whole range of material and product solutions and services.
Freudenberg's nutritexx nonwovens are used in milk filter bags for the initial filtration of milk directly on the farm. In later processing steps, the dairy industry then uses various membrane filtration processes. In many cases, these membranes require mechanical reinforcement. Freudenberg has a wide range of nonwovens that have proven themselves for many years as carrier and drainage media in liquid filtration using flat, tubular membranes and pleated filter cartridges.
In terms of hygiene, air filtration technology also plays a very decisive role in dairies and cheese dairies. After all, as a carrier of microorganisms, air is a potential source of contamination. Hygienically clean room and process air is therefore an absolute must in the production and processing of milk and dairy products. The lower the germ and particle content in the milk filling hall or clean room, the higher the quality level, the longer the shelf life, and the greater the food and consumer safety.
Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, the filter specialist of the Freudenberg Group, offers milk-processing companies a comprehensive product and service portfolio that includes, for example, hygiene inspections as well as various air-technical measurements and controls. At the heart of all solution packages are first-class Freudenberg filters of the Viledon brand. They are generally used in supply and recirculation air filtration in multi-stage, coordinated filter stages. When dusty conditions prevail, such as in the production of powdered milk or baby food, filter bags and cartridges from Freudenberg are the first choice in dust removal technology.
In addition to air filtration and dedusting products, Freudenberg also offers the dairy industry engineering services including control and regulation systems, including planning, production, design and installation. The most recent example: the TPU 500 tank overpressure system.
Milk and dairy products are often stored for days in tanks or silos before being processed further. During storage and emptying, it must be reliably prevented that raw milk, intermediate or end products come into contact with unfiltered outside air and that unwanted microorganisms penetrate in this way. The TPU 500 tank overpressure system solves this problem. The basic principle is as simple as it is sophisticated in detail: the system creates a blanket of air above the milk that is free of bacteria, yeasts and moulds; a slight overpressure in this blanket of air ensures that no outside air can penetrate, not even when the tanks are emptied.
Last but not least - and completely independent of World Milk Day - a quick note for vegans who avoid animal milk products: Freudenberg's tank overpressure system protects so-called milk substitutes, i.e. vegetable drinks based on soy, oats or almonds, from contamination just as reliably as animal milk.
