Ready-to-drink milk based beverages with improved texture and stability

A method of producing a ready to drink (RTD) beverage, the method comprising:

• mixing sugar and high-acyl gellan gum with at least one component selected from the group consisting of milk, non-fat dry milk, cream, skimmed-milk, and semi-skimmed milk;
• adding an acidifier to form a mixture;
• homogenizing the mixture at a temperature ranging from 65-80° C., the homogenizing comprising (i) a first step wherein the mixture is exposed to a first pressure and (ii) a second step wherein the mixture is exposed to a second pressure, wherein a total pressure is a sum of the first pressure and the second pressure and is 135-300 bars;
• sterilizing at ultra-high temperature (UHT) conditions at 136-150° C. for 3-30 seconds to obtain a beverage base product;
• cooling the obtained beverage base product to a temperature ranging from 0-25° C. to obtain the RTD beverage;
• and
• filling aseptically the RTD beverage in an aseptic container, wherein the high-acyl gellan gum is the only natural hydrocolloid in the RTD beverage.