Demineralised lactose concentrate

A process of producing a biotin-reduced lactose isolate, said process comprising:

• providing a partially demineralised aqueous lactose isolate having a lactose content of 5-40 wt. %, a water content of at least 40 wt. %, lactose content of at least 90% by weight of dry matter, and an ash content of at least 10 mg ash per gram of lactose, wherein the lactose and water together constitute at least 80 wt. % of the isolate, said isolate containing:
• 1-30 mg sodium per gram of lactose;
• 5-50 mg potassium per gram of lactose;
• 1-40 mg chloride per gram of lactose;
• 0.15-3 μg biotin per gram of lactose;
• wherein the partially demineralised lactose isolate is prepared by:
• subjecting an optionally microfiltered dairy liquid to an ultrafiltration step using an ultrafiltration membrane with a cut-off in the range of 3-100 kDa to produce a ultrafiltration permeate, said dairy liquid being selected from skim milk, whey, whole milk and combinations thereof;
• subjecting the ultrafiltration permeate to a nanofiltration or reverse osmosis step to produce a nanofiltration or reverse osmosis retentate, said nanofiltration or reverse osmosis step employing a nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membrane having a cut-off in the range of 35-2000 Da;
• and
• optionally subjecting the nanofiltration or reverse osmosis retentate to a softening step, said softening step comprising adding a sequestering agent to the nanofiltration or reverse osmosis retentate, said sequestering agent being selected from phosphates, polyphosphates, phosphonates, polycarboxylates and combinations thereof;
• subjecting the partially demineralised aqueous lactose isolate to a electrodialysis (ED) step using a voltage in the range of 30 to 200 V to produce a biotin-reduced lactose isolate having a conductivity below 0.5 mS/cm and containing at least 90% lactose by weight of dry matter and less than 2 mg ash per gram of lactose, and containing:
• 0.02-1.5 mg sodium per gram of lactose;
• 0.02-2 mg potassium per gram of lactose;
• 0.05-1.5 mg chloride per gram of lactose;
• 0.01-0.25 μg biotin per gram of lactose.