CHEESE NOTES

The many uses of Whey

Photo ©2012 NPR.org

Via NPR.org, a look at the many — and multiplying — uses of Whey, the cloudy liquid byproduct of the cheesemaking process (with requisite hi-larious word play on the word “whey”):

When you open a tub of yogurt, do you pour off that cloudy layer of liquid that collects on the top? If so, you’re not just wasting nutritious protein and lactose – you’re tossing out what some scientists see as a valuable raw material.

Strange though it might seem, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering in Germany announced this week that they’re turning whey into plastic-like films.

Their material is really the whey protein, the same stuff you might mix into a post-workout smoothie. When heated in a process called “denaturing,” the protein molecules change shape. When sprayed onto a surface, such as plastic wrap, they form a thin, flexible layer that helps protect food from oxygen and moisture, the researchers say.

So how did this mild-mannered substance go from pig food to plastic wrap?

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