Provo Daily Herald | 1989-10-23 | Page 5
Providing milk in space-safe pouches for 93 astronauts might not tap the largest market in the world, but Utah State University milk will go where no other milk has gone before.
Processing milk at ultrahigh temperatures —UHT— and packaging it in special air-free pouches will be great public relations for Utah, said Paul Savello assistant professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences at USU.
If all goes well, the first pouch of milk should be shot into space during the shuttle mission in December, Mr. Savello said.
Success is dependent upon NASA finding a pouch that can function in zero gravity and tolerate heat he said.
When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration asked the university to produce milk that could go without refrigeration the department had the technology to fill the order.
At USU's Center for Dairy Food Technology food scientists have been perfecting a system to sterilize milk with UHT making it suitable for long shelf-life said Mr. Savello.
USU received an unsolicited proposal from NASA to develop dairy products for space stations based on their reputation in nutritional research Mr. Savello said, The contract will be final with congressional appropriation.
"NASA has decided that dairy products are necessary for long-term space habitation- - he said "We have the ability to make all sorts of UHT products."
USU is now experimenting with yogurts custards cheesecakes and citrus-flavored milk drinks that can all be stored without refrigeration.
"We're working to eventually contract with NASA for an entire line of dairy products" he said.
With proper application of UHT the milk tastes exactly the same as non-sterilized milk he said. And UHT milk contains the same vitamins and calories as other milk.
“Rarely do you find a burning taste anymore," he said. "We have improved the technology so much that you can't tell the difference."
Although WIT milk products can be stored warm on the shelf for years they will taste better if they are cooled before serving said Mr. Savello.
"We have become one of the major players in this technology," he said. "WIT products have great potential for defense and foreign use."
The heating method involves using direct steam injection or slow-plate exchange. The steam-injection method works instantaneously by injecting hot steam into the milk at temperatures between 284-287 degrees. The milk is then sterilized by holding it at the temperature for four seconds. The excess steam is then pulled out of the milk by a vacuum.
The plate-exchange system works by heating the milk over large metal plates. It is much slower but it doesn't require the extra step of sucking out the water he said.
UHT technology has been around for some time. A leading producer of UHT milk is Gossner's Cheese in Logan, but their product hasn't caught on as well as expected partially because of marketing limitations said Mr. Savello.
"The whole idea of sending milk in space is to give Utah a public relations boost," he said. "We could be the first and official milk of space."