Milk and Dairy Products Analogues

For thousands of years, milk has been recognized as the most comprehensive natural food, serving a significant part of the diets of over 6 billion people worldwide. However, the demand for dairy alternatives has increased recently for various reasons, including medical conditions like milk allergy, lactose intolerance, phenylketonuria, and cholesterol issues, as well as personal choices like a vegan/vegetarian diet or concerns about growth hormone or antibiotic residues in milk. Another aspect is utilizing these analogues to reduce costs, tailor or improve functionality, and meet legal requirements. Most dairy products have well-defined labelling requirements, but other nutritional ingredients can be added to the analogues to improve their health outlook. Nevertheless, creating dairy substitutes that match dairy products’ sensory and nutritional attributes remains challenging and affects consumer acceptance. Scientists and researchers are extensively researching to develop innovative approaches that enhance plant-based dairy analogues’ physical and sensory properties.