Three-year shelf life for whey

DAVISCO is a privately held, family-owned dairy business in South Dakota in the United States. The company, which operates five dairy processing plants, including one for whey, recently confirmed that its whey powders maintain their freshness even after a span of three years.

The study was done at a Davisco warehouse which was made to mimic realworld conditions, that is, actual conditions that the product would undergo before shipment to customers. Davisco took note of the composition of its sweet dairy whey and deproteinised whey for more than three years. After analysis period, technicians did find only minimal changes in the flavour, aroma, and colour of the powders. Even the nutritional composition stayed relatively the same.

According to the company, the powders maintained their quality because they are kept in heat-sealed 4 ml-thick polyethylene liners which protect well from moisture. Within the three-year study, Davisco noted only an increase of 0.1 to 0.3% in the sealed bags. The moisture ranges in Davisco’s specifications lies within the zone of maximum stability for whey powders as defined by the theoretical moisture monolayer value, therefore no significant changes in these measures occurred.

The changes are so minimal in the whey powders that a one-month old pack and a three-year-old pack may seem the same to an analytical chemist doing random sampling of lots (without shelf life declaration) within the company’s specification range.

Needless to say, this three-year shelf life is a boon to warehousing, logistics, supply chain and manufacturers, up to retail and consumer products.