the expression “ dairy stream ” used herein may include any liquid source of milk protein . although the most common type of dairy stream to be used in this invention is skim milk , dairy streams could include milk protein concentrates ( mpcs ) as concentrates or re - dissolved or suspended forms . “ skim milk ” herein refers to milk with a low fat content , preferably below 1 % w / w . such milk is also referred to as “ low fat milk ” in the art . the expression “ serum ” used herein means the supernatant remaining after the precipitation of casein . serum includes the supernatant liquid and the proteins dissolved or suspended in it . the following description is of the ways of carrying out the invention illustrated in fig1 . skim milk may be separated from whole milk , or reconstituted whole milk or may be reconstituted from a skim milk powder . preferably the slim milk is pasteurized . optionally , the skim milk is concentrated using a membrane technique to enrich the retentate in protein . a preferred membrane technique is ultrafiltration . the protein concentrate may constitute between 20 % and 80 % the volume of the original skim milk . optionally the skim milk or protein concentrate is treated with an enzyme that forms para kappa - casein from kappa - casein . a preferred temperature for the enzyme reactio &# 39 ; n is & lt ; 15 ° c . in the process shown in fig1 , the skim milk or protein concentrate ( dairy ) stream is divided into two portions which are treated under different conditions . the two portions are then recombined and heated to form a protein concentrate as described below . in an alternative , not shown , the dairy stream is not divided , but treated by either the addition of a starter culture or an acid , followed by heating ; or alternatively , by the addition of an enzyme , followed by heating . in the embodiment shown , in the left portion the skim milk or protein concentrate is dosed with acid to attain a ph of about 4 . 6 , such that on heating , the insoluble protein rapidly precipitates . the precipitated protein and serum are in a state that enables ready separation . preferred methods of separation are inclined screens and decanters or combinations of both . to the right portion , enzyme is added . chymosin ( rennet ) is a preferred enzyme . the acidity may be provided by mixing with a dilute mineral acid such as sulphuric or hydrochloric acid , or alternatively , the acid may be generated by fermenting lactose present in solution upon the addition of a suitable bacterial starter culture . the left and right stream portions are then recombined . they are heated to a preferred temperature range such as , for example , between 25 ° c . and 70 ° c . for a holding time of between about 1 and 600 , preferably 5 - 200 seconds . any range within these limits may be used . most preferred ranges are temperatures between 30 and 55 ° c . and times between 10 and 50 seconds . optionally the recovered insoluble protein concentrate may be washed with water , or in a preferred embodiment , the insoluble protein is milled finely to a small relatively uniform particle size . more preferably , curd milling is conducted using a colloid mill . the insoluble protein concentrate is then dissolved in a solution containing a mixture of mono - valent and divalent cations . preferred mono - valent cations are sodium or potassium ions and preferred divalent cations are calcium or magnesium ions , and the preferred delivery vehicle for the respective ions are their hydroxides or oxides . the ratio of the application of the mono and divalent cations is the desired ratio of the ion pair in the final product ( ingredient ). a preferred embodiment is in a range 20 % to 90 % mono - valent cations with the balance being divalent cations ( 80 % to 10 %). in an alternative embodiment , the solubilised protein concentrate may be treated with an enzyme . a preferred enzyme is one that converts kappa - casein to para - kappa - casein . the enzyme may be deactivated after sufficient treatment by the application of heat the serum contains whey proteins , lactose and a variety of salts and minor components . the serum may be treated by a wide variety of processes to purify , enhance or modify its properties . preferred techniques that may be used , but not limited to , are ultrafiltration , electrodialysis , ion exchange and affinity chromatography , mineral and / or ph adjustment , heat treatment , shear and concentration . in another aspect , the serum may be divided into two or more sub - streams . one stream may be rich in protein and another may be rich in lactose . each of the streams may be treated by the preferred techniques previously identified . the solubilised protein concentrate stream is then combined with all or part of the treated protein rich stream and all or part of the lactose rich stream derived from the serum . in a preferred embodiment , the blending ratios are determined by the desired ratios of casein protein , whey protein and lactose in the final product . in a preferred embodiment , the desired blend has a protein content ( expressed on a dry basis ) or at least 40 % and less than 90 %. optionally edible oil , fat , milk fat , cream or high fat cream may be added to the blended stream . optionally , the combined stream may be homogenized to attain a fine uniform dispersion of the fat bearing phase in the aqueous phase . optionally , ingredients may be added after concentration and prior to drying . optionally , prior to drying , the ph and / or temperature may be adjusted to optimize the solution viscosity . after concentration , the product is dried . preferred drying equipment is spray drying . preferably the moisture in the product leaving the drier is & gt ; 0 . 5 % and & lt ; 10 % by weight . after pacling the product may be stored and used when and where is desired as an ingredient . the ingredient being rich in active milk protein , and highly nutritious , is particularly useful in the production of cheese - like products and more preferably in the manufacture of processed cheese - like products . the properties of the ingredient can be tailored for these applications beyond what can be achieved efficiently by other processes known in the art . in a preferred embodiment , the ingredient may be used in the production of processed cheese by the addition of a potable solvent ( water is preferred ), milk fat , salt , melting salts and flavouring agents . the mixture is heated with shear ( cooked ) and once a molten homogeneous mass is formed , packed off into processed cheese or processed cheese - like products . the invention has application in producing protein compositions useful as ingredients for manufacturing further ingredients or consumer products . the levels of components are able to be adjusted as desired during the production of the composition , and the levels of these components can be “ carried through ” to the final products . casein protein from 3000 l of skim milk was separated from the serum at ph 4 . 6 by acidifying the skim milk with dilute sulphuric acid and the excess serum was drained off to produce 180 kg of wet milk protein . the wet protein was not washed . this was denoted ‘ protein concentrate 1 ’. 1500 l of skim milk at 10 ° c ., was reacted with rennet (“ australian double strength ”) using 1 part rennet , to 10 , 000 skim milk ). the following day , the casein protein was separated from the serum at ph 4 . 6 by acidifying with dilute sulphuric acid . the excess serum was drained off to produce 90 kg wet milk protein . the wet protein was not washed . this was denoted ‘ protein concentrate 2 ’. 17 . 2 kg of a whey protein concentrate ( wpc ) ( sold as alacen 392 ™, fonterra cooperative group limited , auckland ) was dissolved in 260 kg demineralised water to make a 6 % wpc solution ( with native ( undenatured ) whey protein ). one half the whey protein solution was heat treated by heating to 151 ° c . for 4 minutes by circulating through an evaporator pre - heater holding tube to denature the proteins . 30 kg of protein concentrate 1 from example 1 was mixed with 70 l of the native whey protein solution from example 2 . the mixture was treated with sodium hydroxide ( 0 . 2 kg naoh dissolved in approximately 100 l water ) at 65 ° c . with stirring . once the ph of the mixture was stable at 6 . 8 , the solution was dried to yield a powdered proteinate ingredient 30 kg of protein concentrate 1 from example 1 was mixed with 70 l of the native whey protein solution from example 2 . the mixture was treated with calcium hydroxide ( 0 . 3 kg ca ( oh ) 2 dispersered in approximately 100 l water ) at 65 ° c . with stirring . once the ph of the mixture was stable at 6 . 9 , the solution was dried to yield a powdered proteinate ingredient 30 kg of protein concentrate 2 from example 1 was mixed with 70 l denatured whey protein solution from example 2 . the mixture was treated with sodium hydroxide ( 0 . 2 kg naoh dissolved in approximately 100 l water ) at 65 ° c . with stirring . once the ph of the mixture was stable at 6 . 8 , the solution was dried to yield a powdered proteinate ingredient the proteinate solution from each of runs 1 , 2 and 3 in example 3 was spray dried using a single stage dryer with an inlet air of temperature 200 ° c . and a feed pressure to the nozzle of 20 mpa . the proteinate ingredient powders in table 3 were prepared with calcium concentrations ranging from at least 2790 to 14 , 900 mg / kg while having sodium concentrations ranging from at least 10 , 800 to 1330 mg / kg and having a range of protein treatments . a person skilled in the art would realise that a vast array of other proteinate ingredients could be prepared according to this invention by making slight changes to the above procedures or combining in varying proportions two or more solution streams before the concentration or drying stages . the three proteinate ingredient powders of table 3 were used to make a processed cheese spread formulation and tested for their ability form an acceptable spread and to determine the texture . a control ingredient powder was also used as a reference . a control spread was prepared using a standard 70 % milk protein concentrate [ npc70 ] ( alapro 4700 ™, fonterra cooperative group limited , auckland ) ingredient powder . the proteinate ingredients used in the spreads had compositions shown in table 3 and the composition of the ntc70 control is shown in table 4 . table 5 formulations of spreads protein protein protein stream 1 , stream 2 , control stream 1 , ca ( oh ) 2 , naoh , ( alapro naoh , denatured denatured ingredient 4700 ™) native wp wp wp , soya oil ( g ) 185 . 5 185 . 5 185 . 5 185 . 5 protein 85 . 1 69 . 0 68 . 9 70 . 4 ingredient ( g ) lactose ( g ) 3 . 2 18 . 3 18 . 0 17 . 2 tsc ( g ) 13 . 28 15 . 23 14 . 79 14 . 73 ca ( g ) 3 . 35 1 . 40 1 . 84 1 . 90 salt ( g ) 6 . 0 6 . 0 6 . 0 6 . 0 water ( g ) 297 . 6 298 . 6 299 . 0 298 . 3 ( includes allowance of 11 . 0 g for evaporation ) total ( g ) 594 . 03 594 . 03 594 . 03 594 . 03 moisture (%) 51 . 2 51 . 45 51 . 35 51 . 35 measured ph 5 . 72 5 . 78 5 . 77 5 . 77 tsc = tri - sodium citrate ca = citric acid the spreads were prepared using a 2 l capacity vorwerk thermomix ™ 21 blender - cooker ( vorwerk australia pty . ltd ., granville , n . s . w ., australia ) and the procedure described below . the proteinate ingredient e . g . npc70 ( 70 % protein ( dry basis )) was hydrated in a salt solution ( 113 . 28 g fri - sodium citrate ( jungbunzlauer gmbh , perhofen , austria ), 3 . 35 g citric acid ( jungbunzlauer gmbh , perhofen , austria ), 6 . 0 g sodium chloride ( pacific salt , christchurch , new zealand ) and 200 g water ). the mixture was allowed to sit ( to hydrate ) overnight at 4 ° c . soya oil ( amco ™, goodman fielder , auckland , new zealand ) was heated for 1 min at temperature set at 100 and speed set at 1 ( this brought the temperature of the oil to 60 ° c .). the hydrated proteinate ingredient ( mpc70 ), lactose and the remaining water ( 97 . 6 g ) were added to the oil . the mixture was cooked at a temperature set at 85 ° c . for 7 min at speed set at 4 ( 2000 rpm ). at the end of each minute , the speed was set to “ turbo ” ( 12 , 000 rpm ) for 3 seconds to thoroughly mix the emulsion as well as to prevent burning and sticking of the emulsion to the wall of the cooker . the hot emulsion was poured into plastic screwed cap pottles , inverted then stored at 4 ° c . the final ph of the spread was 5 . 75 ± 0 . 05 . the textures of the stored spread samples were measured at 1 week of age . the spreads had a nominal composition of 51 . 0 % moisture , 31 . 4 % fat , 10 . 0 % protein , 5 . 9 % lactose and remainder 1 . 7 % other . the texture of a processed cheese spread prepared by using the ingredients of this invention was measured and compared with a control prepared using a standard mpc70 ingredient . texture was assessed by measuring the elastic modulus , g ′ of a sample of the resulting product . the elastic modulus was obtained at 0 . 1 hz , strain of 0 . 005 at 20 ° c . using a texture analyser ta ar2000 rheometer ( ta instruments — waters llc , new castle , usa ) at 20 ° c . using the method described by lee s . k . & amp ; klostermeyer h ., lebensim .- wiss . u - technol ., 34 , 288 - 292 ( 2001 ). ( a description of elastic modulus is detailed in ferry ( ferry , j . d ., ( ed . ), viscoelastic properties of polymers , 3 rd edn . new york . john wiley & amp ; sons . 1980 )). gel firmness observations were replicate determinations taken from different samples taken from the same batch of product ( different pottles ). the textures of the spreads measured as g ′ are shown in table 6 .
the invention described is a process for manufacturing a dairy ingredient particularly suited for use in cheese manufacture . the process involves treating a dairy stream under conditions to form a protein concentrate and serum . the stream may optionally be split and different conditions / reactants used in each separate stream to modify the entrained proteins before the separate streams are recombined . the protein concentrate is solubilised before being recombined with the serum . the mono - di - valent cation content of the protein concentrate may be adjusted as the protein concentrate is solubilised . the ingredient produced can be used in the manufacture of cheese products .