One of the healthiest snacks around, natural Greek yoghurt is packed with calcium and is a low fat health food. But many companies are steering away from making Greek yoghurt the traditional way, by straining the liquid out of it – some are providing the rich creaming texture you know and love by adding thickeners such as powdered protein and starch. Although many people feel that the old fashioned way is better, the truth is that this way of making yoghurt is actually very wasteful.
It takes around four pounds of milk to make one pound of traditional Greek yoghurt, with the rest being strained out to form a thin liquid called whey. This bi-product is actually a valuable source of lactose and protein, which companies buy to make new products. Whey is used in cheese making, but even farmers are using it to mix with manure to be used as a fertiliser.
It is the misfortune of Greek yoghurt makers that the whey sourced from yoghurt isn’t as valuable as that found in cheese making, as it’s more acidic and contains fewer solids. And washing it away in the nearby river is an environmental hazard, igniting a host of sugar-eating bacteria which remove the oxygen in the water, consequently killing the fish.
There are plants which manage the amount of waste produced from whey, which produce bacteria that consume the whey to make it less damaging. It can even be transformed into power through burning it in electrical generators. So far, this is the most logical solution for excess whey produce but it is a costly endeavour. For the most part, the removal of whey – whether it is through storage plants or farms – is more expensive that the produce itself.
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