Measure the texture of dairy products

In the dairy product sector, texture measurement takes on a pivotal role, driven by an increasingly discerning consumer base and expanding product variety found on supermarket shelves. From creamier yoghurt to stretchier mozzarella and softer scooping ice cream, consumers have come to expect specific sensory profiles for each dairy item.

Research has shown that the texture of dairy products is intimately linked to their popularity, with attributes like softness or hardness significantly impacting brand loyalty and overall satisfaction.

Manufacturers face challenges related to structural changes during unit operations and formulation adjustments, which can introduce batch-to-batch variations in products, from yoghurt separation to cheese crumbliness.

To address these concerns and ensure consistently high-quality offerings, quantifiable texture analysis plays a critical role. It allows manufacturers to monitor and measure the sensory properties and functionality of dairy products, offering both the assurance that their products meet consumer expectations and the practicality necessary for successful production and packaging.

Dairy products, ranging from milk and yogurt to cheese and ice cream, inherently possess distinct textural attributes that significantly contribute to consumer enjoyment and preference. Incorporating a Texture Analyser into the manufacturing and development processes of these products offers a wide range of advantages:

• Texture profiling: From the creaminess of yoghurts to the spreadability of soft cheeses and the scoopability of ice cream, dairy products have unique texture expectations. A Texture Analyser provides precise metrics to categorise and maintain these profiles.
• Optimising formulations: Ingredients, cultures, thickeners and additives in dairy can change the final texture. The Texture Analyser assists in adjusting formulations to achieve the desired mouthfeel and consistency.
• Effect of processing: Investigate how various processing techniques, like pasteurisation, fermentation, or homogenisation, affect the texture of dairy products.
• Quality assurance and control: Ensuring consistency across batches is vital. Texture testing ensures every product aligns with brand quality standards, fostering consumer trust and loyalty.
• Shelf life and storage condition insights: Dairy products can undergo textural changes with time or temperature changes like free-thaw cycles, such as yoghurts becoming watery or cheeses hardening. Texture analysis offers insights into shelf life and ways to optimise it.
• Ingredient substitution: When replacing traditional dairy ingredients with alternatives, a Texture Analyser ensures that the new formulation maintains the desired texture. With the rise of lactose-free or vegan dairy alternatives, understanding their textural implications compared to traditional dairy is crucial.
• Sensory analysis correlation: By combining data from the Texture Analyser with sensory evaluations, researchers can draw insights into consumer texture preferences.
• Competitor comparisons: Dairy businesses can compare the texture of their products to those of competitors to identify market differentiators or areas for improvement.
• Claims substantiation: If a product is marketed with specific texture claims, like "creamy" or "thick," the Texture Analyser offers empirical evidence to support these claims.

By integrating the insights from a Texture Analyser with innovative ingredients and product ideas, dairy businesses can optimise product quality, meet evolving consumer preferences, and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Dairy products encompass a wide range of textures, from the creaminess of yoghurts to the firmness of hard cheeses.

Here are the key texture properties that a Texture Analyser can measure for dairy items:

Utilising a Texture Analyser allows dairy manufacturers to capture objective, repeatable measurements of these textural attributes, facilitating product optimisation, ensuring consistent quality, and meeting consumer expectations.

Whether its providing the solution for General Mills to file a patent for their cheese compositions, allowing Dupont Nutrition Biosciences to measure the firmness of their high acyl gellan whipping cream, giving a means of assessing 3D printability of soft cheese to the Indian Institute of Technology or offering a method for Yoplait to measure their non-dairy fermented food product, a Texture Analyser is adaptable and flexible in its application to measure the bespoke texture of your product and then enable its quality to be controlled in your manufacturing to guarantee consistency and customer satisfaction.

With deep expertise in dairy product texture analysis, we’re well equipped to support innovation in the dairy sector – just ask our customers.

A wide range of probes and attachments an be integrated with our instruments, allowing testing to be precisely adapted to the material or product under evaluation. Applications include back extrusion tests to compare yoghurt consistency, cutting tests to assess cheese firmness or a spreadability rig to measure spread properties. 

Over the years, we have collaborated with leading scientists and organisations across diverse industries to design and refine attachments that meet highly specific testing requirements. When a suitable solution does not already exist, we develop one – such as the Cheese Extensibility Rig, a Community Registered Design that exemplifies our commitment to innovation in solving complex testing challenges.

The examples provided illustrate a selection of specialised attachments and commonly performed measurements within this application area. This list is not exhaustive; a wide range of additional options are available for the testing of dairy products. All instruments in the Texture Analyser range can be used to perform the tests described.

Exponent Connect software includes a comprehensive range of test methods for dairy products, all instantly accessible at the click of a button. We streamline your texture testing process, ensuring faster access to methods and ready-to-use analysis files for your product properties.

The dairy industry has witnessed a surge in innovation over recent years due to shifting consumer preferences, dietary needs, sustainability concerns, and technological advancements. Here are some of the newer ingredient and product ideas in dairy product research, development, and production and a typical academic reference to show how the Texture Analyser has already being applied: