This Application Note describes the extraction of fat from a variety of dried milk products. The samples range from very low-fat products such as skim milk powder to very high-fat products such as cream powder. The extraction of fat from these matrices is rapid and the results are equivalent to the referenced traditional methods.

The current methods for determining fat in dairy products, though acceptable, have several drawbacks. Many dairy-based products require a pretreatment prior to extraction. In this application note, fat is extracted from cheese, butter, and liquid milks using the ASE 200 Accelerated Solvent Extractor. The results are shown to be equivalent to those of traditional fat extraction methods. ASE results reported, are compared to Rose-Gottlieb, Schmid-Bondsynski-Ratzlaff, and International Dairy Federation tests that were conducted by 20 laboratories participating in the Interlaboratory Comparison.

The U.S. Nutritional Labeling and Education Act of 1990 requires nutritional labels listing the content of saturated and unsaturated fats in food. Accurate determination of fat in certain foods is difficult due to the binding or entrapment of the fat by the matrix. Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) is an automated extraction technique that significantly reduces extraction time and solvent consumption and yields equivalent results. In this work, fat was extracted from sour cream, cream cheese, coffee creamer, heavy whipping cream, and low-fat milk.

Vitamin D, including vitamin D2 and D3 (Figure 1), is essential to calcium absorption and bone health. Current studies suggest vitamin D could help prevent a wide range of disorders. Although vitamin D can be synthesized by the human body from exposure to sunlight, fortification in some dietary sources becomes necessary. We describe an easy and comprehensive LC-MS/MS method using a Transcend TLX-1 system powered by Thermo Scientific TurboFlow technology to measure vitamin D levels in infant formula. TurboFlow technology eliminates most traditional sample preparation steps.

Whey proteins, most notably alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin, are currently being investigated for their potential positive health benefits. Whey proteins are a substantial percentage of human milk (~60%) while such proteins are less abundant in cow milk (~20%). We describe a method for the identification of the various forms of caseins and whey proteins as a first step and then intact protein-based method for determination of the whey vs. casein protein ratio.