Abstract: The invention provides a stable concentrated dairy liquid, such as concentrated milk, with improved flavor, color, and mouthfeel, and a method of production thereof. The method utilizes specific thermal treatments to produce the stable concentrated dairy liquid to which a stabilizer and mouthfeel enhancer are added. The resulting products have a sterilization value Fo of at least 5 that is also resistant to gelling and browning during high temperature sterilization and is also resistant to gelling and browning during storage for greater than six months. The method balances such thermal treatments with addition of stabilizer and enhancer to achieve the desired flavor/mouthfeel and sterilization and to achieve reduced level of soluble protein in the concentrated milk prior to concentration to resist gelation and minimize browning. Moreover, such processing may be utilized in a milk that is concentrated to a factor of 2.7 fold or higher and contains at least 8.5 percent protein.

Abstract: The present invention provides a high quality, ready-to-drink, non-cultured nutritional beverage comprising (1) a protein component, (2) an emulsified fat component, (3) a fortification component, and (4) an optional sweetener component. Preferably the protein component comprises minimally processed milk; the emulsified fat component comprises dairy fat; the beverage contains about 1.5 to 10 percent total protein and about 0.15 to about 5 percent total fat; the beverage has a first ratio of the minimally processed milk protein divided by the total protein which is greater than or equal to about 0.05; the beverage has a second ratio of the dairy fat divided by the total fat which is greater than or equal to about 0.15; and the fortification component provides at least 10 percent of the daily value per single beverage serving of at least 6 vitamins and minerals.