Abstract: Powdered acidophil fermented milk products that can be readily reconstituted are prepared by spray drying milk which has been fermented with acidophil bacteria to produce a powdered product, agglomerating the powdered product, lyophilizing a culture of acidophil bacteria under specific conditions to insure maximum survival of the bacteria to produce a foamy dried mass containing live acidophil bacteria, grinding the foamy dried mass and mixing the resultant ground powdered product with the agglomerated powdered product to produce a powdered acidophil milk product that can be readily reconstituted to produce an acidophil milk containing about 200 million acidophil bacteria per cc.

Abstract: A process for the preparation of galactose which comprises (1) the cultivation of a mutant, non-pathogenic protoprophic yeast or bacteria possessing .beta.-galactosidase activity and a gal.sup.- character on a media containing lactose, e.g., lactoserum and (2) recovery of the galtose. The mutants are produced using two different methods. The galactose solutions produced are suitable for use in beverages.

Abstract: A method of and incubator for preparing bacterial cultures, especially bacterial cultures for producing fermented milk products such as yogurt by inoculation and heat treatment of a nutrient solution with an external culture in a sterilized incubator, according to which the incubator is charged and discharged and specimens are obtained by means of a cannula which extends through a narrow aperture in the upper part of the incubator and which is covered by a heat barrier, e.g. a flame barrier or a hot gas barrier, during charging and discharging and is closed in a sterile manner with an air-permeable sterilization plug after the cannula has been removed.

Abstract: Foodstuffs of improved nutritive quality are obtained by incorporating enzymatically hydrolyzed non-gelatin proteinaceous materials into the foodstuffs. It has been discovered that organoleptic properties, color, clarity and the overall characteristics of the foodstuffs are not adversely affected by the inclusion of these soluble hydrolyzed proteins which are heat and acid stable.

Abstract: Shelf-stable low-fat cultured dairy products, prepared through fermentation, have essentially natural characteristics in plain and flavored varieties, which characteristics are retained over an extended period of time, without refrigeration. A low-fat dairy culture composition is sterilized and cooled; a food starch is blended therein; the blended product then undergoes a syneresis step at a temperature within the approximate range of 100.degree. to 150.degree.F., which temperature is below the pasteurization temperature of such blended product and below the temperature at which the food starch will set; after the syneresis step, the product is homogenized; the homogenized product is adjusted, if necessary, to a pH of 4.5 or less, filled into containers and sealed therein; and the containerized product is pasteurized.

Abstract: The palatability of animal foods is increased by incorporating therein an effective amount of a palatability improving composition prepared by reacting an aqueous mixture of protein and emulsified fat with lipase and protease. For dry animal foods, a fat such as bleachable fancy tallow or butter oil is preferably emulsified with a proteinaceous emulsifier, subjected to the action of the enzymes and then sprayed onto the animal food as an emulsion. For intermediate moisture animal foods, a meat slurry is preferably treated with the enzymes and then combined with the other ingredients of the animal food.

Abstract: Yogurt and quark are prepared by a process wherein milk prior to culturing and coagulating is subjected to ultrafiltration to concentrate and to remove mineral salts with or without lactose removal. This process provides a high degree of flexibility in composition, and enhanced viscosity and increased yield. Additionally, quark made by the process is capable of being whipped to at least 200% overrun.

Abstract: A method for testing milk to determine its ability to be fermented by bacteria in order to produce cheese, cottage cheese and the like is described. The method utilizes a colorimetric oxidation-reduction dye which rapidly changes color when the milk is readily fermentable.

Abstract: A non-Dairy yogurt is prepared by leaching soybean meal with an aqueous solution having a pH of 4 to 5 to remove sugars without removing protein, leaching a resultant residual sugar-free cake with an aqueous solution having a pH above 7 to dissolve protein material, adjusting the pH of a resulting protein-containing filtrate to 6.5 to 7.0, adding sugar to the filtrate and homogenizing to produce a soymilk, sterilizing the soymilk at about 116.degree.C, and fermenting the sterile soymilk with a lactic culture to produce yogurt.

Abstract: A process for making foods and animal feeds from starchy raw materials, such as flour, meal and grits of cereals, pulses, starch roots, tubers, oil seeds, cakes of oil seeds, milk products, or mixtures of these materials, which includes the steps of: mixing water and at least one high-temperature resistant enzyme with the raw materials to form an extrudable paste; effecting partial gelatinization and initiating fermentation by extruding the paste while heating the paste to a temperature of from 65.degree.C (149.degree.F) to 115.degree.C (239.degree.F); converting the starch into dextrins and sugars by treating the extruded product in a fermentation apparatus for 40 to 90 minutes at a temperature of 55.degree.C (131.degree.F) to 90.degree.C (194.degree.F) in a high humidity atmosphere, as near as possible to saturation; and drying the product after fermentation.

Abstract: Sterile yoghurt is produced by a process wherein milk is pasteurized, homogenized and concentrated 10% by weight, sugar is added, the milk is cooled and acidulated by lactic acid producing bacteria to produce yoghurt, the yoghurt is cooled, stabilizers are added for distribution of proteins, the resultant yoghurt is allowed to stand for a period of time, the yoghurt is filled into containers and sterilized by heating followed by cooling and holding for a period of time and storing at room temperature.