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[The Lactose Content of Commercial Powdered Milk: A Comparative Study]

Milk is a nutritional whitish fluid coming from the breasts or udders of the female mammals. This serves as food for their young ones, especially when they are still incapable of chewing solid foods.
The humans, like any other mammals, consume milk. But their intake of milk does not stop after infancy. It continues until adulthood. Sources of milk for humans include cows, goats, and other cattle.
Why do humans still drink milk even in the stage of adulthood? Probably, humans find milk as a practical way to be healthy. Of course, it contains vitamins, minerals, acids, lipids and carbohydrates that are essential nutrients for a man to have a sound body.
Milk was made by humans into various forms. This sea of milk products includes the evaporated milk, condensed milk, powdered milk, and all others. The powdered milk is one of the convenient forms of milk. Powdered milk can be stored in a longer shelf life since it has lower moisture level that can spoil food. Unlike the fresh or raw milk, it can only be stored for a couple of days. Milk powder is also much useful to people in remote areas where fresh milk is not visible or available at all times.
Meanwhile, one of the components of milk is lactose. It is the sugar naturally found in milk. Lactose comes from the Latin word lac which means milk. Milk, as a carbohydrate, gives energy to the drinker. There are also other benefits that we can get from lactose. According to According to­­­ National Dairy Council, research suggests that lactose promotes the growth of beneficial lactic acid- producing bacteria that compete with undesirable putrefactive bacteria. (National Dairy Council, 2000)
Lactose content may vary on milk or on any mil products. The higher the lactose content, it is more favorable to infants and children who still need much energy to play and in growth. Then, the lower the lactose content, the more favorable it is to the lactose intolerants who can only digest 2% lactose and the diabetics also.
Nowadays, numerous brands of commercial powdered milk are being produced and advertised on televisions, radios, billboards, and other forms of media. Yet, the consumers need to be assured that these milk brands are pure enough and can sustain the nutritional needs of our body.
As part of the consumers, the researchers developed a study which can determine the percentage purity of powdered milk. Specifically, to determine the lactose content of commercial powdered milk.
There are various laboratory techniques that can be used in determining the lactose content in powdered milk. One of these is by titration of lactic acid. This method was done by making a milk solution out of the powdered milk and water. Then, this would be soured for a span of two days. The curdling of milk could create lactic acid from lactose. Simply, lactose is converted into lactic acid. Then the lactic acid content is determined by titration. Specifically, the acid-base titration was used. It is used to determine the concentration of an acid in a solution by it with a base that has an accurately known concentration. In the study, we are to determine the concentration of lactic acid in the milk solution by titrating it with a sodium hydroxide, a base.
After determining the lactic acid content in milk, we can now imply the lactose content in referring to the CODEX standards. If the lactic acid content is at least 0.35%, it would imply that the milk has a lactose content of 61%.
The research subjects in our study are the ten brands of commercial powdered milk and are divided into two categories. The INFANT’S MILK include Alacta, Enfapro, Nestogen, Promil, and U-Care 123. The FAMILY’S MILK include Alaska, Anchor, Bear Brand, Bonakid, and Nido.
Out of the ten brands of commercial powdered milk, Alacta has the highest lactic acid content while Anchor has the lowest lactic acid content.
The ten brands of commercial powdered milk namely Alacta, Alaska, Anchor, Bear Brand, Bonakid, Enfapro, Nestogen, Nido, Promil, and U-Care 123 passed the Codex standard for lactose content of at least 61%.