Recent advances in processing research and membrane technology have made the fractionation of milk both economically and technically feasible.

Milk ingredients represent an important area of research for domestic markets as well as export markets. In 2007 more than 256 million pounds of imported ingredients (milk protein concentrate and casein/ate on a protein basis) were imported into the U.S. This is a clear indication of currently unmet demand.

Existing and emerging milk ingredients and fractions have many food and beverage applications.  Fractionation of dairy proteins can be considered as value-added processing which improves the functionality and broadens the use of dairy proteins as ingredients. An area of active research is to understand the processing variables impacting the quality of these products.