Tag: Centrifuge

Contrary to popular belief, skimmed milk is not simply whole milk diluted with water. It is a processed dairy product created by separating the milkfat from whole milk, resulting in a product with a significantly lower fat content, typically between 0.1% and 0.5%.

Before the invention of modern machinery, cream was naturally skimmed off the top of milk after gravity caused it to rise. Today, dairy producers efficiently and hygienically remove fat from dairy using powerful centrifugal separators, a process that relies on the natural difference in density between milk fat and the liquid milk serum.

According to the Pennsylvania Bulletin, official US code specifies that skim milk is milk with a milkfat content of less than 0.5%. This low-fat profile is the primary result of the skimming process, which removes the fatty cream from whole milk.