In recent years, the average consumer has become much more aware of the composition of food. Medical opinion, that diets high in fibre and low in fat are likely to result in longer and healthier lives, has provided the food industry with new market sectors and, hence, the need for new product development.

The dairy industry in the United Kingdom has, in the main, been slow to react to this challenge and has left the remainder of the food industry to manipulate the composition of the final product. At one time, the inclusion of 100 g butter per kg margarine was deemed to be a sales advantage but today the consumer believes it is a disadvantage. The cholesterol and saturated fats discussion has obviously been put forward with great fervour by members of the food industry who have sought to gain advantage. The reaction of the dairy industry has been to take a defensive stand rather than to conduct research and promote the nutritional advantage of milk and milk products. This attitude is changing, fortunately, and new dairy products are being developed and marketed aggressively. The belief of the dairy industry, that only new products containing milk ingredients alone would be manufactured, is no longer true and a whole range of new dairy-based products, incorporating varying amounts of other food ingredients, is appearing.

The latest developments in dairy technology are resulting in some new raw materials derived from milk, specially designed for specific uses in the food industry. This paper reviews some of these developments against the background of milk composition, industrial production and market consumption.