Milk is the perfect drink for dunking biscuits, accompanying cereals and is delicious when combined with cocoa powder. Milk is also the key ingredient in yogurt, ice cream, and macaroni and cheese. Before milk became the basis of many delicious meals and desserts, it had to undergo many alterations. This article will explore the composition of milk, historical milk processing, milk production in the United States. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The four main components of milk are water, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Other components such as vitamins, minerals and enzymes are found in milk but in small quantities. The largest component present in milk is water which makes up about 88% of the milk. Another component of milk is a protein that makes up about 3.3% of milk. The two main types of protein found in milk are casein and whey. About 80% of milk proteins are made up of casein. The remaining 20% ​​of the proteins present in milk are made up of whey. Fats are another component of milk. Fats make up 3.4% of milk. These fats, or fatty acids, are composed of a chain of carbon atoms accompanied by hydrogen atoms lining the outside of the chain and a carboxyl group at the end of the fat structure. Fatty acids have only two classifications: saturated or unsaturated. Saturated fats have single carbon bonds while unsaturated fats have double carbon bonds. Milk fat is made up of 70% saturated fat, 28% monounsaturated fat and 2.3% polyunsaturated fat. The second most important constituent of milk is carbohydrates. Milk is made up of 4.9% carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, also known as saccharides, are composite structures made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The three types of carbohydrates are monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are the simplest form of sugar. Since a monosaccharide is not a form of molecular compound, it is used as a building block for other carbohydrates. Glucose, galactose and fructose are examples of monosaccharides. When two monosaccharide molecules join together, they form a disaccharide molecule. A polysaccharide molecule is formed when more than two monosaccharide molecules are joined together. Polysaccharides are complex sugars due to their long chains of monosaccharide compounds. While monosaccharide and disaccharide molecules are simple sugars since they are composed of no more than two monosaccharides. Examples of polysaccharides include starches, fiber, and glycogen. Examples of disaccharides include maltose, lactose, and sucrose. Lactose is the type of carbohydrate found in milk. Lactose is formed by the union of glucose and galactose. There are different varieties of milk. Whole milk, low-fat milk and skim milk are the three most common types of milk. The percentage of fat in whole milk cannot fall below 3.25%. The percentage of fat in skimmed milk cannot fall below 0.5%. The percentage of fat in low-fat milk cannot exceed 0.5-2.0%. Milk is produced in many different ways. The three common milk production processes are pasteurization, homogenization and vitamin enrichment. According to Chris Cavette, in “Milk” from the website How Products are Made, the entire production of milk can be summarized in seven steps: collection, separation, fortification, pasteurization, homogenization, packaging and cleaning. In the first phase, the collection, the milk that is stored in a refrigerated tank after being milked by the cows is collected through.