Permeate free, I say is it just another marketing ploy??? It is so sad that so many people buy into marketing bullshit when they have no idea what permeate is, just because it is pertraded as bad.
Permeate is a term used when a product is passed through a membrane plant. Permeated is the smaller particles such as in the case of milk it's the lactose and minerals. It is called permeate because it it permeable and can pass through the membrane or filter. The particles that don't pass through is retenteate as it is retained. In milk this is components such as milk fats and casein protein. Casein protein is the the most important component in cheese making.
If you run the milk through a membrane plant at the very start of the process you can concentrate the casein and fat levels and increase yield, and therefore maximize production rates of a cheese plant.
As for adding bleaching agents well that may well have happened in some cases but legally I'm sure it doesn't and wouldn't be a standard part of the process. Lots of things happen in factories and even the farm that shouldn't, a farmer adding the water hose to a vat to increase his milk, (freeze point testing of milk can now detect it. I've heard stories in the past of Peroxide being added to milk to reduce bacterial counts when milk was getting old, anyway point being there are many stories of things that happen but doesn't necessarily mean it to be a integral everyday part of the process.
When UHT milk was released people didn't buy it because they thought it sounded like a chemical was added. UHT stands for Ultra Heat Treatment, basically milk is heated to a higher temperature for a shorter time compared to standard pasteurization. It has a better microbial kill rate so the milk will last longer.
Anyway be careful what you led to believe as the same tactics could be just as easily per trade on to beer, ie whirl flock, seaweed used in making beer, and do I even need to mention fish products for finings etc. Anyway that's my
2 cents of ramblings
