The impact of fortification with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the quality of fluid milk.

The effects of added conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the sensory, chemical, and physical characteristics of 2% total fat (wt/wt) fluid milk were studied. Milks with 2% (wt/wt) total fat (2% CLA, 1% CLA 1% milkfat, 2% milkfat) were made by the addition of cream or CLA triglyceride oil into skim milk followed by HTST pasteurization and homogenization. The effects of adding vitamin E (200 ppm) and rosemary extract (0.1% wt/wt based on fat content) were investigated to prevent lipid oxidation. HTST pasteurization resulted in a significant decrease of the cis-9/trans-11 isomer and other minor CLA isomers. The cis-9/trans-11 isomer concentration remained stable through 2 wk of refrigerated storage. A significant loss of both the cis-9/trans-11 and the cis-10/trans-12 isomers occurred after 3 wk of refrigerated storage. The loss was attributed to lipase activity from excessive microbial growth. No differences were found in hexanal or other common indicators of lipid oxidation between milks with or without added CLA (P > 0.05). Descriptive sensory analysis revealed that milks with 1 or 2% CLA exhibited low intensities of a "grassy/vegetable oil" flavor, not present in control milks. The antioxidant treatments were deemed to be ineffective, under the storage conditions of this study, and did not produce significant differences from the control samples (P > 0.05). CLA-Fortified milk had significantly lower L* and b* values compared with 2% milkfat milk. No significant differences existed in viscosity. Consumer acceptability scores (n = 100) were lower (P < 0.05) for CLA-fortified milks compared to control milks, but the addition of chocolate flavor increased acceptability (P < 0.05).