Approximately 10% of Swiss milk is used to manufacture dried milk products and condensed milk (milk preserves). This fluctuates between 8% and 13% depending on the market situation of milk and dairy products. In 2008 for example, the sum of products containing dried milk and condensed milk rose to 54 ' 000 T where 363 ' 000 tons of milk (10,6% of the total milk production) were used for their manufacture. Increasingly, these milk-based food ingredients are grouped together under the term ‘milk ingredients'. The term symbolises the development into hiqh-quality concentrates and dried products such as milk proteins or specific whey proteins with a high degree of purity and a defined degree of denaturation. The variety of foods containing milk from the Swiss dairy industry ranges from skimmed milk powder intended for export to countries with a milk shortage, to special milk powders with high contents of protein for new-born baby food, to emulsifiers, to whole milk powder for the Swiss chocolate industry. Depending on the product, all milk components are concentrated by dehydration (whole milk powder) or particular components such as casein, skim-milk proteins or other invaluable components are separated selectively and gently concentrated by innovative membrane separation techniques and other dehydration processes. In powder or concentrated form, these products can be stored for long periods because of their low water content.