[Sca-cooks] Whey

[Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise]

> >When I make cheese I follow the same instructions however what is 
> >left after removing the solids through a strainer is called whey and 
> >is not a good thing to drink, even after being sweetened and 
> >fermented. It is a poison and is usually tossed out. It was fed to 
> >dogs and pigs for a reason as we cannot digest it properly

The FDA lists it as Generally Recognized as Safe, which means that it 
has been used extensively for many years and so is not subject to 
regulatory testing:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1979

Little Miss Muffet eats a dish of curds and whey in the nursery rhyme.

Some citations for drinking whey noted in the OED: 1732 ARBUTHNOT Rules 
of Diet in Aliments, etc. I. 252 Of all Drinks, Whey is the most 
relaxing. 1791 SCOTT Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. vi. 183 My uncle drinks 
the whey here, as I do ever since I understood it was brought to his 
bedside every morning at six, by a very pretty dairy-maid. 

The Encyclopedia Britannica says "The whey is removed from the curd 
during the process of making cheese; then it is centrifuged to remove 
fat, concentrated or dried, and used for human food in processed cheese 
products, baking, and candy making. Whey is used for animal feed as a 
liquid, concentrate, or dry powder. "

Viking foods were pickled in whey, and Ricotta is a cheese made from 
whey. Vikings also drank whey, and drinking whey is mentioned in the 
Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.


-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 
"I don't get the facts wrong.  It's everything else I screw up."
    -- _The Librarian: Quest for the Spear_