With the growing demand for healthier, reduced-sugar, and sustainable products, sweet whey powder has become an attractive ingredient for chocolate manufacturers who want to offer a healthier option to their customers. Because a significant volume of whey is disposed of as wastewater, whey is considered the major environmental contaminant in the dairy business in the absence of sustainable procedures. Whey can be repurposed into other ingredients, like sweet whey (produced by drying pasteurized fresh whey generated during cheese production) to be used in chocolate production to contribute to a circular economy. Sweet whey with fewer calories can reduce the calorie content when used to replace sugar for health-conscious individuals. This research therefore aimed to evaluate the potential for a partial reduction in sugar in milk chocolate using sweet whey powder.

Milk chocolate samples were produced by reducing the sugar content and replacing the sugar with sweet whey powder in different amounts (RO-0%, R1-5%, R2-7%, R3-10%, R4-12.5%, and R5-15%) w/w. The physicochemical properties (particle size, ash, and moisture) and the sensory properties (descriptive using 12 highly trained panel) were investigated.

The results indicated that the replacement of sugar with sweet whey significantly impacted the ash content (RO=2.55%, R1=2.79%, R2=2.94%, R3=3.11%, R4=3.36%, R5=3.54%), moisture content (RO=0.61%, R1=0.81%, R2=0.80%, R3=1.01%, R4=1.21%, R5=1.21%), and particle size (RO=25 µm, R1=16 µm, R2=16 µm, R3=14 µm, R4=12µm, R5=10.5 µm) as the sweet whey powder content increased. The following attributes showed similar results to those the control (p ≥ 0.05),: texture, flavor, sweetness, and mouthfeel; saltiness, on the other hand, showed significant differences between the samples (p ≤ 0.05).

It can be concluded that sweet whey powder has the potential to be used as an ingredient in reduced-sugar milk chocolate at levels of 12.5% and below.