BEVERAGE DISPENSING MACHINE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH MACHINE

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing machine which is suitable for preparing, among others, both beverages containing regular milk and beverages containing lactose-free milk or a lactose-free milk substitute. In order to avoid lactose contamination in beverages containing lactose-free milk or the lactose-free milk substitute, the machine of the invention is configured so as to carry out a rinsing cycle at least after the preparation of each beverage containing regular milk. According to the invention, lactose-free milk or the lactose-free milk substitute itself is used as rinsing agent during such rinsing cycle. Thanks to this arrangement, no dedicated circuit for lactose-free milk or the lactose-free milk substitute is needed, so that the beverage dispensing machine can be compact and its manufacturing costs can be kept low. Moreover, the rinsing cycle can be integrated into the regular milk delivery cycle, so that in the final sub-cycle of a regular milk delivery cycle, lactose-free milk or the lactose-free milk substitute is used. Thanks to this arrangement, no separate rinsing cycle is needed, so that no delay in beverage dispensing is generated,