Process for the recovery of whey protein having improved solution clarity using polyphosphates

A process for recovering protein having improved solution clarity at acid pH from proteinaceous aqueous solutions comprising admixing with a proteinaceous aqueous solution a phosphate to form a phosphate complexed solution, adjusting the pH of the phosphate complexed solution to a neutral range of from about 6.0 to about 8.0 by the addition of base to form a precipitate and a pretreated proteinaceous aqueous solution, separating the precipitate from the pretreated proteinaceous aqueous solution to provide a separated precipitate and a separated pretreated proteinaceous aqueous solution, admixing with the separated pretreated proteinaceous aqueous solution a medium chain length polyphosphate to form a protein-phosphate complexed solution, adjusting the pH of the protein-phosphate complexed solution to an acid range of from about 4.5 to about 2.0 by the addition of acid to form a protein-phosphate precipitate and a supernatant solution, separating the protein-phosphate precipitate from the supernatant solution, dispersing the separated protein-phosphate precipitate in water having a final pH from about 5.0 to about 10.0 to form a protein-phosphate dispersion, contacting the protein-phosphate dispersion with an anionic ion exchange resin, and recovering the effluent containing protein. The effluent containing protein is useful for preparing fortified acidic beverages, which require protein solubility and maintenance of clear solutions at acid pH.