Milk

Lore & Background

As an agricultural product, milk is collected from farm animals, mostly cattle, on a dairy. It is used by humans as a drink and as the base ingredient for dairy products. The US CDC recommends that children over the age of 12 months should have two servings of milk products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products. The ability for adult humans to digest milk relies on lactase persistence, so lactose intolerant individuals have trouble digesting lactose. In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes of milk from 260 million dairy cows. India is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder. New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products. Between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households.

In Their Own Story

Conker stumbled into the barn, clutching his head. The last thing he remembered was a bar fight with a weasel and a lot of... something. He spotted a crate in the corner, kicked it open, and a glass bottle rolled out. 'Milk,' he muttered, reading the label. 'Well, it's not beer, but it'll do.' He popped the cap, chugged it down, and felt a warm, soothing sensation spread through his aching body. 'Ahhh... that's the stuff.' He tossed the empty bottle aside and cracked his knuckles. 'Right, let's go find that weasel.'

Reader's Guide

Milk is consumed by humans of all ages as one component of a varied diet. It is processed into a variety of products such as cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream and cheese. Modern industrial processes use milk to produce casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additives and industrial products. Whole milk, butter, and cream have high levels of saturated fat. The sugar lactose is found only in milk, and possibly in forsythia flowers and a few tropical shrubs. Lactase, the enzyme needed to digest lactose, reaches its highest levels in the human small intestine immediately after birth, and then begins a slow decline unless milk is consumed regularly.

Did You Know?

• The term milk comes from Old English meoluc, from Proto-Germanic *meluks.
• Since 1961, the term milk has been defined under Codex Alimentarius standards as the normal mammary secretion of milking animals.
• India is the largest producer and consumer of cattle milk and buffalo milk in the world.
• Fresh goats' milk is sometimes substituted for breast milk, which introduces the risk of the child developing electrolyte imbalances, metabolic acidosis, megaloblastic anemia, and a host of allergic reactions.