People therefore converted milk to curd, cheese, and other products to reduce the levels of lactose. Initially, the ability to digest milk was limited to children as adults did not produce lactase, an enzyme necessary for digesting the lactose in milk. In many cultures, especially in the West, humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy, using the milk of other mammals (especially cattle, goats and sheep) as a food product. There are two distinct categories of milk consumption: all infant mammals drink milk directly from their mothers’ bodies, and it is their primary source of nutrition and humans obtain milk from other mammals for consumption by humans of all ages, as one component of a varied diet.Ī bowl of milk for the shaman rite Buryatia, Russia In food use, from 1961, the term milk has been defined under Codex Alimentarius standards as: 'the normal mammary secretion of milking animals obtained from one or more milkings without either addition to it or extraction from it, intended for consumption as liquid milk or for further processing.' The term dairy relates to animal milk and animal milk production. The term milk comes from 'Old English meoluc (West Saxon), milc (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic * meluks 'milk' (source also of Old Norse mjolk, Old Frisian melok, Old Saxon miluk, Dutch melk, Old High German miluh, German Milch, Gothic miluks)'. 11.5 Spoilage and fermented milk products.11.1 Reduction or elimination of lactose.10 Bovine growth hormone supplementation.More than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products, and between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households. The US CDC recommends that children over the age of 12 months should have two servings of dairy milk products a day. New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products. Because there is an ever-increasing demand for dairy products within India, it could eventually become a net importer of dairy products. India is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder, but it exports few other milk products. In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows. Īs an agricultural product, dairy milk is collected from farm animals.

Milk contains many nutrients, including protein and lactose. Early- lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies that strengthen the immune system, and thus reduces the risk of many diseases. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals.

Milk mod economy