bring the bottles in soon after delivery, because the milk would sour by the afternoon in warm

weather.

Modern technology has changed the dairy industry significantly. Milking machines with

rubber fingers took the place of the real human fingers, although the poor farmer still has to get

out of bed early to hook them up and turn them on. But today milk flows through sterile hoses

directly into refrigerated tanks without ever seeing daylight. From the storage tank it runs with

the help of pumps into refrigerated trucks that transport it to milk processors. Once the milk

leaves the warm cow body, it is quickly chilled and stays chilled until it goes through the

pasteurization process.

Today the U.S. dairy industry provides safe, excellent milk with consistent quality. Dairy

cows are much more productive than they were 70 or 80 years ago. In 1920, the average U.S.

dairy cow produced 3,138 pounds (1425 kg) of milk a year. By 1950, it was producing 5,314

pounds (2413 kg) annually. Forty-two years later in 1992, the average yield per cow was 15,400

pounds (6992 kg), a five-fold increase in 70 years! With the introduction of the new genetically

engineered cow hormone somatotropin, Bossy can produce even more milk, an astounding

16,425 pounds (7457 kg) a year or 45 pounds (20.4 kg) a day. That is more than 5½ gallons (21

l) from each cow! Thank goodness farmers don’t have to milk by hand any more and carry the

milk by the pailful. It would take forever.

Nutrition

Milk contains a large number of proteins, most of them in tiny amounts, but all contribute

in important ways to the operation of the human body. These proteins include 60 enzymes that

regulate chemical and physical actions. Milk is actually a low-fat food. About 4 percent of whole

milk is fat, much less than most meat or eggs and just a little more than lean fish, while low-fat

milk only has 1 percent. The fat is mainly saturated, with a smaller amount of monounsaturated

and very little polyunsaturated.

Dairy products made from milk vary widely in nutrition and the amount of fat depends on

which part of the milk was the basis for that specific product. Processors make many products

from the fat part of milk, others from the milk solids, the most nutritious part. (Milk solids are

the dissolved salts left behind after all the moisture has evaporated). More fat means more flavor,

because many flavor components are fat-soluble, that is, they only occur in fat portion of the

milk. Take the fat out and you also take these flavor compounds with it. Butter, cream and

cheeses are highly flavored but processors have to add flavor to no-fat and low-fat products so

consumers accept them. But all milk products sold in the U.S. are fully nutritious, because by

U.S. law they must include at least 8.25 percent milk solids, even with fat removed.

Most cheeses average about 45 to 55 percent fat. Low-fat (fat in the 10 to 15 percent

range) and non-fat cheeses are now readily available because many people don’t want the fat but

like the cheese. Food scientists are busily trying to figure out how to maintain flavor, texture and

mouthfeel while lowering or eliminating the fat.

TASTINGS What is lactose intolerance?

Many adult Asians, Africans and Native Americans cannot digest milk. Why? All

newborn babies produce lactase, an enzyme that allows the digestion of a milk

ingredient, lactose (also called milk-sugar). After their mothers wean them and

don’t drink milk regularly, their bodies stop producing lactase, and the ability to

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