Notes on Dairy Product: commented on "eggs as dairy" on talk page; after research I decided to take out that sentence. Changed list of products to a paragraph instead of a list. Added definition and citation of cream. Added hyperlinks for buttermilk and whey. Moved ricotta from the milk section to the cheese section.

Dairy product edit

Dairy products, milk products or lacticinia are a type of food produced from or containing the milk of mammals, primarily cattle, water buffaloes, goats, sheep, camels, and humans.Dairy products include food items such as yogurt, cheese, and butter. A facility that produces dairy products is known as a dairy, or dairy factory. Dairy products are consumed worldwide, with the exception of much of East and Southeast Asia and also some parts of central Africa.

Types of dairy products edit

See also: List of dairy products

Milk is produced after optional homogenization or pasteurization, in several grades after standardization of the fat level, and possible addition of the bacteria Streptococcus lactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum. Milk can be broken down into several different categories based on type of product produced, including cream, butter, cheese, infant formula, and yogurt.

Cream is the yellowish dairy product taken from milk and is composed of the uppermost layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization occurs. Cream contains 18-40% butterfat. [1][2] Crème fraîche is a slightly fermented cream, whereas clotted cream is a thick, spoonable cream made by heating milk. Smetana is a Central and Eastern European variety of sour cream.

Different types of milk can be created through different levels of fermentation. Cultured milk resembles buttermilk, but uses different yeast and bacterial cultures. Kefir is a fermented milk drink from the Northern Caucasus and Kumis, also known as airag, is slightly fermented mares' milk popular in Central Asia. Powdered milk (or milk powder) is produced by removing the water from (usually skim) milk. Other milk products include whole milk products, buttermilk products, skim milk, whey products, high milk-fat and nutritional products (for infant formulas), cultured and confectionary products. Infant formula is a dried milk powder with specific additives for feeding human infants. Condensed milk is milk which has been concentrated by evaporation, with sugar added for reduced process time and longer life in an opened can. Evaporated milk (which is less concentrated than condensed) is milk without added sugar. Similarly, khoa is made from milk which has been completely concentrated by evaporation and is used in Indian cuisine including gulab jamun, peda, etc. Baked milk is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia.

Butter is mostly milk fat and produced by churning cream. Buttermilk is the liquid left over after producing butter from cream, often dried as livestock feed. Ghee is clarified butter made by gentle heating of butter and removal of the solid matter. Smen is a fermented, clarified butter used in Moroccan cooking and Anhydrous milkfat is another form of clarified butter.

Cheese is produced by coagulating milk, separating from whey and letting it ripen, generally with bacteria and sometimes also with certain molds. Curds, the soft, curdled part of milk (or skim milk) used to make cheese; Chhaanaa or Chhena are the soft solids from curdled milk, unprocessed, and used in Indian cuisine. This is dried and compacted to make panee. Other cheese products include, but are not limited to, paneer, cottage cheese, whey (the liquid drained from curds and used for further processing or as a livestock feed), ricotta (acidified whey, reduced in volume), quark, cream cheese (produced by the addition of cream to milk and then curdled to form a rich curd or cheese), andfromage frais.

Casein are proteins found in mammalian milk.[3] Casein are: caseinates, which are sodium or calcium salts of casein, milk protein concentrates and isolates, whey protein concentrates and isolates, reduced lactose whey, hydrolysates (milk treated with proteolytic enzymes to alter functionality), mineral concentrates, which are byproducts of demineralizing whey.

Yogurt is milk fermented by Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, sometimes with additional bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. Yogurt products include, but are not limited to, doogh, lassi (Indian subcontinent), leben, clabber (milk naturally fermented to a yogurt-like state), gelato (slowly frozen milk and water, lesser fat than ice cream), ice cream (slowly frozen cream, milk, flavors and emulsifying additives [dairy ice cream]), ice milk (low-fat version of ice cream), frozen custard, and frozen yogurt, which is yogurt with emulsifiers.

Other milk products include:

Health edit

Dairy products can cause health issues for individuals who have lactose intolerance or a milk allergy.

Excessive consumption of dairy products can contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat to the diet, which can increase the risk of heart disease, and cause other serious health problems.

There is no excess cardiovascular risk with dietary calcium intake, but calcium supplements are associated with a higher risk of coronary artery calcification.

Consuming dairy products does not cause mucus production, and will not make cold or asthma symptoms worse. This widely held belief stems from some people mistaking the thin coat of residue left behind after consuming milk or ice cream for mucus.

Consumption patterns worldwide edit

Rates of dairy consumption vary widely worldwide. High-consumption countries consume more than 150 kg per capita per year. These countries are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Costa Rica, most European counties, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, North America and Pakistan. Medium-consumption countries consume 30 to 150 kg per capita per year. These countries are: India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, North and Southern Africa, most of the Middle East, and most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Low-consumption countries consume under 30 kg per capita per year. These countries are: Senegal, most of Central Africa, and most of East and Southeast Asia.

Avoidance edit

Some groups avoid dairy products for non-health related reasons:

  • Religious – Some religions restrict or do not allow for the consumption of dairy products. For example, some scholars of Jainism advocate not consuming any dairy products because dairy is perceived to involve violence against cows. Strict Judaism requires that meat and dairy products not be served at the same meal, served or cooked in the same utensils, or stored together, as prescribed in Deuteronomy 14:21.
  • Vegans – Veganism is the avoidance of all animal products, including dairy products, most often due to the ethics regarding how dairy products are produced. The ethical reasons for avoiding dairy include how dairy is produced, how the animals are handled, and the environmental effect of dairy production.
  • Lactose intolerance - people who experience lactose intolerance usually prefer to avoid milk and other dairy products for health reasons, as they may cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas, and nausea.
  1. ^ "Cream". Wikipedia.
  2. ^ "cream". Merriam-Webster.
  3. ^ "Casein".