Glossary: milk

Milk has been used for human consumption for thousands and thousands of years, as proven by cave drawings showing cows being milked. Today cow's milk is still one of the most popular (especially in the United States) animal milks consumed by humans. Around the world, people drink the milk from many other animals including camels, goats, llamas, reindeer, sheep and water buffalo. Most milk packs a nutritional punch and contains protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins A and D, lactose (milk sugar) and riboflavin. On the minus side, milk's natural sodium content is quite high. Most milk sold in the United States today is pasteurized, which means the microorganisms that cause diseases (such as salmonella and hepatitis) and spoilage have been destroyed by heating, then quick-cooling, the milk. Pasteurization eliminates the possibility of disease and gives milk a longer shelf life. Most commercial milk products have also been homogenized, meaning that the milk fat globules have been broken down mechanically until they are evenly and imperceptibly distributed throughout the milk. The end result is that the cream does not separate from the milk and the liquid is uniformly smooth. In 1993, the Federal Drug Administration approved supplementing dairy cows with a genetically produced hormone protein known as bovine somatotropin (BST). BST is a naturally occurring growth hormone that's found in all cows. When bioengineered BST is injected into dairy cows, their milk production increases by up to 25 percent. Scientists assert that the composition of milk from BST-injected cows is not altered in any way and has no biological effect on humans, although many opponents are not convinced. There is no mandatory labeling for milk from BST-supplemented cows. However, in some smaller market areas, you may find dairy products voluntarily labeled as 'farmer certified to not come from BST-supplemented cows.'

From THE NEW FOOD LOVERS COMPANION, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.