Goats Milk - A dairy Products with Special Properties?In many developed countries the consumption of traditional cows milk is plateauing or even declining, even though milk and related dairy products are very good sources of calcium and protein. However, a very fast growing product in the dairy case these days is goats milk. It has been estimated that, on a world wide basis, there are more people who drink the milk of goats than of any other single animal. Over 440 million goats (world wide) produce an estimated 4.8 million tons of milk consumed mostly locally, or processed into various types of cheeses. Goats milk has a long way to go to catch up to cows milk, but there may be several reasons why consumers are turning to goats milk.
Goats milk has a reputation as being a highly digestible dairy product. This is due in part to the composition and structure of the lipid (fat) portion of goats milk and in part to the way the protein in goats milk reacts in the stomach as it starts to be digested. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of goats milk is its hypo-allergenicity properties. It has often been found that infants that are not able to tolerate mothers milk or cows milk are able to eat goats milk. It is estimated that up to 7.5 % of infants are not able to eat cows milk. It is not clear at this time why goats milk can be eaten by these sensitive children, but it may be due to the structure of the milk proteins found in goats milk. The amino acid content of goats milk differs from that of cows milk and this may be one reason why goats milk is an alternative for cows milk intolerant babies.
The goat industry in North America is a very small one at the present time. However, the ability of small farms to produce "organic" goats milk together with research into the unique composition and properties of goats milk mean that this dairy product may become more in demand in the future.
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IS RAW MILK SAFE FOR BABIES?
by Sally Fallon
The biggest concern parents have about making homemade formula is that it is based on raw milk which, according to medical orthodoxy, is a source of contamination and disease. The only possible way to protect our children, they say, is to be sure the milk is pasteurized.
The chart shown here was drawn up for a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors vote on permitting raw milk in the County. (The vote was favorable, by the way, and raw milk is once again available in Los Angeles.) Except for a brief hiatus in 1990, raw milk has always been for sale commercially in California, usually in health food stores, although I can remember a period when it was even sold in grocery stores. Millions of people consumed commercial raw milk during that period and although the health department kept an eagle eye open for any possible evidence of harm, not a single incidence was reported. During the same period, there were many instances of contamination in pasteurized milk, some of which resulted in death. There have also been many instances of contamination of other foods, including baby formula. In fact, if we withdrew from the market every food type responsible for a case of food poisoning, there would be virtually nothing left to eat. But only raw milk has been singled out for general removal from the food supply.
Both raw and pasteurized milk harbor bacteria but the bacteria in raw milk is the healthy bacteria of lactic-acid fermentation while the bacteria in pasteurized milk is the bacteria of spoilage. And the overall bacteria count of milk produced under clean conditions is much lower than that of pasteurized milk. Both raw and pasteurized milk contain E. coli, normally a benign microorganism. The most likely source of the new strains of virulent E. coli is genetically engineered soy, fed to cows in large commercial dairies. If there is any type of milk likely to harbor these virulent breeds, it is commercial pasteurized milk.
Back in the days when scientists at our universities did real research, they compared the health of children fed raw or pasteurized milk. Children fed raw milk have more resistance to TB, scurvy, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia, asthma, allergic skin problems and tooth decay. In addition, their growth and calcium absorption was superior. (www.realmilk.com/abstractsmilk.html.)
Of course, as with all foods, raw milk must come from healthy cows and be carefully handled and stored. The same technology that we use to pasteurize our milk also allows us to keep raw milk fresh and clean. If you are buying directly from a farmer, be sure that the cows are mostly on pasture and that the barn is kept clean. The milk should go directly from the milking machine into a stainless steel tank or clean containers and be kept chilled. It should be used within a period of one week, after which it will begin to go sour (although it is not dangerous when it does so). With these precautions, raw milk is not only healthy but a safe food for all members of the family, even babies.
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