tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/dairy-3684/articlesDairy – The Conversation2024-02-08T14:00:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2209682024-02-08T14:00:57Z2024-02-08T14:00:57ZNigeria’s popular wara cheese has a short shelf life: we’ve found a way to keep it fresh for longer<p>Cheese is a highly nutritious food produced in hundreds of varieties around the world. It’s all made by fermenting milk but the results range widely in flavour, texture and end uses.</p>
<p>The global market value of cheese was about <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/6586/global-cheese-market/">US$83.4 billion</a> in 2022 and is projected to exceed <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/6586/global-cheese-market/">US$120 billion</a> in 2028.</p>
<p>In Nigeria, the most popular cheese is wara, a soft product with a mild, sweet taste and milky flavour. Wara is produced by coagulating cow’s milk with an extract of sodom apple (<em>Calotropis procera</em>, or bomubomu) and is traditionally sold in its whey (milk-like liquid), sometimes in a calabash, at room temperature. </p>
<p>Unhygienic conditions during production and sale, and lack of good packaging materials, can result in wara containing harmful <a href="https://www.sciencepub.net/nature/0403/06-0176-uzeh-ns.pdf">microorganisms</a> such as <em>E. coli</em>, <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> and other bacteria. These can spoil the cheese or make a person ill after eating it.</p>
<p>Wara also has a very <a href="https://www.academia.edu/63932279/EFFECT_OF_PRESERVATIVES_AND_STORAGE_CONDITIONS_ON_MICROORGANISMS_IN_NIGERIAN_UNRIPENED_CHEESE_WARA">short shelf life</a> of about two or three days. This can be prolonged by refrigerating, drying or frying the cheese but these processes usually affect the taste, texture, colour, flavour and other sensory properties. They also discard the whey, which is an essential component of wara.</p>
<p>As Nigerian food scientists, we set out to find a way to preserve wara more effectively in its indigenous form. </p>
<p>We used different amounts of sorbic acid and natural ginger as preservatives, separately and in combination, and compared the microbial load in the wara samples. We <a href="https://www.academia.edu/63932279/EFFECT_OF_PRESERVATIVES_AND_STORAGE_CONDITIONS_ON_MICROORGANISMS_IN_NIGERIAN_UNRIPENED_CHEESE_WARA">found</a> that the best combination was 2.5% ginger with 0.05% sorbic acid, and that refrigeration was better than keeping the cheese at room temperature.</p>
<p>Extending its shelf life and improving its safety could boost demand and sales at all outlets, from informal to supermarkets. It would make a nutritious food more accessible and be good for producers and food processing businesses.</p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>In our experiment we <a href="https://www.academia.edu/63932279/EFFECT_OF_PRESERVATIVES_AND_STORAGE_CONDITIONS_ON_MICROORGANISMS_IN_NIGERIAN_UNRIPENED_CHEESE_WARA">preserved</a> wara with chemical and natural preservatives: sorbic acid and ginger respectively. We kept the wara in whey for three weeks. </p>
<p>Sorbic acid was added to different samples at a concentration of 0.05% and 0.1%, which is below its maximum permissible limit of 0.3% in cheese according to the international <a href="https://dairyconsultant.co.uk/pdf/codex_specification_spreadable_processed_cheese">Codex Alimentarius standard</a>. The ginger (known locally as atalẹ) was prepared by washing and peeling rhizomes, slicing them into thin sheets, drying them in an oven at 50°C, and cooling, milling and sieving the dried product to obtain ginger powder. </p>
<p>Wara was produced by filtering 2 litres of fresh cow’s milk. The milk was divided into four portions (A, B, C and D). Preservatives were added in the following concentrations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>5% ginger to portion A</p></li>
<li><p>2.5% ginger and 0.05% sorbic acid to portion B</p></li>
<li><p>0.1% sorbic acid to portion C</p></li>
<li><p>no preservatives in portion D.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Each mixture was boiled and an extract of sodom apple leaves was added while boiling. The curd (the solid which separates from the liquid whey) was moulded into a cone shape. Each curd was transferred into a sterile plastic container, covered in whey and <a href="https://ijt.oauife.edu.ng/index.php/ijt/article/view/152">stored</a> in the refrigerator or at room temperature.</p>
<p>The populations and types of microorganisms associated with the preserved wara were determined every week. Microorganisms are important in fermenting milk and most are beneficial, but could cause spoilage if their growth is not controlled.</p>
<p>We also studied the effect of the preservatives on the sensory attributes such as taste, flavour, colour, appearance and texture of the wara samples. </p>
<h2>The outcome</h2>
<p>Preservation of wara with ginger and/or sorbic acid significantly reduced the population of microorganisms during storage. The use of 0.1% sorbic acid to preserve wara was the most effective in reducing bacterial and fungal count. The control sample without preservatives had the highest population of microorganisms. The addition of 2.5% ginger and 0.05% sorbic acid to wara reduced the microorganisms present and was much more effective than the addition of 5% ginger alone. </p>
<p>The physical examination of the stored wara showed that samples stored inside the refrigerator retained their fresh aroma throughout the period of storage. Those stored on the shelf at room temperature showed a change in aroma after two weeks. The samples without preservatives, stored at room temperature, had an offensive odour after a week. Spoilage of samples stored at room temperature was due to the higher rate of microbial metabolism. </p>
<p>There were no pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms in any of the wara samples throughout storage. </p>
<p>Wara samples stored inside the refrigerator had better quality in terms of microbial load, type of microorganisms, colour, texture and aroma than samples kept on the shelf at room temperature.</p>
<p>Freshly made wara samples without preservatives had the highest score for taste, flavour, colour, texture and overall acceptability. The values were not significantly different from the samples treated with 0.1% sorbic acid. Adding 2.5% ginger and 0.05% sorbic acid reduced the sensory scores of wara compared to the 0.1% sorbic acid sample. </p>
<p>In conclusion, we suggest that Nigerian wara can be produced on a large scale by using 0.1% sorbic acid or a combination of 2.5% ginger extract and 0.05% sorbic acid as a preservative. This will increase the time wara can be stored after production, thereby increasing the ability of the producers to scale up. </p>
<p>Preservation of wara can improve nutrition and create employment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malomo Adekunbi Adetola works for Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile - Ife, Nigeria. She receives funding from Carnegie and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. </span></em></p>Nigeria’s soft cheese, wara, could be made more widely available with new techniques to extend its shelf life.Malomo Adekunbi Adetola, Lecturer in Food Science and Technology, Obafemi Awolowo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050382023-07-24T04:17:13Z2023-07-24T04:17:13ZHow does ice cream work? A chemist explains why you can’t just freeze cream and expect results<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538876/original/file-20230724-79526-ui0tqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=181%2C623%2C6237%2C3842&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/homemade-neopolitan-ice-cream-vanilla-chocolate-1093782722">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ice cream seems like a simple concept. Take some dairy, add some sugar and flavours, and freeze.</p>
<p>But to get a perfectly creamy, smoothly textured frozen treat, we need more than just a low temperature – it takes a careful interplay of chemistry and three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.</p>
<h2>What’s in the box?</h2>
<p>Commercial ice cream includes many ingredients: air, water, milk fat, so-called milk solids (mainly milk proteins and lactose), sweeteners, stabilisers, emulsifiers and flavours. The ingredients are mixed and <a href="https://theconversation.com/e-coli-in-milk-wont-necessarily-make-you-sick-but-it-signals-risks-from-other-bacteria-119229">pasteurised for food safety</a>.</p>
<p>Homemade ice creams tend to use milk, heavy cream, sugar and flavourings, such as fruit, berries, or chocolate. The exact quantities vary with the recipe, but the processing steps are similar.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/milk/">Milk is composed</a> of everything a young cow needs to grow and develop – water, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins. These components respond in different ways when they are frozen.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crying-over-plant-based-milk-neither-science-nor-history-favours-a-dairy-monopoly-123852">Crying over plant-based milk: neither science nor history favours a dairy monopoly</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>First, the crystals</h2>
<p>As the mixture of ice cream ingredients is cooled down, small clusters of water molecules assemble to form <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-snowflakes-form-is-each-snowflake-really-unique-why-is-some-snow-light-and-fluffy-or-heavy-the-amazing-science-of-snow-196269">tiny ice crystals</a>. The size of the ice crystals is responsible for the mouth feel of the ice cream – the <a href="https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2009.00101.x">smaller the crystals, the smoother the feel</a>.</p>
<p>If the crystallisation is not well controlled, these crystals can get very large. Ice cream makers (commercial or for home use) ensure small ice crystals by agitating or beating the liquid as it freezes. This keeps the water molecules moving and prevents the crystals from growing larger.</p>
<p>The mixing process also incorporates air, which is the secret ingredient to give ice cream a lighter texture.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close up of ivory coloured ice cream being churned in a stainless steel container" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526974/original/file-20230518-23-jkyrps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Without mixing during the freezing process, the ice crystals in the milk or cream will be too large to yield the texture that defines ice cream.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-on-industrial-ice-cream-mixing-1584957778">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Next, the fat</h2>
<p>The fat in the milk exists as globules surrounded by proteins. These proteins bridge the fat and the water, helping to keep the fats suspended. (Milk looks white because light scatters off these fat globules.)</p>
<p>These dairy fat molecules have different properties at different temperatures. At room temperature they are semi-solids (like butter), and are about two-thirds solid when at 0°C. </p>
<p>The fat globules can stick together – that’s why you get a layer of cream on top of unprocessed milk. A process called <a href="https://iufost.org/iufostold/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/98-Milk-Homogenization.pdf">homogenisation</a> forces the milk through a small opening under very high pressure, breaking large fat globules down into smaller ones. This process makes many small fat globules – as many as a trillion per litre. Homogenised milk ensures the mixture will freeze evenly, and separated fats won’t get stuck to the mixing machinery.</p>
<p>Freezing the fat globules makes them clump together, with the surrounding proteins acting as bridges to other fat molecules and to the ice crystals. These fats melt in your mouth, giving a creamy feel and taste.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/slip-slop-slurp-the-surprising-science-of-sunscreen-sand-and-ice-cream-169155">Slip, slop, slurp! The surprising science of sunscreen, sand and ice cream</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Then, the sugar</h2>
<p>The sugar and other dissolved ingredients in milk are also essential to the final texture of ice cream. The presence of sugars in the water lowers the mixture’s freezing temperature to below 0°C. </p>
<p>Here’s why that’s important. As ice crystals start to form, the concentration of sugars and other dissolved materials in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1081/FRI-100100289">unfrozen liquid increases</a>, which further <a href="https://theconversation.com/salt-doesnt-melt-ice-heres-how-it-actually-makes-winter-streets-safe-110870">lowers its freezing point</a>. By the time the majority of the ice crystals have formed, the resulting liquid is very concentrated in sugars. </p>
<p>This concentrated liquid, known as the “serum”, bridges <em>between</em> the ice crystals, solid fat globules and air bubbles. The serum remains a liquid well below 0°C and adds enough flexibility to the mixture so the ice cream can still be scooped or shaped.</p>
<p>In this way, the unique chemical properties of water, fats, proteins and sugars come together with air to give the solid, liquid and gas mixture we know and love.</p>
<h2>Not everything is ‘ice cream’</h2>
<p>What’s called “ice cream” is actually governed by a <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F2015L00424">food standards code</a>. That’s why not all frozen desserts can be legally called ice cream, because they don’t contain enough milk fat.</p>
<p>There are lots of variations on the standard ice cream recipe. Gelato uses more sugar, incorporates less air, and typically has less fats and other solids. Sorbets do away with the dairy and typically contain more sugar, but have historically used egg or gelatin as a protein source. </p>
<p>Regardless of the exact recipe, the fundamental ice crystal formation, fat solidification, and serum phase separation steps are the same.</p>
<p>Product names like “soft serve”, “dairy dessert”, or “ice confection” are often an indication the ingredient list includes vegetable fats rather than more expensive milk fats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hand holding a waffle cone under the nozzle of a machine dispensing pink and white soft serve" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526980/original/file-20230518-2311-9i1j4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Technically, soft serve isn’t ice cream.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soft-ice-cream-machine-1312164440">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soft serve products are also formed by agitation as the mixture freezes, but tend to contain less air than ice cream you’d buy in a tub, due to the constant agitation inside the dispensing machine.</p>
<p>Icy poles, ice blocks, freezies, or freeze pops (depending on <a href="https://theconversation.com/togs-or-swimmers-why-australians-use-different-words-to-describe-the-same-things-52007">your local phraseology</a>) and other “water ices” are frozen inside a mould or plastic tubing. The shape of the mould limits the ability to stir the mixture, so the freezing process is typically done “quiescently”, meaning at rest. The crystallisation of the ice is not well controlled, and you may have experienced large crystals that have grown (technically “seeded”) from the popsicle stick.</p>
<p>Humanity has enjoyed ice cream for centuries. It’s a marvellously versatile food with endless variations of flavours, additives, and toppings coupled with memories of happiness, comfort, indulgence and nostalgia. And plenty of chemistry, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Kilah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It might seem like a simple concept, but to get ice cream right, you need three states of matter and a delicate interplay of chemistry.Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067032023-07-19T20:00:18Z2023-07-19T20:00:18ZThe cost of living is biting. Here’s how to spend less on meat and dairy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529723/original/file-20230602-29-gl9j3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C71%2C5946%2C3763&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/s-Z-h0fEiBM">Jose Ignacio Pompe/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cost of groceries has risen substantially <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/monthly-consumer-price-index-indicator/may-2023">over the last year</a>. Food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 7.9% in the year to May, with biggest increases in dairy products (15.1%), breads and cereals (12.8%) and processed foods (11.5%). </p>
<p>Meat costs rose by 3.8%, but the absolute increase was high, with a kilo of fillet steak costing up to A$60 for a kilogram. </p>
<p>Australians spend around <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6530.0Main+Features12009-10?OpenDocument">15% of their weekly food budget</a> on meat and half that (7.4%) on dairy products.</p>
<p>About <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/cost-of-living-report">43% of householders</a> say grocery prices are a cause of financial stress, with half trying to reduce spending. </p>
<p>So how can you save money on meat and dairy products without skimping on nutrients? </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-save-50-off-your-food-bill-and-still-eat-tasty-nutritious-meals-184152">How to save $50 off your food bill and still eat tasty, nutritious meals</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Meat</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/lean-meat-and-poultry-fish-eggs-tofu-nuts-and-seeds-and">Meat</a> is a good source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. </p>
<p>Recommendations are for a maximum of three serves of cooked lean red meat a week. This includes beef, lamb, veal, pork, or kangaroo, with a serve being 65g cooked, which equates to 90–100g raw. This means purchasing 270–300g per person per week. </p>
<p>Check prices online and weekly specials. Less expensive cuts include oyster blade, chuck or rump steak ($22–$25 per kilogram). They can be tougher, making them better for casseroles or slow cook recipes, like this <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/healthy-easy-recipes/clares-slow-cooked-beef-stroganoff">beef stroganoff</a>. </p>
<p>One exception is mince because higher star, lower fat, more expensive products shrink less during cooking compared to regular mince, which shrinks by 25–30%. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Spaghetti bolognese" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538153/original/file-20230718-19-z7b8ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Higher star mince shrinks less during cooking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/_CO7YZ501g4">Emanuel Ekstrom/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Extend casserole and mince dishes by adding vegetarian protein sources, such as dried or canned beans and legumes. </p>
<p>A 400g can of red kidney beans costs about $1.50 and contains 240g of cooked beans, equivalent to 1.6 standard serves. Add a can of any type of legume (black, adzuki, cannelloni, butter, chickpeas, four-bean mix, brown lentils) or use dried versions that don’t need pre-soaking like dried red lentils at about $5 per kilogram. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.glnc.org.au/resource/legumes-nutrition/">adds nutrients</a> including protein, B vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium and dietary fibre. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/love-meat-too-much-to-be-vegetarian-go-flexitarian-73741">Love meat too much to be vegetarian? Go 'flexitarian'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Dairy</h2>
<p>Dairy products are important sources of protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and vitamins A, B2 and B12. <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/recommended-number-serves-adults">Australian recommendations</a> are for two to three serves a day for adults and four serves for women over 50. One serve is <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes">equivalent to</a> a cup of milk or 40g cheese. </p>
<p>Fresh milk costs between $1.50 and $3.00 per litre depending on type and brand, while UHT milk is cheaper, about $1.60 per litre. It’s even cheaper to buy powdered milk ($10 per kilogram pack, which makes ten litres), equating to $1 per litre.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Yoghurt with lemon and herbs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538152/original/file-20230718-17-ac6uje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Substitute sour cream with yoghurt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/NFHeBysjCTI">Michelle Henderson/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Making yoghurt at home costs about $5–6 per kilogram using a powder mix and yoghurt maker ($25). Once set, divide into smaller tubs yourself. Use as a substitute for cream or sour cream. </p>
<p>Fresh yoghurt varies from $11–$18 per kilogram, with individual serves and flavoured varieties more expensive (but not always). Compare per kilogram or per 100g prices and check for specials.</p>
<p>Cheese prices vary a lot so compare prices per kilogram. As a guide, block cheese is cheaper than pre-sliced or grated cheese. Home brand products are cheaper than branded ones. Mature cheeses are more expensive and processed cheese least expensive. But, if you cut block cheese really thick you end up using more. Block cheese ranges from $15 to $30 a kilogram, while packets of pre-sliced cheese vary from $18 to over $30. </p>
<p>Pre-grated cheeses range from $14 to $30 per kilo, with most around $20, and processed cheese varies from $10 to $15. Extend grated cheese by mixing with grated carrot (about $2 a kilogram) and use as a topper for tacos, wraps, pasta and pizza. Use processed cheese slices for toasted sandwiches. Most recipes work adding less cheese than specified. </p>
<p>A high-calcium alternative to cheese in sandwiches is canned salmon, but at $15–$30 per kilogram ($6–$7 per 210g can) you add variety but may not save money. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eggs-are-so-expensive-right-now-what-else-can-i-use-207837">Eggs are so expensive right now. What else can I use?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3 tips to save on your food bills</h2>
<p><strong>1. Have a household food budget</strong> </p>
<p>Ensure everyone is on the same page about <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/how-to-save-money-at-the-supermarket">saving money on food and drinks</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.suncorpgroup.com.au/news/features/food-for-thought-australians-spend-272-billion-on-food-annually">About 50% of household food dollars</a> are spent on takeaway, eating out, coffee, alcohol, food-delivery services and extras, so have a budget for <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/discretionary-food-and-drink-choices">discretionary</a> food items. This is where you can make big savings. </p>
<p>Your household might need an incentive to stick to the budget, like voting on which “discretionary” items food dollars get spent on. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in a mask grocery shops, with a list on her phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538151/original/file-20230718-7745-lld5oc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Have a food budget and agree on the discretionary items.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/tWXH_zGJrPo">Viki Mohamad/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Have a rough weekly meal plan</strong> </p>
<p>Use your meal plan to write a grocery list. Check <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/ingredient-swaps-to-limit-supermarket-trips-during-lockdown">what you already have</a> in the pantry, fridge and freezer. </p>
<p>If you’re not sure where to start, look at ours at <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au">No Money No Time</a>, <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/take-our-nmnt-2-week-food-budget-challenge-and-eat-for-55-a-week">either for one person</a> or a <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/ebooks-meal-plans-more/feeding-a-growing-family-on-a-budget-meal-plan-1">family with young children</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3. Avoid food waste</strong> </p>
<p>Australians <a href="https://www.ozharvest.org/food-waste-facts/">waste 7.6 million tonnes of food</a> each year yet 70% is edible. Before heading to the shops, check your <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/creating-kitchen-space-for-christmas-and-preventing-food-waste-too">fridge</a>. </p>
<p>Turn <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/managing-kitchen-stock-and-using-leftovers-to-minimise-food-waste">leftovers</a> into tomorrow’s lunch or dinner. When clearing the dinner table, pack leftovers straight into lunch containers so it’s grab and go in the morning (or freeze for days you’re too busy to cook). </p>
<p><em>Use our resources at <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs?search=budget">No Money No Time</a> for ideas on how to help your food dollars go further. If you need food help right now, the <a href="https://askizzy.org.au/">Ask Izzy</a> website can locate services in your area.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Collins AO is a Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle, NSW and a Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) affiliated researcher. She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow and has received research grants from NHMRC, ARC, MRFF, HMRI, Diabetes Australia, Heart Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, nib foundation, Rijk Zwaan Australia, WA Dept. Health, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Greater Charitable Foundation. She has consulted to SHINE Australia, Novo Nordisk, Quality Bakers, the Sax Institute, Dietitians Australia and the ABC. She was a team member conducting systematic reviews to inform the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines update and the Heart Foundation evidence reviews on meat and dietary patterns.</span></em></p>Food prices are rising and around half of Australians are trying to cut back on their grocery bill. So how can you save on the cost of meat and dairy products without skimping on nutrients?Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073832023-06-22T13:38:35Z2023-06-22T13:38:35ZFull-fat or low-fat cheese and milk? A dietitian on which is better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532750/original/file-20230619-1823-uf7sp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C114%2C5447%2C3522&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are low-fat dairy products really better for us?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-slice-cheese-her-hand-2056001120">Bernardo Emanuelle/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/full-fat-or-low-fat-cheese-and-milk-a-dietitian-on-which-is-better-207383&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>When it comes to dairy products do you tend to buy full-fat or low-fat products? For many people, going for low-fat options can seem like the “healthier” choice. </p>
<p>Indeed, a <a href="https://foodinsight.org/consumer-survey-purchasing-behaviors-eating-decisions-and-health-perceptions-of-dietary-fats-and-oils/">2020 survey</a> in the US found that out of 1,000 people questioned, one in three sought out “low fat” or “reduced fat” foods or drinks, with dairy being the most common food category for low–fat options. But is low-fat milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter really any better for us?</p>
<p>Many governments and public health bodies recommend dairy as a <a href="https://journals.lww.com/nutritiontodayonline/fulltext/2008/11000/Role_of_Dairy_Foods_in_the_Dietary_Guidelines.3.aspx?casa_token=y8APLahFjikAAAAA:fDX-SfWQ2mxKll7omZN0CYiSEwE04-DmCt43jks8deC_VCsPXRoRWiKDTyR_xK43yM9T2aVeW7f_djSoG0xkvu-MH1w">key part</a> of a healthy diet (although it’s perfectly possible to be healthy without it, as many people around the world are). And many people opt for low-fat options as part of this. </p>
<p>Low-fat milk is made by removing or skimming the cream off the milk. So you can get whole or full-fat milk (3.5% fat), semi-skimmed or half-fat milk (1.8% fat) or fully skimmed milk (0.1%-0.3% fat). </p>
<p>The same process can be used to make lower-fat cheeses and yoghurts. However, removing fat can affect how cheese dries and how flavours develop during maturing.</p>
<p>Most relevant dietary guidelines encourage the consumption of low-fat dairy foods, except for in very young children. But a recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/11/4/928/5760740?login=false">review</a> of the available research found that children who consumed full-fat dairy foods were healthier and leaner than those who consumed reduced-fat versions. </p>
<p>It could be that families who tend to have a history of living with health issues relating to diet or higher body weight may be more likely to eat low-fat products. An alternative view is that full-fat dairy products might be more filling and help with the regulation of appetite, meaning people eat less overall. </p>
<p>Either way, these observations in children have also been seen in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/10/5/917S/5569504?login=false">adults</a>. </p>
<h2>Explaining the science</h2>
<p>It’s not just that low-fat dairy foods may not be better for our health. There is increasing evidence that some of the fatty acids found in dairy fats might actually reduce our risk of developing <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11883-018-0724-z">heart disease</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561421002934">type 2 diabetes</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, it seems that higher intakes of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-017-1556-2">fermented dairy products</a> like unsweetened full-fat yoghurt and some cheeses might be associated with lower risks of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Low-fat milk pile in supermarket" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532753/original/file-20230619-23-ztdomo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Could low-fat be worse for you than whole milk?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/los-angeles-california-united-states-09012020-1814166020"> The Image Party/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When it comes to the recommendation to eat reduced-fat dairy foods, the Australian guidelines seem to be based on a <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/australian-dietary-guidelines.pdf">mathematical decision</a> around how calories add up to meet the recommended calorie intake for an average adult. </p>
<p>It’s unclear if this is the same for the guidelines in other countries, as elsewhere the detailed evidence has not been published in the same way. But it may well be that other recommendations to use lower-fat dairy products are based more on maths than science. </p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the potential health benefits linked to dairy foods do not extend to butter and possibly not milk either, but are largely linked to intakes of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-017-1556-2">yoghurt and some types of cheese</a>.</p>
<p>There’s also <a href="https://twitter.com/KenDBerryMD/status/1086679359719698433">a myth</a> that low-fat milk and cheese can lead to weight gain, but this is false. It appears to be based on historical farming practices that used leftover <a href="https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3923&context=journal_agriculture4">skimmed milk from making cream to fatten piglets</a>.</p>
<h2>Low-fat v full-fat</h2>
<p>So, given the minimal evidence, why do so many healthy eating guidelines – including in the <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-guidelines-and-food-labels/the-eatwell-guide/">UK</a>, <a href="https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf">US</a> and <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating">Australia</a> – recommend that we choose low-fat or reduced-fat versions of dairy products? </p>
<p>Research has found that higher intakes of saturated fatty acids are linked to an increased risk of <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats#:%7E:text=The%20American%20Heart%20Association%20recommends,of%20saturated%20fat%20per%20day.">heart disease</a>, type 2 diabetes and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1140705/#:%7E:text=The%20Chicago%20study%20reported%20the,by%202%20to%203%20times.">dementia</a>. </p>
<p>But this research looks at saturated fatty acids in general and not specifically saturated fatty acids found in dairy products, which have been shown in both <a href="https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/11/4/928/5760740?login=false">children</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/11/3/533/5697079?login=false">adults</a> to be potentially beneficial for our health. This is thought to be to do with the way these foods are fermented. </p>
<p>So these recommendations may come as part of suggestions to limit overall fat intake more broadly, rather than because full-fat dairy is “bad” for us.</p>
<p>Switching from full-fat milk to semi-skimmed milk in tea (up to five cups a day) is likely to save the average person less than 50kcal per day. This means, even when considering calories and energy, the effect of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dietary-guidelines-dont-work-heres-how-to-fix-them-68803">reducing fat is minimal</a>. </p>
<p>So if you consume dairy products, it’s likely that there’s no need to worry too much about the fat content. This is especially the case when it comes to unsweetened yoghurt and cheese, which when consumed in their full-fat form do seem to come with potential health benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duane Mellor is a member of the British Dietetic Association</span></em></p>A recent evidence review found children who ate full-fat dairy were healthier and leaner.Duane Mellor, Lead for Evidence-Based Medicine and Nutrition, Aston Medical School, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2039902023-04-20T11:04:45Z2023-04-20T11:04:45ZIs ice cream really healthy? Here’s what the evidence says<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522062/original/file-20230420-28-7etqgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7348%2C4912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A little bit every now and again probably won't hurt.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/womans-hands-holding-melting-ice-cream-505106287">Johnstocker Production/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ice cream lovers worldwide were probably rejoicing when a recent article suggested that indulging in your favourite flavour might <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/05/ice-cream-bad-for-you-health-study/673487/">be healthy</a>. The article drew upon a 2018 doctoral thesis, which suggested that people with type 2 diabetes who consumed more ice cream had <a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/37925665/ARDISSONKORAT-DISSERTATION-2018.pdf?sequence=3">lower risks</a> of heart disease. But as exciting as this sounds for those of us who sometimes enjoy indulging in a bowl of raspberry ripple, when we actually examine the study, it’s likely this link comes down to variety of other factors.</p>
<p>The 2018 research the article drew upon looked at data from the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nurses-health-study/">Nurses’ Health Study I</a> and the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hpfs/">Health Professionals Follow-Up Study</a>. These were two large observational studies conducted by researchers at Harvard University which began in 1976 and 1986 and went on for around 20 years. The purpose of these studies was to track the health of participants over a long period of time, and uncover whether there were links between certain diseases and lifestyle factors (such as diet).</p>
<p>To conduct their analysis, the researchers only included data from participants of these two studies who reported having type 2 diabetes when the studies began – so around 16,000 people total. The participants with diabetes had also provided information about which foods they typically ate over the previous year. They were not instructed to eat or avoid ice cream at any point.</p>
<p>The researchers found that those who ate ice cream no more than twice a week appeared to be 12% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, compared to those who didn’t eat ice cream. </p>
<p>But it’s important to note that this link between ice cream and heart disease only became apparent when other aspects of a person’s health, including how healthily they ate, were taken into account. This suggests that eating an overall healthy diet is perhaps more important in reducing cardiovascular disease risk in people with type 2 diabetes, than eating ice cream.</p>
<p>It could also be the case that participants who reported eating ice cream before joining the study could have stopped eating ice cream altogether just after joining the study – possible because they may have been made aware they were at greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This would then make it appear that eating ice cream was linked with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, when the reverse was true.</p>
<p>It’s also important to make clear that this was an observational study – meaning that it can only show an association between eating ice cream and lower risk of heart disease. It can’t actually prove eating ice cream in and of itself is directly responsible for decreasing risk of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes.</p>
<p>To be able to test if ice cream has an effect on cardiovascular disease risk, it would probably need to go through a clinical trial, where one group ate ice cream as part of their diet and the other group ate a placebo for ice cream. This would be practically difficult to do, and given the potential costs is unlikely to ever happen without significant funding from the food industry.</p>
<h2>Can ice cream be healthy?</h2>
<p>Surprisingly, there have not been a lot of studies that have looked at the specific effect of ice cream on health. Studies that have done typically only had participants consume quite a small amount (around <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/111/5/1018/5698396">less than a quarter</a> of a serving per day) – meaning it was not enough to develop any meaningful conclusions about its effect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bowl of plain yoghurt with raspberries on top." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522064/original/file-20230420-26-m60zxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other types of dairy have more convincing evidence of their health benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fresh-white-yoghurt-raw-forest-fruits-1031184493">Krasula/ Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But one Italian study suggested that consuming more ice cream may be linked to a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/11/2744">higher risk</a> of non-alcoholic fatty liver (a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease). However, the researchers also found that this link existed for other foods, such as red meat – suggesting that the quality of a person’s overall diet may matter more for health than a specific food.</p>
<p>Ice cream is also considered an <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/ca5644en/ca5644en.pdf">ultra-processed food</a> – meaning that because of the processing methods used to create it, it’s typically very high in calories, fat and sugar. Ultra-processed foods have been linked to a range of health issues, including increased risk of developing both <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31841598/">type 2 diabetes</a> and <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1451">cardiovascular disease</a>. Nutrition guidelines also encourage us to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nutrient-profiling-model">limit our intake</a> of sugar and fat because of this. This makes it pretty likely that too much ice cream may have a negative effect on health.</p>
<p>But it may not all be bad news if you’re someone who enjoys dairy products in general. Evidence for the potential benefits of dairy fat has been growing over the past 20 years, with research showing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464620302838">fermented dairy products</a> – such as some types of yoghurt – and cheese in particular may reduce risk of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003763#sec025">heart disease</a> and <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002670">type 2 diabetes</a>. However, more research will be needed to see whether ice cream may be associated with similar benefits because of it’s dairy fat content.</p>
<p>Research also shows that diets containing calcium-rich foods are associated with a decreased risk of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05144-8">type 2 diabetes</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07315724.2019.1649219">heart disease</a>. But there are many other foods – including dairy, pulses and nuts – which are also sources of calcium. These also have other nutritional benefits without the negative high sugar content of ice cream.</p>
<p>While it can be exciting to see headlines claiming our favourite foods may have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jhn.13155">unexpected health benefits</a>, it’s important to analyse the research. Often, the effects of one food can be exaggerated by research method errors or other factors – such as the participant’s diet or lifestyle.</p>
<p>At the moment, we simply don’t have enough good quality evidence to suggest that ice cream definitely has any health benefits. But a couple of small portions a week – paired with an otherwise healthy diet and exercise regime – is unlikely to do much harm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duane Mellor is a member of the British Dietetic Association</span></em></p>Any benefit of eating ice cream can likely be explained by other factors – such as eating a healthy diet or exercising.Duane Mellor, Lead for Evidence-Based Medicine and Nutrition, Aston Medical School, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1948222022-11-21T07:16:41Z2022-11-21T07:16:41ZLess burping, more meat and milk - how livestock farmers can help tackle the climate crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496105/original/file-20221118-22-fy14dr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sabrina Bracher/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa’s livestock farmers are at the forefront of climate change. Images of parched landscapes littered with the carcasses of starved cattle are becoming all too familiar as droughts increase in frequency and severity. But cattle farming globally is also one of the causes of climate change. The world’s three billion or more ruminants – cattle, sheep and goats – produce methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, as a by-product of digestion.</p>
<p>All too often, discussions about climate change focus on the negative aspects of livestock production. Another side to the story was heard at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop27-explained-by-experts-what-is-it-and-why-should-i-care-193727">COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt</a>. This is the first year that food and agriculture have featured so prominently. And there is a clear <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_22_6995">message</a>: sustainable livestock farming can play a key role in reducing emissions, especially methane, and in delivering various environmental and social benefits.</p>
<p>The ruminant digestive system is responsible for <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Estimated-global-anthropogenic-methane-emissions-by-source-2020_fig1_341017757">27%</a> of methane emissions from human activity. And methane in turn contributes <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data">more than</a> 15% of the greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Unlike the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, which persists in the atmosphere for thousands of years, methane breaks down in about 12 years. That means that the benefits of reducing methane emissions today would be swiftly felt.</p>
<p>Livestock farmers will have a crucial role to play – and they can.</p>
<h2>Effective mitigation strategies</h2>
<p>We are part of a global network of livestock experts who have <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2111294119#:%7E:text=Globally%2C%20100%25%20adoption%20of%20the,by%20projected%20increases%20in%20methane">identified strategies</a> that could help farmers reduce their enteric methane emissions (a by-product of the natural digestive process occurring in animals) and, in some cases, improve their productivity. </p>
<p>We did this by analysing 430 peer-reviewed papers about reducing enteric methane emissions from livestock. Most of the projects featured in the meta-analysis responded to the need to tackle climate change. Of the 98 strategies described in the papers, we identified eight which were particularly promising.</p>
<p>Three of these strategies – raising feed intake, using younger and less fibrous fodder, and feeding more concentrates – significantly reduced emissions per unit of milk and meat gained. We called these product-based strategies. They didn’t necessarily reduce enteric methane emissions per animal, for the simple reason that more feed generally means more emissions.</p>
<p>In contrast, the other five strategies lowered the enteric methane emissions per unit of milk and meat, and reduced the emissions per animal, without compromising animal performance. These the team called absolute emission strategies. Putting additives in livestock feed to inhibit methane production is one – but these additives also add to farmers’ costs. </p>
<p>The three product-based strategies would lead to an average 12% decrease in enteric methane per unit of milk or meat and an increase in animal productivity by a median of 17%. </p>
<p>The five absolute emission strategies would decrease daily enteric methane emissions by an average of 21%. The team calculated that globally, 100% adoption of the two most effective strategies, one from each category, would enable the livestock sector to meet the target of keeping global warming below 1.5°C by 2030. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, by 2050, mitigation efforts would be offset in low- and middle-income countries by relatively rapid population growth and the associated increase in demand for red meat and dairy products.</p>
<h2>Different global challenges</h2>
<p>There are clearly two very different stories here, one for high-income countries and another for low- and middle-income countries. In most high-income countries, population growth is low, and per capita demand for livestock products is already high and unlikely to increase. Under a business-as-usual scenario, taking Europe as an example, enteric methane emissions from livestock would rise by only around 11% by 2050.</p>
<p>On the other hand, under business as usual, with Africa as an example, enteric methane emissions would rise 87% by 2030 and 220% by 2050. That is because in low- and middle-income countries, population growth is still high and per capita demand for livestock products is low and likely to increase. In short, it would be easier for high-income countries to meet the 1.5°C target than low-income countries. And their strategies would differ.</p>
<p>In major dairy-producing countries like the Netherlands, using the two most effective strategies could reduce methane emissions by 33% by both 2030 and 2050. But farmers might demand incentives to include additives to animal feed, as the strategies would raise production costs but not productivity.</p>
<p>Our research suggested that employing the two most effective mitigation strategies would reduce the increase in enteric methane emissions from 87% to 26% by 2030 in Africa. That’s a significant improvement on doing nothing. </p>
<p>In most African countries, the focus would need to be on increasing feeding levels, decreasing forage maturity and adding some concentrate. This would not only help to reduce enteric methane emissions per unit of product, it would also raise animal productivity. Clearly, additional strategies will be required if livestock farmers are to keep to the 1.5°C target.</p>
<p>Top-down approaches seldom work, so it will be essential to involve farmers, farming organisations, the private sector, governments and international agencies. While there is rarely a 100% adoption rate for any strategy, we have tangible solutions to reduce livestock enteric methane emissions, while at the same time improving productivity and livelihoods in the places that need it most.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claudia Arndt currently receives funding from the EU, Kenya, and the CGIAR Trust Fund. While working on the research she received funding from Kravis Scientific Research Fund (New York), a gift from Sue and Steve Mandel to the Environmental Defense Fund, UK Global Challenge Research Fund, National Program for Scientific Research and Advanced Studies - PROCIENCIA, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (issued through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Hristov currently receives funding from the USDA-NIFA, industry, and private organizations. While working on the research Hristov received funding from USDA and EDF.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Dijkstra receives funding from EU, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Dutch government, and several companies usually via public-private partnerships. He is an active member of ChristenUnie Wageningen. </span></em></p>Tangible solutions would reduce livestock methane emissions, while also improving productivity and livelihoods.Claudia Arndt, Senior Scientist, Team Leader of the Mazingira Centre, International Livestock Research Institute Alex Hristov, Distinguished Professor of Dairy Nutrition, Penn StateJan Dijkstra, Associate Professor Animal Nutrition, Wageningen UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890462022-08-29T05:16:29Z2022-08-29T05:16:29ZNot like udder milk: ‘synthetic’ dairy milk made without cows may be coming to a supermarket near you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481469/original/file-20220829-65743-2q6nxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C0%2C3964%2C2994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global dairy industry is changing. Among the disruptions is competition from food alternatives not produced using animals – including potential challenges posed by synthetic milk.</p>
<p>Synthetic milk does not require cows or other animals. It can have the same biochemical make up as animal milk, but is grown using an emerging biotechnology technique know as “<a href="https://ecos.csiro.au/whats-brewing-precision-fermentation/">precision fermentation</a>” that produces biomass cultured from cells.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fao.org/3/CA2929EN/ca2929en.pdf">More than 80%</a> of the world’s population regularly consume dairy products. There have been increasing calls to move beyond animal-based food systems to more sustainable forms of food production.</p>
<p>Synthetic milks offer dairy milk without concerns such as <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate-change/carbon-farming-reducing-methane-emissions-cattle-using-feed-additives">methane emissions</a> or <a href="https://www.rspca.org.au/take-action/dairy-cattle-and-bobby-calves">animal welfare</a>. But it must overcome many challenges and pitfalls to become a fair, sustainable and viable alternative to animal-based milk.</p>
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<img alt="dairy cows on green grass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481472/original/file-20220829-65819-723k9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Synthetic milks offer dairy milk produced without animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>Not a sci-fi fantasy</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-022-10338-x">recent research</a> examined megatrends in the global dairy sector. Plant-based milks and, potentially, synthetic milks, emerged as a key disruption.</p>
<p>Unlike synthetic meat – which can struggle to match the complexity and texture of animal meat – synthetic milk is <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/the-start-up-that-makes-milk-without-using-any-cows-20210725-p58cq6">touted</a> as having the same taste, look and feel as normal dairy milk. </p>
<p>Synthetic milk is not a sci-fi fantasy; it already exists. In the US, for example, the <a href="https://perfectday.com/animal-free-milk-protein/">Perfect Day</a> company supplies animal-free protein made from microflora, which is then <a href="https://perfectday.com/made-with-perfect-day/">used to make</a> ice cream, protein powder and milk.</p>
<p>In Australia, start-up company Eden Brew has been developing synthetic milk at Werribee in Victoria. The company is <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/the-start-up-that-makes-milk-without-using-any-cows-20210725-p58cq6">targeting</a> consumers increasingly concerned about climate change and, in particular, the contribution of methane from dairy cows.</p>
<p>CSIRO reportedly developed the technology behind the Eden Brew product. The process starts with yeast and uses “precision fermentation” to produce the same proteins found in cow milk. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/production/food/eden-brew">CSIRO says</a> these proteins give milk many of its key properties and contribute to its creamy texture and frothing ability. Minerals, sugars, fats and flavours are added to the protein base to create the final product.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/which-milk-is-best-for-the-environment-we-compared-dairy-nut-soy-hemp-and-grain-milks-147660">Which 'milk' is best for the environment? We compared dairy, nut, soy, hemp and grain milks</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="packets of whey protein and chocolate brownie mix" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481473/original/file-20220829-40207-chcr43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">US food-tech company Perfect Day makes ice cream and other ‘dairy’ products without using animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Perfect Day</span></span>
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<h2>Towards a new food system?</h2>
<p>Also in Australia, the All G Foods company this month <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/synthetic-milk-start-up-all-g-foods-banks-25m-from-uk-s-argonomics-20220804-p5b79m">raised A$25 million</a> to accelerate production of its synthetic milk. Within seven years, the company wants its synthetic milk to be cheaper than cow milk. </p>
<p>If the synthetic milk industry can achieve this cost aim across the board, the potential to disrupt the dairy industry is high. It could steer humanity further away from traditional animal agriculture towards radically different food systems.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="a bottle of 'zero cow' milk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481475/original/file-20220829-48396-j0oya3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">All G foods wants its synthetic milk to be cheaper than cow-based milk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">All G Foods</span></span>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.rethinkx.com/food-and-agriculture">2019 report</a> into the future of dairy found that by 2030, the US precision fermentation industry will create at least 700,000 jobs.</p>
<p>And if synthetic milk can replace dairy as an ingredient in the industrial food processing sector, this could present significant challenges for companies that produce milk powder for the ingredient market.</p>
<p>Some traditional dairy companies are jumping on the bandwagon. For example, Australian dairy co-operative Norco is backing the Eden Brew project, and New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra last week <a href="https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/our-stories/media/fonterra-ramps-up-opportunities-in-complementary-nutrition-partnership.html">annouced</a> a joint venture to develop and commercialise “fermentation-derived proteins with dairy-like properties”.</p>
<h2>Synthetic milk: the whey forward?</h2>
<p>The synthetic milk industry must grow exponentially before it becomes a sizeable threat to animal-based dairy milk. This <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/synthetic-milk-start-up-all-g-foods-banks-25m-from-uk-s-argonomics-20220804-p5b79m">will require</a> a lot of capital and investment in research and development, as well as new manufacturing infrastructure such as fermentation tanks and bioreactors. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/world-dairy-projections-milk-butter-and-cheese_0ca74b06-en">Production</a> of conventional animal-milk in the Global South now outstrips that of the Global North, largely due to rapid growth across Asia. Certainly, the traditional dairy industry is not going away any time soon. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-milk-the-whole-milk-and-nothing-but-the-milk-the-story-behind-our-dairy-woes-124290">The milk, the whole milk and nothing but the milk: the story behind our dairy woes</a>
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<img alt="Woman looks at milk in supermarket in Vietnam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481480/original/file-20220829-43735-15g7ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Demand for animal milk in Asia has grown rapidly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RICHARD VOGEL/AP</span></span>
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<p>And synthetic milk is not a panacea. While the technology has huge potential for environmental and animal welfare gains, it comes with challenges and potential downsides.</p>
<p>For example, alternative proteins do not necessarily challenge the corporatisation or homogenisation of conventional industrial agriculture. This means big synthetic milk producers might push out low-tech or small-scale dairy – and alternative dairy – systems.</p>
<p>What’s more, synthetic milk could further displace many people from the global dairy sector. If traditional dairy co-ops in Australia and New Zealand are moving into synthetic milk, for example, where does this leave dairy farmers?</p>
<p>As synthetic milk gains ground in coming years, we must guard against replicating existing inequities in the current food system. </p>
<p>And the traditional dairy sector must recognise it’s on the cusp of pivotal change. In the face of multiple threats, it should maximise the social benefits of both animal-based dairy and minimise its contribution to climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Milena Bojovic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Synthetic milk offers dairy milk without the concerns such as methane emissions or animal welfare. But is it the whey forward?Milena Bojovic, PhD Candidate, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1879052022-08-19T12:42:26Z2022-08-19T12:42:26ZWhat is listeria? A microbiologist explains the bacterium behind recent deadly food poisoning outbreaks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479719/original/file-20220817-21-a18luh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=132%2C0%2C3875%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Investigators in Florida traced a listeria outbreak to ice cream.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ice-cream-jar-with-4-flavors-strawberry-vanilla-royalty-free-image/1279372828?adppopup=true">Graiki/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bacteria do, and will, end up in food. Everyone eats – intentionally or unintentionally – <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.659">millions to billions</a> of live microbes every day. </p>
<p>Most are completely harmless, but some can cause serious illnesses in humans. Because of these potential pathogens, there is a long <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-nutrition/art-20043844">list of foods to avoid</a>, including uncooked eggs, raw fish and unwashed fruits and vegetables, particularly for pregnant women. The foods themselves are not bad, but the same cannot be said for certain bacterial passengers, such as <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em>, or listeria for short. </p>
<p>This particular pathogen has found ways to indiscriminately get into our foods. While deli and dairy foods like cold cuts, cheese, milk and eggs are frequently culprits for causing listeriosis – the general name for listeria-caused infections – fresh vegetables and fruits have also been implicated.</p>
<p>The variety of foods responsible for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/index.html">U.S. listeria outbreaks in the past decade</a> shows just how easily these bacteria get around. Listeria has turned up in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/eggs-12-19/index.html">hard-boiled eggs</a>, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/enoki-mushrooms-03-20/index.html">enoki mushrooms</a>, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/precooked-chicken-07-21/index.html">cooked chicken</a> and, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/packaged-salad-12-21-b/index.html">in 2021, packaged salad</a> – <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/packaged-salad-mix-12-21/index.html">twice</a>.</p>
<p>Even the frozen aisle is not spared from listeria contamination. Contaminated ice cream in Florida was behind this year’s listeria outbreak, with 25 reported cases spanning 11 states since January 2021, according to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/monocytogenes-06-22/details.html">an early August 2022 report</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those who fell ill ranged in age from less than 1 to 92 years old, and 24 of the cases have involved hospitalizations.</p>
<p>How can such a tiny organism bypass extensive disinfection efforts and wreak such havoc? <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=G_tH2rUAAAAJ&hl=en">As a microbiologist</a> who has been working with listeria and trying to solve these mysteries, I’d like to share some insider secrets about this unique little pathogen and its strategies of survival inside and outside our bodies.</p>
<h2>Farm to table</h2>
<p>To prevent consumer exposure to listeria, the food industries follow <a href="https://www.fda.gov/files/food/published/Draft-Guidance-for-Industry--Control-of-Listeria-monocytogenes-in-Ready-To-Eat-Foods-%28PDF%29.pdf">stringent disinfection and surveillance guidelines</a> from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Any detection of listeria triggers a recall of potentially contaminated food products. </p>
<p>Since 2017, there have been <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls">over 270 listeria-related food recalls</a>. These are incredibly costly and can sometimes lead to fears in consumers <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/29/581531318/panera-bread-recalls-cream-cheese-across-u-s-over-listeria-fears">as well as nationwide disruptions in food services</a>. However, the recalls represent one of the few tools that the food industry has to protect consumers from foodborne infections. </p>
<p>Not all listeria strains are created equal. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmm.2010.05.002">Genetic variations</a> in listeria make a big difference in whether the pathogen ends up being involved in multistate outbreaks or simply hitching a ride harmlessly through our digestive tract. Essentially, based on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jaoac/85.2.524">different methods used</a>, listeria can be subtyped into different lineages, with some associated with outbreaks more frequently than others.</p>
<p>Researchers are investigating ways to tell these listeria strains apart, distinguishing the less harmful ones from those that are particularly dangerous, or hypervirulent. Being able to accurately identify them can help policymakers assess risks and make economically feasible decisions to improve food safety.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration of red-orange rod-shaped Listeria bacteria." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477025/original/file-20220801-70681-jygdr6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Listeria is an intracellular pathogen. Inside the body, it can grow inside a cell and spread to neighboring cells.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/listeria-monocytogenes-illustration-royalty-free-illustration/685023881">Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listeria is tough</h2>
<p>Listeria can live in any place where food is grown, packaged, stored, transported, prepared or served. Our research team has even found listeria in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens7030060">organic lettuce harvested from a backyard garden</a>. </p>
<p>Listeria can survive and grow in temperatures as cold as <a href="https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-Listeria-grow-at-refrigerator-temperatures">24 degrees Fahrenheit</a> (-4.4 Celsius) because it has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10408390701856272">adapted to cold temperatures</a> and developed <a href="https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-69.6.1473">tricks for overcoming cold stress</a>. Considering the average refrigerator maintains a temperature range of 35 F to 38 F (1.7 C to 3.3 C), even when the food is stored properly at refrigeration temperatures, a harmless few listeria can grow to dangerous levels of contamination over time.</p>
<p>Listeria is also extremely versatile in adapting to and surviving all kinds of disinfection processes. When it grows on surfaces, listeria protects itself with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fpathogens6030041">a biofilm structure</a>, a kind of coating that forms a physical and chemical barrier and prevents disinfectants from reaching the bacteria within.</p>
<p>Surviving the harsh conditions outside our body is only the first part of the story. Before even beginning to cause infections, listeria needs to get to the intestines without getting caught and destroyed by the body’s defenses.</p>
<p>Traveling and surviving passage through a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffcimb.2014.00009">human digestive tract is not easy</a> for bacteria. Saliva enzymes can degrade bacterial cell walls. So can stomach acids and bile salts. Antibodies in our digestive tract can recognize and target bacteria for degradation. Moreover, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1084%2Fjem.20170495">resident gut microbes</a> are strong competitors for the limited amount of space and nutrients in our intestines.</p>
<p>After digestion, the body’s intestinal movement sends traffic one way – out of the body. In order to stick around and cause infections, bacteria have to attach themselves and hang on against the bowel movement while competing for nutrients. Successful pathogens can establish these survival and attachment tasks while undermining our immune defenses. </p>
<p>Listeria that manage to stick around in our intestines can trigger an immune response. In healthy people, that might manifest as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/symptoms.html">minor diarrhea or vomiting that goes away without medical attention</a>. </p>
<p>However, those with compromised immune systems or immune systems temporarily weakened as a result of medication or <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.575197">pregnancy</a> can be more susceptible to severe infections. In the absence of an effective immune system, listeria can invade other tissues and organs by creating an efficient niche for growth.</p>
<h2>Listeria in stealth mode</h2>
<p>Listeria is what we microbiologists call an intracellular pathogen. In an infected individual, listeria can grow inside a cell and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1083%2Fjcb.146.6.1333">spread to neighboring cells</a>. Hiding inside our cells this way, listeria avoids detection by antibodies or other immune defenses that are designed to detect and destroy threats that exist outside of our cells.</p>
<p>Once in stealth mode, listeria can move into and infect different organs. Wherever it goes, inflammation follows as the body’s immune system tries to go after the bacteria. The inflammation eventually results in collateral damage in nearby tissues. </p>
<p>In fact, deaths from listeria infections are often associated with the more invasive forms of the disease in which the microbes have breached the intestinal barriers and moved to other body parts. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/symptoms.html">Life-threatening illnesses</a> that can result from listeria include meningitis – inflammation around the brain and spinal cord that can occur when these microbes infect the brain – or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2017.12.032">endocarditis</a>, infection of the heart’s inner lining. And in pregnant individuals, if the pathogen reaches the placenta, it can spread to the fetus and cause stillbirth or miscarriage.</p>
<p>As such, invasive listeria cases often have an alarmingly high <a href="https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/get-facts-about-listeria#">hospitalization rate of more than 90% and a fatality rate that can reach 30%</a>. </p>
<p>The scary statistics argue for a proactive and effective infection control to protect vulnerable populations, such as elderly or pregnant individuals, from listeria exposure. </p>
<h2>Think, cook and eat</h2>
<p>If you have risk factors and want to take extra precautions, maybe turn that unpasteurized cider into a hot, mulled cider to kill the bacteria with boiling and simmering. Eat soft cheeses on foods that get cooked, such as pizzas or grilled sandwiches, instead of eating them cold, straight from the refrigerator. Essentially, use heat to bring out the delicious flavors and eliminate potential listeria contamination in your food. </p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s nearly impossible to live in a completely sterile environment, eating food devoid of all living microorganisms. So enjoy your favorites, but <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety">stay up to date with ongoing recalls</a> and follow the expiration guidelines, especially for ready-to-eat food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Sun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Listeria causes serious illness and food recalls nearly every year.Yvonne Sun, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1867412022-07-12T03:15:52Z2022-07-12T03:15:52ZWhat is foot and mouth disease? Why farmers fear ‘apocalyptic bonfires of burning carcasses’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473508/original/file-20220712-18-vk29k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C2980%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Foot and mouth disease – usually referred to by its acronym FMD – is the most feared livestock disease in the world. It can cripple the livestock sector, cause immense animal suffering, destroy farmer businesses, create food insecurity and has massive trade impacts for Australia.</p>
<p>It’s little wonder Australian farmers, rural communities, consumers and governments have reacted to the incursion and spread of FMD through Indonesia with dread.</p>
<p>This high impact livestock disease has not been on our doorstep <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/media-statement-foot-and-mouth-disease-detected-indonesia">since the 1980s</a>. Keeping it out is a new challenge and a national priority.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1546645532390612993"}"></div></p>
<h2>What is foot and mouth disease?</h2>
<p>This disease is caused by a viral infection. It’s present in many areas of southeast Asia, and most recently in Indonesia, where it has so far spread eastwards to Bali. Papua New Guinea, Australia and the South Pacific are <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/pests-disease-weeds/animal/fmd#the-consequences-of-an-fmd-outbreak-in-australia">historically FMD-free</a>.</p>
<p>What makes FMD virus so remarkable is its <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC387408/">environmental resistance</a>. It can persist on many inanimate objects, such as equipment used with livestock, people’s clothing and shoes, on the tyres of vehicles and in livestock transport. </p>
<p>It can also persist in livestock feed and livestock products, such as meat and hides. It can even remain infectious on the hands and within noses of those in contact with infected livestock. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1546625618543927296"}"></div></p>
<p>This means everything associated with infected livestock can become contaminated. On the positive side, FMD is not a disease that readily infects humans, and meat and milk from infected livestock are considered <a href="https://www.mpi.govt.nz/biosecurity/plans-for-responding-to-serious-disease-outbreaks/foot-and-mouth-disease/potential-effects-of-a-foot-and-mouth-outbreak/">safe to consume</a>.</p>
<p>Still, despite human safety, countries free of FMD would not buy Australian meat or milk if we became infected because of the fear of importing the disease.</p>
<p>The nature of this virus is what scares agricultural industries. FMD virus could plausibly be introduced via a tourist’s contaminated shoes, or through smuggled meat products in a passenger’s bag or the mail. There is a plethora of incursion pathways.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1544981001700401152"}"></div></p>
<h2>How does FMD affect animals?</h2>
<p>FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and deer. FMD is one of the most <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC387408/">contagious diseases</a> known – it’s at least as contagious as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in some situations, for example.</p>
<p>The characteristic sign in FMD infected animals is blisters. These are apparent in the mouths and hooves of infected animals – especially in the soft tissue immediately above the hoof, and between the two toes that form the hoof. </p>
<p>Rupture of these blisters produce ulcers. FMD lesions are very painful: animals stop walking, stop eating and drool. The severity of signs vary with different strains of FMD virus and different species. </p>
<p>Another remarkable characteristic is that within an infected herd or flock, nearly all animals become infected and sick, yet few will die from the disease in normal circumstances. It is a high morbidity, low mortality disease with a massive economic impact.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A vet inspects a cow lying down" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473500/original/file-20220712-18-yu3iaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The characteristic sign in FMD infected animals is blisters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Bagus Indahono</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why FMD is so hard to control</h2>
<p>FMD is globally distributed and globally feared. Infected countries are isolated from the global livestock trade.</p>
<p>There are a large number of FMD <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC387408/">virus strains</a>. This is important because one measure to prevent economic and welfare impacts is to vaccinate susceptible livestock. </p>
<p>However, the vaccine needs to match closely with the strain in a region that is causing FMD. Also, the protection period is generally short-lived, perhaps 12 months or less.</p>
<p>Maintaining high levels of vaccination and herd immunity is challenging in livestock populations, especially in developing countries. It requires an advanced system of livestock identification, and advanced vaccine manufacture and delivery infrastructure.</p>
<p>Another problem is the host range of FMD. Besides managed livestock, in Australia FMD virus could infect feral pigs, feral goats and wild deer. </p>
<p>Once the infection enters these unmanaged populations, disease control becomes exponentially more difficult. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-damaging-invasive-species-on-earth-wild-pigs-release-the-same-emissions-as-1-million-cars-each-year-163250">'One of the most damaging invasive species on Earth': wild pigs release the same emissions as 1 million cars each year</a>
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<p>For example, we haven’t been able to successfully manage <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-damaging-invasive-species-on-earth-wild-pigs-release-the-same-emissions-as-1-million-cars-each-year-163250">feral pigs</a>, despite the massive damage they inflict to our environment, such as degrading our waterways and threatening native species. </p>
<p>If Australia’s feral population gets infected, it might mean we can never eradicate FMD, should an incursion occur.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four black feral pigs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473509/original/file-20220712-16-pr826k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Foot and mouth disease may be impossible to eradicate if the virus infected feral pigs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The response</h2>
<p>When responding to an FMD incursion in developed countries such as Australia, the goal is eradication. Based on the economic impacts of the disease, it’s less costly in the long run to eradicate than to live with the disease.</p>
<p>Perhaps the best example of such a response is when FMD entered the United Kingdom in 2001. How it entered is unknown, but <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35581830">a theory</a> is the virus entered from illegally imported infected meat fed to Northumberland pigs. </p>
<p>There was a delay in detection. By the time authorities recognised the problem, the infection had spread widely. The response involved identifying both infected premises and those likely to be infected because of possible contact with the virus, and then culling all livestock on those premises. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-2001-outbreak-of-foot-and-mouth-disease/">This devastated</a> the UK’s agriculture and tourism sectors, resulted in the death of more than 6.5 million livestock and cost £8 billion. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35581830">media coverage</a> presented images of apocalyptic bonfires of burning carcasses and soldiers digging mass graves.</p>
<p>Even if a country demonstrates that elimination has been successful, it still won’t be able to trade again for many months, as its trading partners respond. This is why it’s so important to get on top of any incursion <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/pests-diseases-weeds/animal/fmd#how-could-fmd-virus-enter-australia">rapidly</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hear-me-out-we-could-use-the-varroa-mite-to-wipe-out-feral-honey-bees-and-help-australias-environment-185959">Hear me out – we could use the varroa mite to wipe out feral honey bees, and help Australia's environment</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The closest analogy to an FMD response we’re familiar with is the incursion of <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/horses/health-and-disease/influenza/summary-of-the-200708-ei-outbreak">equine influenza</a> (“horse flu”) in New South Wales and Queensland in 2007. </p>
<p>Although culling isn’t part of the response for to equine influenza, the bans on horse movements and equine events, the mobilisation of a large veterinary workforce, and the creation of disease “zones” would be repeated, with the same disruptive effect on communities.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1545899659683840000"}"></div></p>
<p>To Australia’s advantage, because FMD is such a high profile and high impact disease, federal, state and territory governments have well-developed <a href="https://animalhealthaustralia.com.au/ausvetplan/">response plans</a> and have “war-gamed” FMD scenarios over many decades. </p>
<p>And more recently, other animal pest and disease incursions such as varroa mite <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/releases/2022/ministerial/varroa-mite-incursion-detected-in-nsw">in honey bees</a> and Japanese encephalitis <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/pests-diseases-weeds/animal/japanese-encephalitis">in pig herds</a> have helped test our response systems for an FMD incursion. </p>
<p>However, we shouldn’t underestimate the cost and challenge of confronting this disease that has arrived just this month on our doorstep. So much depends on it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186741/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Ward receives funding from Meat & Livestock Australia, World Organisation for Animal Health.</span></em></p>Foot and mouth disease hasn’t been on our doorstep since the 1980s. Keeping it out of Australia is a new national priority.Michael Ward, Chair of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856852022-06-29T12:11:35Z2022-06-29T12:11:35ZClimate change is putting food safety at risk more often, and not just at picnics and parties – blackouts are a growing problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471485/original/file-20220628-14234-gop3kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=491%2C0%2C4682%2C3086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dairy, meats and eggs can get risky when left in warm conditions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-smiling-boy-holding-sandwich-with-his-royalty-free-image/691049473">Westend61 via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Every year, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html">almost 1 in 6 Americans</a> gets a foodborne illness, and about 3,000 people die from it, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Picnics and parties where food sits out for hours are a common source, but heat waves and power outages are another silently growing threat.</em></p>
<p><em>As global temperatures rise, the risk of foods going bad during blackouts in homes or stores or during transit in hot weather rises with them. <a href="https://nutrition.tufts.edu/profile/faculty/elena-n-naumova">Elena Naumova</a>, an epidemiologist and data scientist at Tufts University, explains the risk and what you need to know to stay safe.</em></p>
<h2>What does climate change have to do with foodborne illness?</h2>
<p>The link between foodborne illness and climate change is quite straightforward: The pathogens that cause many foodborne infections are sensitive to temperature. That’s because warm, wet weather conditions stimulate bacterial growth.</p>
<p>Three main factors govern the spread of foodborne illness: 1) the abundance, growth, range and survival of pathogens in crops, livestock and the environment; 2) the transfer of these pathogens to food; and 3) human exposure to the pathogens.</p>
<p>Safety measures like warning labels and product recalls can help slow the spread of harmful bacteria and parasites, but these measures don’t always evolve rapidly enough to keep pace with the changing risk.</p>
<p>One growing problem is that heat waves, wildfires and severe storms are increasingly triggering power outages, which in turn affect food storage and food handling practices in stores, production and distribution sites and homes. A review of federal data in 2022 found that major U.S. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-storms-science-business-health-7a0fb8c998c1d56759989dda62292379">power outages linked to severe weather had doubled</a> over the previous two decades. California often experiences <a href="https://www.bloomenergy.com/bloom-energy-outage-map/">smaller-scale outages</a> during heat waves and periods of high wildfire risk.</p>
<p>This can happen on the hottest and, in some areas, most humid days, creating ideal conditions for bacteria to grow.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471456/original/file-20220628-14253-8980uj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Salmonella bacteria, in pink, a common cause of foodborne disease, invade a human epithelial cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/5613656967">NIAID</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Which causes of foodborne illness are increasing with the heat?</h2>
<p>Nationwide, many types of foodborne infection <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74435-9">peak in warm summer months</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/gen_info/faqs.html"><em>Cyclospora</em></a>, a tiny parasite that causes intestinal infections and is transmitted through food or water contaminated with feces, often on imported vegetables and fruits, peaks in early June. </p>
<p>The bacteria <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/campylobacter/faq.html"><em>Campylobacter</em></a>, a common cause of diarrhea that’s often linked to undercooked meat; <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vibrio/faq.html"><em>Vibrio</em></a>, linked to eating raw or undercooked shellfish; <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/general/index.html"><em>Salmonella</em></a>, which causes diarrhea and is linked to animal feces; and STEC, a common type of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/general/index.html"><em>E. coli</em></a>, peak in mid-July. And the parasite <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/index.html"><em>Cyptosporidium</em></a>, germ <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/faq.html"><em>Listeria</em></a> and bacteria <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/shigella/general-information.html"><em>Shigella</em></a> peak in mid-August.</p>
<p>Many of these infections cause upset stomach, but they can also lead to severe diarrhea, dehydration, vomiting and even longer-term illnesses, such as meningitis and multiple organ failures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man stands in front of a dark freezer case packed with pizzas and other frozen meals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471487/original/file-20220628-14234-33ofq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When refrigerators lose power, they can keep foods cool for only so long. This store owner in New York during the 2006 blackout said, ‘I’ll have to throw all this out.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/grocery-store-owener-asim-calik-surveys-a-freezer-full-of-news-photo/71510428">Chris Hondros/Getty Images</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our studies, my colleagues and I have also found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094947">food recalls increase</a> during summer months. </p>
<p>Typically, the U.S. sees about 70 foodborne outbreaks per month, with about two of them resulting in a food recall. In summer, the number of outbreaks can exceed 100 per month, and the number of recall-related outbreaks goes up to six per month, increasing from 3% to 6% of all reported and investigated outbreaks nationwide. </p>
<p>The rate of individual infections can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268806006698">easily double or triple</a> the annual average during summer months. </p>
<p><iframe id="JhwJ1" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JhwJ1/7/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Precisely estimating infection numbers is very challenging because the vast majority of foodborne illness outbreaks – an estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74435-9">80% of illnesses and 56% of hospitalizations</a> – are not attributed to known pathogens due to insufficient testing, and many foodborne illnesses are not even reported to the health authorities.</p>
<h2>What types of food should people worry about?</h2>
<p>Watch out for perishable products, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs, along with anything labeled as requiring refrigeration. How warm a food item can get before becoming risky varies, so the simplest rule for keeping food safe is to follow food labels and instructions.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/index.html%5D(https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/index.html">CDC website</a> emphasizes four basic rules to prevent food poisoning at home: clean, separate, cook and chill.</p>
<p>It also offers some guidelines for when the power goes out, starting with keeping refrigerator and freezer doors closed. “A full freezer <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/food-safety-during-a-power-outage.html">will keep food safe for 48 hours</a> (24 hours if half-full) without power if you don’t open the door. Your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to four hours without power if you don’t open the door,” it says.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An infographic offers advice also discussed in the article." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471484/original/file-20220628-14613-gop3kl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food safety tips.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/food-safety-during-a-power-outage.html">CDC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After four hours without power or a cooling source, the CDC recommends that most meat, dairy, leftovers and cut fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator be thrown out.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you cannot see, smell or taste many harmful pathogens that cause foodborne illness, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. Rule of thumb: When in doubt, throw it out.</p>
<h2>What’s the best response if a person gets sick from food?</h2>
<p>If you do get sick, it can be hard to pinpoint the culprit. Harmful bacteria can take anywhere from <a href="https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/food-safety/food-safety-myths">a few hours to several days</a> to make you sick. And people respond in different ways, so the same food might not make everyone ill.</p>
<p>Check with your doctor <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/what-you-need-know-about-foodborne-illnesses">if you think you have food poisoning</a>. Get tested so your case will be reported. That helps public health authorities get a better sense of the extent of infections. The full extent of infections is typically vastly underreported.</p>
<p>I recommend checking health department websites, <a href="https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/food-safety/food-safety-myths">like Washington state’s</a>, for more advice, and <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls">check on food recalls</a> during the hot months.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185685/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elena N. Naumova receives funding from the National Science Foundation. She is affiliated with Tufts University. </span></em></p>Climate change has a clear link to rising foodborne illnesses. Blackouts during heat waves and wildfires are a growing part of the problem.Elena N. Naumova, Professor of Epidemiology and Data Science, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838022022-06-12T12:11:29Z2022-06-12T12:11:29ZWhy New Zealand is right to call out Canada on its dairy industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468042/original/file-20220609-11181-4xqg8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C95%2C3746%2C2095&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A cow waits in a paddock after milking on a farm near Oxford, New Zealand. New Zealand exports 95 per cent of its dairy products, and is challenging Canada's protection of its dairy market.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mark Baker)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-new-zealand-is-right-to-call-out-canada-on-its-dairy-industry" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>When it comes to dairy and free trade, Canada wants it both ways. New Zealand’s dairy dispute with Canada reveals the ongoing tensions within Canada’s trade agenda. </p>
<p>On May 12, New Zealand <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-General/WTO-Disputes/Request-for-consultations-by-New-Zealand-regarding-Canadas-allocation-of-dairy-TRQs-under-CPTPP.pdf">requested consultations</a> with Canada over its administration of dairy Tariff Rate Quotas, known as TRQs. </p>
<p>TRQs are the reserved amounts of a good that are free from existing tariffs. Canada maintains high tariffs on dairy products to insulate its industry from foreign competition — but TRQs are exempt from these. These TRQs are broken down into different categories, like butter or milk powders.</p>
<p>Under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/tpp-ptp/text-texte/02-ad-03.aspx?lang=eng">Canada allows other countries to sell their dairy products at low tariffs</a> for a set amount. The challenge is how to administer these amounts or TRQs. New Zealand maintains that Canada’s administrative methods are undercutting its CPTPP commitments to freer trade among signatories.</p>
<p>The problem for Canada is that New Zealand’s case is strong. </p>
<h2>New Zealand’s case against Canada</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s trade dispute alleges that Canada’s TRQ administration is reducing its market value by underfilling its dairy TRQs. As a result, New Zealand is not getting enough of its dairy products to Canada, and the products Canada does import are of lower value. New Zealand attributes this to Canada’s exclusive “pooling” of TRQs to processors. </p>
<p>Since 1995, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1068280500001489">Canada has administered its TRQs in pools</a> that separated by their location in supply chains. For example, <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/controls-controles/notices-avis/1048.aspx?lang=eng">85 per cent of Canada’s milk TRQs</a> under the CPTPP are reserved for dairy processors that make products like cream and dairy powders. </p>
<p>Canada’s TRQ administration is skewed, given the vast majority of dairy products are allocated to processors instead of retailers. This means the countries that are a part of the CPTPP cannot get their products directly onto Canadian store shelves.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sealtest blue and red cartons and bags of milk on grocery store shelves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468046/original/file-20220609-8276-wtn2nf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian milk and dairy products line a grocery store shelf in Aylmer, Que.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a major problem for a couple reasons. First, Canada’s allocation of dairy TRQs make it <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-new-zealand-supply-management-1.6451198">more difficult to maximize what the agreement allows for imports</a>. In other words, it undermines efforts by countries like New Zealand to sell their products in Canada. Early signs seem to show this is the case.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://financialpost.com/news/economy/new-zealand-starts-trade-dispute-against-canada-in-growing-dairy-backlash">processors are more likely to buy cheaper products</a> as inputs to more expensive goods. For example, an ice cream sandwich is a product manufactured using other — usually cheaper — dairy products. This could mean lost profit for New Zealand producers.</p>
<p>Fortunately for New Zealand’s case, the CPTPP is more thorough than other agreements. It specifies that TRQs are to be “<a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/tpp-ptp/text-texte/02.aspx?lang=eng">no more administratively burdensome than absolutely necessary</a>.” The agreement adds that countries cannot “allocate any portion of the quota to a producer group” or “limit access to an allocation to processors.”</p>
<h2>Canada has lost before</h2>
<p>If Canada loses the panel decision on the matter, it wouldn’t be the first time. The United States <a href="https://financialpost.com/news/economy/u-s-and-canada-both-claim-victory-in-dairy-quota-trade-dispute">successfully advanced</a> a similar request for consultation under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. </p>
<p>The American dispute <a href="https://www.worldtradelaw.net/document.php?id=usmca/cr/canada-dairytrq-cr.pdf&mode=download#page=1">also identified</a> Canadian pooling as unfair and inequitable. Canada argued that a processor pool does not constitute an allocation under the agreement. Canada added that the Americans were aware of its TRQ administration and therefore tacitly accepted it.</p>
<p>These arguments <a href="https://www.worldtradelaw.net/document.php?id=usmca31/canada-dairytrq(usmca).pdf&mode=download#page=53">failed to convince the panel</a> and Canada has yet to comply with this ruling. It seems doubtful Canada would succeed under CPTPP either, as both agreements have similar TRQ stipulations.</p>
<p>The better question is why Canada put itself in this position in the first place.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dairy cows poke their heads through metal bars to eat hay in a barn." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468058/original/file-20220609-11224-msscaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dairy cows are seen at a Québec farm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canada’s trade agenda</h2>
<p>Since Canada’s first trade agreement, there has been clear tension because even though Canadian policymakers want free trade, they also want some sectors to be exempt. Canada is not unique to agricultural exceptionalism, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgv022">it is among the world leaders of this practice</a>. </p>
<p>While early trade agreements navigated this tension, recent agreements have struggled to do the same. Canada’s last three major trade agreements have each conceded more access to the Canadian market for foreign dairy producers. In return, Canada has <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2021/12/third-round-of-compensation-now-available-for-canadian-dairy-farmers.html">offered direct compensation</a> to dairy farmers and processors.</p>
<p>This shift in trade policy comes at a moment where free trade is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2020.1786927">under greater scrutiny</a>. While trade partners like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-look-inward-to-address-american-protectionism-172274">United States</a> are backing away from trade agreements, Canada is stepping forward.</p>
<p>This is part of Canada’s new trade strategy, the <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/campaign-campagne/inclusive_trade/index.aspx?lang=eng">Inclusive Trade Agenda</a>. This agenda aims to bring historically marginalized groups into trade. Women, Indigenous Peoples and the middle class are among these groups.</p>
<p>Global Affairs Canada adds that “<a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/gender_equality-egalite_genres/approach-can-approche.aspx?lang=eng">communicating the benefits of trade and investment</a>” is a key goal of the agenda, which seeks to curb “a perception of negative or divergent effects of trade and investment.” But this is more than a perception.</p>
<p>The Inclusive Trade Agenda is as much substantive trade policy reform as it is a re-branding effort. The agenda communicates Canada’s renewed commitment to free trade. </p>
<h2>Selective free trade</h2>
<p>The problem is that Canada is selectively embracing economic liberalization. Canada wants free trade only for some aspects of its economy. Canada’s trade policy is torn between two pathways.</p>
<p>There is nothing inherently wrong with insulating the dairy industry from foreign competition. Good arguments can be made in favour of exempting it.</p>
<p>But Canada can no longer have it both ways. Canada cannot concede on dairy then backtrack on those commitments while advocating for rules-based agreements. </p>
<p>The contradictions in Canada’s trade agenda have never been more evident. New Zealand’s dispute is a reminder that Canada must make difficult choices. </p>
<p>Canada can either promote a restrained trade agenda with few concessions, or fully embrace liberalization. Trying to do both will accomplish neither.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noah Fry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand is accusing Canada of undercutting its commitments under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership on dairy. Canada’s problem is that New Zealand’s case is strong.Noah Fry, PhD Candidate, Political Science, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833912022-05-20T09:59:02Z2022-05-20T09:59:02ZPlant-based milk products: what you need to know before making the switch<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464463/original/file-20220520-15-t00qfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5599%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plant-based milk alternatives may not contain the same nutrients as cow's milk.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dairy-free-milk-drink-ingredients-breakfast-1762870238">matka_Wariatka/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the last decade, the number of people drinking cow’s milk has dropped – with people <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/family-food-datasets">swapping dairy</a> for plant-based alternatives, such as oat and almond milk. With <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-potato-milk-measures-up-against-other-plant-based-milk-alternatives-176938">new types of plant-based milks</a> seemingly emerging every week, this trend is unlikely to stop any time soon.</p>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>There are a number of reasons why people are making the switch from dairy to plant-based alternatives. For one, many people aren’t able to consume dairy. Not only are around <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03557.x">5% of UK adults lactose intolerant</a>, dairy is also the <a href="https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1541-4337.12318">most common allergen</a> in early childhood.</p>
<p>Another major reason that people are switching to plant-based dairy alternatives is because of animal welfare and environmental concerns. Studies show that dairy milk produces more environmental emissions and requires more <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29853680/">land and water usage</a> than plant-based dairy alternatives.</p>
<p>But despite being marketed as alternatives to dairy, plant-based products may not be exactly the same as dairy. So if you’re thinking of making the switch, here are a few things to be aware of.</p>
<h2>Pay attention to nutrients</h2>
<p>Cow’s milk is a rich source of many important nutrients, such as protein, calcium, iodine and vitamin B12. But many plant-based dairy alternatives don’t naturally contain the same amount of these nutrients and micronutrients as dairy milk – if any at all.</p>
<p>On average, most plant-based alternatives contain almost no protein – while one glass of cow’s milk containing around eight grams of protein. Soya milk is the exception, containing a similar amount of protein per glass as dairy. </p>
<p>Protein is essential for healthy growth and development. While everyone needs protein, some groups may need more than others. For example, older adults need it to maintain muscle strength with ageing and children require it for growth.</p>
<p>On average, most UK adults get <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey">around 15% of their protein intake</a> from dairy products. But if plant-based dairy alternatives are used as like-for-like replacements, this number could be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996921004853">less than 1.8%</a>. So if you do make the switch to plant-based dairy products, soya milk may be your best bet for getting protein. If you use other types of plant-based milk alternatives, it will be important to include other high-protein foods in your diet, such as tofu or eggs, to make sure you’re getting enough.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vegetarian-and-vegan-diet-five-things-for-over-65s-to-consider-when-switching-to-a-plant-based-diet-144088">Vegetarian and vegan diet: five things for over-65s to consider when switching to a plant-based diet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Most plant-based dairy alternatives also don’t naturally contain the same vitamins and minerals that dairy does. As such, many need to have these added during the manufacturing process, which is called “fortification”. It’s worth noting, however, that any plant-based dairy alternatives labelled “organic” will not contain any fortified vitamins and minerals as this would go against regulations.</p>
<p>Calcium is a very important micronutrient found in milk. It’s needed for good bone health, particularly in children and adolescents. But my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996921004853">own research has shown</a> that only 57% of milk alternatives, 63% of yogurt alternatives and 28% of cheese alternatives are fortified with calcium. So to ensure you’re <a href="https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/calcium.html">getting enough in your diet</a>, check the label and look for products that have been fortified with calcium. Or, focus on eating foods that contain calcium – such as fortified breads and cereals or tinned sardines or salmon. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An opened can of tinned sardines." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464464/original/file-20220520-14-27imdv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other food sources, such as tinned sardines, can help you get enough calcium in your diet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tin-can-sprats-sardines-top-view-244227574">Photosiber/ Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Iodine is another <a href="https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/iodine.html">important nutrient</a>, especially for pregnant women and young children as it’s important for brain development. It also helps make thyroid hormones, which are important for both growth and metabolism. Despite milk and dairy products being the <a href="https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/iodine.html">main source of dietary iodine</a>, only a small handful of plant-based dairy products are fortified with iodine. Again, it’s important to read the product’s label to see if it’s been fortified with iodine or not. Otherwise, focus on eating foods that contain iodine, such as fish, shellfish or seaweed – or if this is not possible by taking a supplement.</p>
<p>Also look out for vitamin B12 in any plant-based dairy alternatives you may buy. This vitamin is essential for the brain, nerves and blood cells. While some plant-based dairy alternatives contain vitamin B12, most don’t, so you’ll need to focus on getting vitamin B12 from other food sources. Meat typically contains the highest levels of vitamin B12, but if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet you may need to consume yeast extract, fortified breakfast cereals or supplements to make sure you’re getting enough. </p>
<h2>Other considerations</h2>
<p>Plant-based dairy alternatives aren’t cheap – costing almost <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996921004853?via%3Dihub">three times the price</a> of cow’s milk and other dairy products (such as yoghurt). For a family of two adults and one child, the cost of consuming dairy products is around £310.89 a year – while plant-based alternatives may cost closer to £856.70 a year. Purchasing own-brand products which are fortified may be a cheaper way to avoid dairy while sticking to a budget. </p>
<p>But of course, there are many reasons why a person may need to switch to plant-based dairy alternatives – whether that’s due to allergies or environmental concerns. If you’re worried about you or your child getting enough vitamins and minerals in your diet after <a href="https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/milk-allergy.html">making the switch</a> to plant-based alternatives, it’s worth consulting with a registered dietitian or doctor. Plant-based milks are generally not recommended for children under two years. After that, fortified soya milk is likely the best alternative as it will contain important vitamins and minerals, as well as high amounts of protein.</p>
<p>If you prefer other plant-based milk alternatives, look for one that’s fortified. Avoid rice drinks if you have children under the age of five as they may contain high levels of arsenic. But thanks to increasing interest in plant-based diets, there’s now a wealth of choice when it comes to plant-based dairy alternatives – just make sure you read the label before buying one.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183391/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miriam Clegg receives funding from the Medical Research Council, Biological Sciences Research Council, EIT Food, Horizon 2020, Apetito, and Tanita Healthy Weight Community Trust.</span></em></p>Look out for products fortified with important vitamins and minerals.Miriam Clegg, Associate Professor in Human Nutrition, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654662022-02-08T19:08:13Z2022-02-08T19:08:13ZDon’t drink milk? Here’s how to get enough calcium and other nutrients<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444932/original/file-20220208-26-4g1zsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-girl-drinking-milk-beverage-grow-429610183">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cow’s milk is an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33920532/">excellent source of calcium</a> which, along with vitamin D, is needed to <a href="https://www.bones.nih.gov/health-info/bone/osteoporosis/bone-mass">build strong, dense bones</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/milk#nutrients-in-milk">Milk also contains</a> protein, the minerals phosphorus, potassium, zinc and iodine, and vitamins A, B2 (riboflavin) and B12 (cobalamin). </p>
<p>As a child I drank a lot of milk. It was delivered in pint bottles to our front steps each morning. I also drank a third of a pint before marching into class as part of the <a href="https://education.qld.gov.au/about-us/history/history-topics/free-milk-scheme#:%7E:text=Teachers%20and%20children%20of%20the,into%20the%20bottle%20was%20challenging.">free school milk program</a>. I still love milk, which makes getting enough calcium easy. </p>
<p>Of course, many people <a href="https://nutrition.org/going-nuts-about-milk-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-plant-based-milk-alternatives/">don’t drink milk</a> for a number of reasons. The good news is you can get all the calcium and other nutrients you need from other foods. </p>
<h2>What foods contain calcium?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/calcium#good-sources-of-calcium">Dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt</a> are rich in calcium, while non-dairy foods including tofu, canned fish with bones, green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds contain varying amounts. </p>
<p>Some foods are fortified with added calcium, including some breakfast cereals and soy, rice, oat and nut “milks”. Check their food label <a href="https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/how-to-decode-food-labels">nutrition information panels</a> to see how much calcium they contain.</p>
<p>However, it’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35011055/">harder for your body to absorb calcium</a> from non-dairy foods. Although your body does get better at absorbing <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34281429/">calcium from plant foods</a>, and also when <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15068499/">your total calcium intake is low</a>, the overall effect means if you don’t have dairy foods, you may need to eat more foods that contain calcium to maximise your bone health. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Healthy tofu stirfry with leafy greens." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444946/original/file-20220208-25-tm13jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tofu is just one source of calcium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/nutritious-okinawan-tofu-vegetable-stirfry-set-1981809443">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How much calcium do you need?</h2>
<p>Depending on your age and sex, the <a href="https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/calcium">daily calcium requirements</a> vary from 360 milligrams per day to more than 1,000 mg for teens and older women. </p>
<p>One 250ml cup of cow’s milk contains about 300mg of calcium, which is equivalent to one standard serve. This <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/milk-yoghurt-cheese-andor-their-alternatives-mostly-reduced-fat">same amount is found in</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>200 grams of yoghurt</li>
<li>250 ml of calcium-fortified plant milks </li>
<li>100 grams of canned pink salmon with bones</li>
<li>100 grams of firm tofu</li>
<li>115 grams of <a href="https://www.nutsforlife.com.au/resource/almonds/">almonds</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/recommended-number-serves-adults">recommended number of daily serves</a> of dairy and non-dairy alternatives varies: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>children <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/recommended-number-serves-children-adolescents-and">should have</a> between 1 and 3.5 serves a day, depending on their age and sex </p></li>
<li><p>women aged 19 to 50 should have 2.5 serves a day, then 4 serves when aged over 50</p></li>
<li><p>men aged 19 to 70 should have 2.5 serves a day, then 3.5 serves when aged over 70. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4364.0.55.012%7E2011-12%7EMain%20Features%7EMilk,%20yoghurt,%20cheese%20and%20alternatives%7E17">average Australian intake</a> is just 1.5 serves per day, with only one in ten <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/milk-yoghurt-cheese-andor-their-alternatives-mostly-reduced-fat">achieving the recommendations</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soy-oat-almond-rice-coconut-dairy-which-milk-is-best-for-our-health-146869">Soy, oat, almond, rice, coconut, dairy: which 'milk' is best for our health?</a>
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<h2>What other nutrients do you need?</h2>
<p>If you don’t drink milk, the challenge is getting enough nutrients to have a balanced diet. Here’s what you need and why. </p>
<p><strong>Protein</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, dried beans and tofu.</em></p>
<p>Needed for growth and repair of cells and to make antibodies, enzymes and make specific transport proteins that carry chemical massages throughout the body.</p>
<p><strong>Phosphorus</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: meat, poultry, seafood, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, dried beans and lentils.</em></p>
<p>Builds bone and teeth, supports growth and repair of cells, and is needed for energy production.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Whole grain loaf of bread." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444950/original/file-20220208-20-ri7mnm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whole grains are a source of phosphorus, zinc and vitamin B12.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-sliced-wholegrain-bread-on-1084483424">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Potassium</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: leafy green vegetables (spinach, silverbeet, kale), carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, beans and peas, avocados, apples, oranges and bananas.</em></p>
<p>Needed to activate cells and nerves. Maintains fluid balance and helps with muscle contraction and regulation of blood pressure.</p>
<p><strong>Zinc</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: lean meat, chicken, fish, oysters, legumes, nuts, wholemeal and wholegrain products.</em> </p>
<p>Helps with wound healing and the development of the immune system and other essential functions in the body, including taste and smell. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Chick pea curry with brown rice." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444948/original/file-20220208-21-1gqlfwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Legumes such as chick peas contain protein and zinc.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/indian-vegetarian-curry-potatoes-chickpeas-lentils-251307334">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Iodine</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: fish, prawns, other seafood, iodised salt and commercial breads.</em></p>
<p>Needed for normal growth, brain development and used by the thyroid gland to make the hormone thyroxine, which is needed for growth and metabolism.</p>
<p><strong>Vitamin A</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: eggs, oily fish, nuts, seeds. (The body can also make vitamin A from beta-carotene in orange and yellow vegetables and green leafy vegetables.)</em></p>
<p>Needed for antibody production, maintenance of healthy lungs and gut, and for good vision.</p>
<p><strong>Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: wholegrain breads and cereals, egg white, leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, yeast spreads, meat.</em></p>
<p>Needed to release energy from food. Also supports healthy eyesight and skin.</p>
<p><strong>Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)</strong></p>
<p><em>Food sources: meat, eggs and most foods of animal origin, some fortified plant milks and fortified yeast spreads (check the label).</em></p>
<p>Needed to make red blood cells, DNA (your genetic code), myelin (which insulate nerves) and some neurotransmitters needed for brain function. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-balanced-diet-anyway-72432">What is a balanced diet anyway?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>When might you need to avoid milk?</h2>
<p>Reasons <a href="https://nutrition.org/going-nuts-about-milk-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-plant-based-milk-alternatives/">why people don’t drink milk</a> range from taste, personal preferences, animal welfare or environmental concerns. Or it could be due to health conditions or concerns about intolerance, allergy and acne. </p>
<p><strong>Lactose intolerance</strong> </p>
<p>Lactose is the main carbohydrate in milk. It’s broken down in the simple sugars by an enzyme in the small intestine called lactase. </p>
<p>Some people are <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/lactose-intolerance">born without the lactase enzyme or their lactase levels decrease</a> as they age. For these people, consuming foods containing a lot of lactose means it passes undigested along the gut and can trigger symptoms such as bloating, pain and diarrhoea. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man holds his stomach after drinking a milky coffee." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444949/original/file-20220208-21-15rhf28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lactose intolerance can cause bloating and pain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/white-man-dark-hair-sits-wooden-617367890">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research shows <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20404262/">smalls amounts of lactose</a> – up to 15 grams daily – can be tolerated without symptoms, especially if spread out over the day. A cup of <a href="https://www.dairy.com.au/dairy-matters/you-ask-we-answer/what-is-the-lactose-content-of-different-dairy-products">cows milk contains about 16 grams of lactose</a>, while a 200g tub of yoghurt contains 10g, and 40g cheddar cheese contains less than 1g. </p>
<p><strong>Cow’s milk allergy</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/cows-milk-allergy">Cow’s milk allergy</a> occurs in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31083388/">about 0.5-3% of one year olds</a>. By age five, about half are reported to have grown out of it, and 75% by adolescence. However, one survey found <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31083388/">9% of pre-school children</a> had severe allergy with <a href="https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/about-allergy/anaphylaxis">anaphylaxis</a>.</p>
<p>Symptoms of cow’s milk allergy include hives, rash, cough, wheeze, vomiting, diarrhoea or swelling of the face. </p>
<p>Symptom severity varies, and can happen immediately or take a few days to develop. If a reaction is severe, call 000, as it can be a medical emergency. </p>
<p><strong>Acne</strong> </p>
<p>The whey protein in cow’s milk products, aside from cheese, triggers an increase in insulin, a hormone that transports blood sugar, which is released into the blood stream. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, milk’s casein protein triggers an increase in another hormone, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin-like_growth_factor_1">insulin-like growth factor</a> (IGF), which influences growth. </p>
<p>These two reactions promote the production of hormones called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen">androgens</a>, which can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21034984/">lead to a worsening of acne</a>. </p>
<p>If this happens to you, then avoid milk, but keep eating hard cheese, and eat other foods rich in calcium regularly instead.</p>
<p>While milk can be problematic for some people, for most of us, drinking milk in moderation in line with recommendation is the way to go.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-milk-good-for-me-or-should-i-ditch-it-45764">Is milk good for me, or should I ditch it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Collins is Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetic at the University of Newcastle, NSW and a Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) n affiliated researcher . She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow and has received research grants from NHMRC, ARC, MRFF, HMRI, Diabetes Australia, Heart Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, nib foundation, Rijk Zwaan Australia, WA Dept. Health, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Greater Charitable Foundation. She has consulted to SHINE Australia, Novo Nordisk, Quality Bakers, the Sax Institute, Dietitians Australia and the ABC. She was a team member conducting systematic reviews to inform the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines update and the Heart Foundation evidence reviews on meat and dietary patterns.</span></em></p>People who don’t drink milk can choose other foods to get the calcium, protein, vitamins and minerals their bodies need.Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1750012022-01-21T11:16:32Z2022-01-21T11:16:32ZWhy you can probably keep milk longer than you think (and why you should)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441795/original/file-20220120-8856-qfci4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5742%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-drink-milk-have-fun-kitchen-1049364281">Tetiana Maslovska/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/get-informed/worldwide-food-waste">one-third</a> of the food produced globally every year never gets eaten. This waste often occurs along the supply chain before the food even reaches us. But consumers who throw away food because it’s gone bad, or because they think it may have gone bad, are also responsible for a large proportion of food waste.</p>
<p>All food production results in <a href="https://wrap.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/food-and-drink-greenhouse-gas-emissions-must-be-key-priority-cop26-says">greenhouse gas emissions</a>. So wasting food is not only bad for your pocket – it’s also bad for the environment.</p>
<p>Recently, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59928650">Morrisons supermarket</a> announced that it will move from putting “use by” to “best before” dates on milk. It says this could save seven million pints of its own-brand milk from being wasted each year.</p>
<p>According to British charity <a href="https://wrap.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/wrap-comes-winning-formula-tackle-milk-waste-0">WRAP</a>, milk is the third most wasted food item in the home (after potatoes and bread) with more than 490 million pints thrown away in the UK annually. So changing the advice to encourage people to keep their milk for longer is likely to be good for the planet. But is this move safe for consumers? The short answer is yes.</p>
<p>First, let’s look at <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates">the terms</a> “use by” and “best before”, which have long <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12351-017-0352-3">confused consumers</a>.</p>
<p>“Use by” is the date until which the manufacturers know the product will remain safe. This is based on scientific analysis which has determined how long a product can be stored before there’s a risk that any dangerous microbes could reach levels that will cause harm. You’ll see use-by dates on foods that can pose a danger if they’re stored too long, such as cooked meats and dairy products.</p>
<p>“Best before” relates to the quality of the product. This date tells you how long you can keep something before the product starts to taste less fresh, or decline in quality (for example, how long you can store bread before it gets a bit stale). But this doesn’t mean the product isn’t safe to eat after this date. You’re likely to see best-before dates on preserved products, such as tinned or frozen foods, which you can safely keep for a long time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-type-of-milk-is-best-the-answer-is-follow-your-tastebuds-88610">What type of milk is best? The answer is follow your tastebuds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What about milk?</h2>
<p>You might think milk should sit firmly in the “use by” category – it is a dairy product after all. But actually, shifting to a best-before date is safe for consumers, thanks to a process called pasteurisation. During <a href="https://www.dairycouncil.co.uk/consumers/industry/what-is-pasteurisation">pasteurisation</a>, the milk is heated for a short time to a high temperature. This kills bacteria which can be present in raw milk and cause infections in humans (often called “pathogens”).</p>
<p>Although the pathogens are killed in this process, some non-harmful microbes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119237860.ch19">remain</a> in pasteurised milk. So milk is stored at a low temperature (in the fridge) to slow the growth of these remaining microbes. Nonetheless, they will still grow, and it’s the growth of these non-harmful bacteria that cause the milk to spoil. As the microbes grow they produce enzymes to help them break down the milk, which causes the milk to curdle and produces the “off” smell we associate with spoiled milk. </p>
<p>Notably, for pasteurised milk (and we need to be very clear that this ONLY applies to pasteurised milk) even when the milk starts to go off, there’s no evidence the microbes growing in the milk will cause you any serious harm. If you drink a significant amount of spoiled milk, you might find yourself with <a href="https://missouripoisoncenter.org/spoiled-milk/">an upset stomach</a> but there’s nothing to suggest spoiled milk causes infections or severe illness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A hand pours a bottle of milk down the sink." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441801/original/file-20220120-9266-269nkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Milk represents a large proportion of food waste.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-pouring-milk-into-kitchen-sink-2075727952">victoras/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The best-before date is the manufacturers’ best estimate of how long the milk should last in the fridge before you can detect any spoilage, either by smell, taste or both. Every batch of pasteurised milk is different and will have more or less of these non-harmful bacteria remaining in it, so in reality the best-before date is an estimate of when the milk with the most bacteria left in it will spoil. But many batches of milk will be fine for much longer than this – hence Morrisons’ change in advice.</p>
<h2>The sniff test</h2>
<p>Morrisons have advised using the “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59928650">sniff test</a>” to see if the milk is safe to use. This is sensible advice. If there is no detectable evidence of spoilage, the milk is safe to drink. </p>
<p>If you’ve lost your sense of smell, or don’t fancy sniffing the milk, simply pour some into a cup of boiling water as if you were making a cup of tea. If it curdles then it’s started to turn; if it mixes in normally it’s fine to use.</p>
<p>Should you throw milk away if its started to spoil? If you’re just using it for drinking, it’s probably not going to taste too good. But milk that’s starting to turn can be safely used as a substitute for buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream in recipes like rice pudding, pancakes and scones, or can be used to make cheese sauces.</p>
<p>Clearly if the milk has really spoiled (if it’s fully separated, cheesy and slimy), it should be thrown away.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-virtual-reality-training-could-reduce-your-chance-of-food-poisoning-95195">How virtual reality training could reduce your chance of food poisoning</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Once again, this advice applies only to pasteurised milk. Raw milk can still contain pathogens and should never be consumed beyond the use-by date. </p>
<p>Also, because different foods naturally contain different types of microbes, this advice cannot be generalised. In other kinds of foods pathogens can reach dangerous levels without any real detectable evidence of spoilage. So generally, the advice is to stick to the use-by date. </p>
<p>But when it comes to pasteurised milk, we can balance expiry dates with our common sense, and reduce the impact of food waste on the planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cath Rees does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>UK supermarket chain Morrisons recently announced it will use ‘best before’ instead of ‘use by’ dates on its milks. This change makes sense for the environment, and from a food safety perspective too.Cath Rees, Professor of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1738982022-01-12T16:13:38Z2022-01-12T16:13:38ZMilk without the cow: Cellular agriculture could be the future of farming, but dairy farmers need help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440172/original/file-20220111-19-oqtgov.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=28%2C21%2C1249%2C935&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dairy cows in the Fraser Valley, B.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.evanbowness.ca/cell-ag">(Evan Bowness)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/milk-without-the-cow--cellular-agriculture-could-be-the-future-of-farming--but-dairy-farmers-need-help" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A new wave of cow-less dairy is hitting the market. In the United States, <a href="https://perfectday.com/">Perfect Day</a> is using genetically modified fungi to produce milk protein for ice cream at a commercial scale. And pre-commercial companies, like <a href="https://turtletree.com">TurtleTree</a> and <a href="https://www.bettermilknow.com">Better Milk</a>, are engineering mammary cells to produce human and cow milk in laboratories, although these remain in the early stages of development.</p>
<p>It might be some time before mammal-less dairy arrives in Canadian grocery stores. But these emerging technologies are part of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11111066">fourth agricultural revolution</a> that aims to improve food security, sustainability and agricultural working conditions. With these promises for wins on the horizon, should the diary sector be worried?</p>
<p>As researchers from the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, in British Columbia, we study food systems in transition. The Fraser Valley is home to 60 per cent of B.C.’s dairy farms, so we’re especially interested in the impacts cellular agriculture might have on the dairy system.</p>
<h2>Animal agriculture’s challenges</h2>
<p>Animal agriculture plays a big role in the global food system. The <a href="https://www.fao.org/animal-production/en/">Food and Agriculture Organization states</a> that animal agriculture provides roughly a third of global food protein, supports the livelihoods of over a billion people and contributes to soil fertility.</p>
<p>But animal agriculture is facing increased scrutiny, especially around environmental impacts and animal welfare issues. It is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, upwards of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116276">16.5 per cent of global emissions</a>, by some estimates.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Students sit near a hand sanitizer dispenser at a university." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440150/original/file-20220110-19-16z8l7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2009, the H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu, triggered a pandemic and caused widespread illness around the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Animal agriculture is also vulnerable to extreme environmental conditions and climate change. Recent flooding in B.C. <a href="https://fvcurrent.com/article/dead-sumas-prairie-flood/">killed well over half a million farm animals</a> and threatened to contaminate the sensitive freshwater ecosystems of the Fraser Valley with <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/11/19/latest-news/after-floods-oil-slicks-human-and-animal-waste">stored manure and agricultural chemicals</a>. And it’s a known <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/unite-human-animal-and-environmental-health-prevent-next-pandemic-un">risk factor for zoonotic diseases and pandemics</a>, such <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.117-a394">as H1N1 or the swine flu</a>.</p>
<p>One way to reduce the risks introduced by animal agriculture is to remove — or nearly remove — livestock from the food production equation. <a href="https://new-harvest.org/what-is-cellular-agriculture/">Cellular agriculture</a> uses cell cultures to produce animal products without raising livestock, hunting or fishing. While still in its early phases, this technology could help meet growing demand for animal protein, reduce environmental impacts and address animal welfare concerns.</p>
<h2>How does cellular agriculture work?</h2>
<p>Cellular agriculture makes biologically equivalent or near-equivalent foods to those produced with animals. This is different from plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, such as Beyond Burgers and oat milk, which use plant ingredients that approximate their non-vegetarian counterparts. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plant-based-doesnt-always-mean-healthy-173303">Plant-based doesn’t always mean healthy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>One approach is to use advanced fermentation, where yeasts, fungi and bacteria are genetically modified to produce proteins. The approach is similar to brewing beer, but with highly specialized micro-organisms that follow instructions that have been added to their genetic code.</p>
<p>You may already be eating products created using this technology. Thirty years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/03/24/fda-approves-bioengineered-cheese-enzyme/c4292eeb-1c74-45d2-94c3-b0eb09e4866c/">bioengineered form of rennet enzymes</a>, which is widely used in cheese making and replaces the original enzymes which were harvested from calf stomachs. </p>
<p>Today, vats of micro-organisms, genetically modified to carry the appropriate calf gene, supply rennet for about 70 per cent of cheese made in the U.S. It’s functionally identical to the original cheese-making enzymes, but it’s easier, less costly to produce and doesn’t rely on mammals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A worker walks between large stainless steel tanks in an industrial food site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440144/original/file-20220110-27-1uz7t8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food scientists can use microorganisms to grow food ingredients in large vats, eliminating the need for livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another approach, called tissue engineering, uses cells collected from an animal to grow meat, fish or even leather in a controlled environment. The tissues grow, but in a nutrient-rich broth called growth media in bioreactor tanks.</p>
<p>Examples include GOOD Meat’s cellular chicken nuggets, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00855-1">first commercially available cellular meat product</a>, and <a href="https://www.wildtypefoods.com/">WildType</a>’s cellular salmon, which is being grown in stainless steel tanks in San Francisco. </p>
<h2>What is at stake for dairy farmers?</h2>
<p>Dairy is an important food commodity in Canada. Over 18,000 farm operators are employed at the roughly 10,000 dairy farms across the country, which together produced 9.5 billion litres of milk and <a href="https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/canadas-agriculture-sectors/animal-industry/canadian-dairy-information-centre/canadas-dairy-industry-glance">earned farms over $7 billion in 2020</a>. </p>
<p>To meet consumer demand and guarantee a fair price to the farmers, the Canadian supply management system controls dairy production volumes and the number of producers at the provincial level using a quota system. Farmers essentially buy the right to sell dairy products. Dairy farms are capital intensive and farmers often carry large debt loads, making it a difficult industry to enter. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dairy cows stay dry inside a barn at night, with flood waters outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440149/original/file-20220110-13-1lhn3fk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flood waters rise outside a dairy barn near Agassiz, B.C., in November 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Livestock farmers in B.C. had an exceptionally challenging 2021. After a summer of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-livestock-owners-scramble-to-move-cattle-horses-caught-in-wildfire-risk-1.6107262">encroaching forest fires</a> and a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-livestock-farmers-heat-wave-1.6130043">record-breaking heat dome</a>, the year ended with <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8483965/bc-flooded-farms-weather/">catastrophic floods followed by extreme cold</a>. Fraser Valley farmers were forced to dump 7.5 million litres of raw milk in November when shipping routes were destroyed by flooding, which also killed 428 dairy cows. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-farmers-are-dumping-milk-down-the-drain-and-letting-produce-rot-in-fields-136567">Across the country, dairy farmers also dumped milk</a> early in the pandemic — more than <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8386413/canada-milk-price-increase-dairy-farmers-cdc/">30 million litres</a> in the year ending July 31, 2020, according to one analysis — when demand plummeted due to restaurant closures and other system shocks. </p>
<h2>Planning a just transition</h2>
<p>We see animal-free dairy as possibly having some environmental and food security benefits, but with some trade-offs. </p>
<p>If cellular agriculture competes with conventional dairy in Canada, what would the impact be on dairy farmers? What would happen to the cows? To the farms? To the supply management system in general? </p>
<p>Addressing these questions is critical for developing policy that enables transitions to food systems with lower environmental and carbon footprints while ensuring harms and benefits are distributed equitably — what’s known as the j<a href="https://www.rncanengagenrcan.ca/en/collections/just-transition">ust transition</a>. </p>
<p>Much of our understanding of these just transitions comes from the energy sector, where coal mines have closed and oil production is declining as renewable energy becomes more available and less expensive, changing economies and forcing fossil fuel workers to find other work. </p>
<p>Canada recently developed a just transition <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/task-force-just-transition.html">task force</a> to look for ways to reduce the livelihood disruptions that come with phasing out coal. The federal government has also recently <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2021/07/canada-launches-just-transition-engagement.html">initiated consultations</a> for just transition legislation that would direct resources to communities negatively impacted by the transition towards a low-carbon future.</p>
<p>Just transition policies for cellular agriculture could encourage farmers to transition into animal-free dairy production through infrastructure transition grants, support with licensing new technologies, biodiversity conservation and carbon credits for <a href="https://ipbes.net/glossary/land-sparing">land sparing</a>, sanctuary planning for current dairy farms and land back incentives to provide pathways for agriculture towards decolonization. </p>
<p>It’s unclear how soon Canadian dairy farmers will face competition from cellular agriculture, although some have suggested <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2021.29240.ctu">U.S. beef and dairy sector revenues will decline nearly 90 per cent by 2035</a>. </p>
<p>Is it reasonable to expect Canadian dairy farmers will make way for cellular dairy? Or is up to policy-makers, industry leaders and food systems organizers to ensure this transition leads to a food system that is more sustainable, but also just?</p>
<p><em>Yadira Tejeda Saldana, research collaborations director at <a href="https://new-harvest.org/">New Harvest</a>, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Bowness receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and Future Skills Centre Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Newell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and Future Skills Centre Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah-Louise Ruder receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and Future Skills Centre Canada.</span></em></p>Technological changes on the horizon will likely disrupt the dairy industry as we know it — plans to mitigate the risks this transition poses to farmer livelihoods and animal welfare should start now.Evan Bowness, Postdoctoral Researcher, Food and Agriculture Institute, University of The Fraser ValleyRobert Newell, Associate Director, Food and Agriculture Institute, University of The Fraser ValleySarah-Louise Ruder, PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1746442022-01-11T14:13:23Z2022-01-11T14:13:23ZMeat and dairy gobble up farming subsidies worldwide, which is bad for your health and the planet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440243/original/file-20220111-17-eo2x13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C4016&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cow-barn-cattle-farm-fog-573703810">Radanasta/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global food system is in disarray. Animal agriculture is a <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/">major driver</a> of global heating, and as many as <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext">12 million deaths</a> from heart disease, stroke, cancers and diabetes are each year connected to <a href="https://globalnutritionreport.org/reports/2021-global-nutrition-report/health-and-environmental-impacts-of-diets-worldwide/">eating the wrong things</a>, like too much red and processed meat and too few fruits and vegetables. Unless the world can slash the amount of animal products in its food system and embrace more plant-based diets, there is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0594-0">little chance</a> of avoiding dangerous levels of climate change and mounting public health problems.</p>
<p>Agricultural subsidies help prop up a food system that is neither healthy nor sustainable. Worldwide, more than <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/2d810e01-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/2d810e01-en">US$200 billion</a> of public money (that is, money collected through taxes) is given to farmers every year in direct transfers – usually with the intention of supporting national food production and supply. </p>
<p>This might not be a problem in itself – after all, we all need to eat. But the way governments provide subsidies at the moment exacerbates the health and environmental issues of food production. That’s one of the findings of a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27645-2">new study</a> published in Nature Communications by my colleague <a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/florian-freund/">Florian Freund</a> and <a href="https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/team/marco-springmann">me</a>. </p>
<h2>Agricultural subsidies in action</h2>
<p>According to our analysis, about two-thirds of all agricultural transfer payments worldwide come without any strings attached. Farmers can use them to grow what they like. </p>
<p>In practice, this means every fifth dollar is used to raise meat, and every tenth dollar to make dairy products – the kinds of foods farmers have grown used to producing but which emit disproportionate amounts of <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216">greenhouse gas emissions</a>, and which are also linked to dietary risks such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2017.1392288">heart disease</a> and certain <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.31198">cancers</a>. </p>
<p>Farmers use another third of these payments to grow staple crops such as wheat and maize, and crops used for producing sugar and oil. These are foods that are already produced and consumed in large quantities and that, if anything, should be <a href="https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/eat-lancet-commission-summary-report/">limited</a> in a healthy and sustainable diet. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tractor harvests sugar cane using a threshing machine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440244/original/file-20220111-27-pw5f08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sugar cane harvest – plenty more where that came from.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sugar-cane-hasvest-plantation-1083651095">Mailsonpignata/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Less than a quarter of transfer payments are used to grow the kinds of foods that are good for <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/46/23357">human health and the environment</a>, and which a healthy and sustainable food system would need much more of: fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. </p>
<p>Based on this breakdown, it’s clear there is plenty of room for improving how governments and farmers issue and spend agricultural subsidies. We decided to look at alternatives, and compare how they might work in the real world.</p>
<p><strong>Where agricultural subsidies go</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graph depicting the distribution of subsidy payments per commodity in OECD and non-OECD countries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440210/original/file-20220111-17-1f73nxf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">2017 data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27645-2">Nature Communications</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reforming subsidies</h2>
<p>We combined an economic model which tracked the knock-on effects of altering subsidies on food production and the food people eat with an environmental one which compared changes in resource use and greenhouse gas emissions – plus a health model which measured the consequences for diet-related illnesses. </p>
<p>In one scenario, we made all subsidy payments to farms conditional on them producing healthy and sustainable foods. Farmers would still be free to grow other crops and foods, just not with the support of subsidies. We found that fruit and vegetable production would go up substantially – by about 20% in developed countries. This would translate into people eating half a portion of fruit and veg more per day. At the same time, meat and dairy production would go down by 2% – shaving off 2% from agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>However, we also found that the economy could suffer if all subsidies were used in this way, drawing in workers to farming from more productive parts of the economy. </p>
<p>Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this. Either make half of all subsidies conditional on growing healthy and sustainable foods, or combine these conditional subsidies with a reduction in the overall amount of payments – tying them, for example, to an amount informed by a country’s GDP or population. Each of those options would result in a healthier food supply and less greenhouse gas emissions without reducing economic output.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-humble-legume-could-be-the-answer-to-europes-fertiliser-addiction-159067">Why the humble legume could be the answer to Europe's fertiliser addiction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Policymakers in the EU are currently aiming to reduce the environmental impacts of subsidy payments while those in the UK are considering a public money for public goods approach, which pays farmers to provide things like clean water, wildlife habitat and a nutritious food supply. Sadly, proposals of this kind are often <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/06/englands-farmers-to-be-paid-to-rewild-land">watered down</a> when they’re <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-will-eu-common-agricultural-policy-reforms-help-tackle-climate-change">implemented</a>.</p>
<p>Our analysis proposes something which is largely missing from current plans: changing the mix of food production. What food farms choose to grow has a greater effect on the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216">environment</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2017.1392288">health</a> than how it is grown. Redirecting subsidies towards the production of healthy and sustainable food should be an essential part of reforming agriculture worldwide.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marco Springmann received funding from Wellcome Trust and the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition (GLOPAN) during the conduct of the study and writing the article. </span></em></p>Vegetables, fruits and legumes are nutritious and sustainable – but subsidies overwhelmingly neglect them.Marco Springmann, Senior Researcher, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1734042021-12-15T16:10:41Z2021-12-15T16:10:41ZLab-grown meats and cow-free dairy can meet the demand for protein and help address climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437248/original/file-20211213-21-138f9dr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C8179%2C4279&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The future of protein includes lab-grown meat and plant-based meat alternatives.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/lab-grown-meats-and-cow-free-dairy-can-meet-the-demand-for-protein-and-help-address-climate-change" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The protein sector is at a crossroads. On the one hand, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/agriculture/our-insights/how-the-global-supply-landscape-for-meat-protein-will-evolve">global demand for animal protein</a> has never been higher. On the other, meat and dairy already have an <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/i3437e/i3437e.pdf">outsized hoofprint</a> on the world’s farmlands. And with the climate crisis devastating natural and agricultural resources, we know the Earth’s ecosystems cannot support <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/i6583e/i6583e.pdf">an expanded traditional agricultural sector</a>. </p>
<p>Plant-based protein has experienced rapid growth but is dwarfed by the size of the <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/agriculture/our-insights/alternative-proteins-the-race-for-market-share-is-on">global meat protein market</a>. </p>
<p>Enter cellular agriculture. Every day brings news of new venture capital funding, adding over US$9.7 billion in global investments. <a href="https://new-harvest.org/what-is-cellular-agriculture/">Cellular agriculture encompasses</a> a raft of technologies and approaches that manufacture food and other products normally sourced from plants and animals including: dairy proteins, egg proteins, chocolate, honey, red meat, poultry, seafood, leather, silk and ingredients including sweeteners and flavourings. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kCrQpbHW9_A?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A CNN Business report on the future of meat.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Meat and dairy alternatives</h2>
<p>Cellular agriculture entered the public eye in 2013 when tissue engineering researcher Mark Post produced <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/here-it-comes-375000-lab-grown-beef-burger">the first test-tube burger</a>. This prototype cost hundreds of thousands of dollars but today, <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2019/09/12/mosa-meat-from-e250000-to-e9-burger-patties/">the same patty can be made for about 10 euros, or $15</a>. In the past two years, dozens of companies have sprung up in <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lab-made-chicken-reaches-select-diners-in-singapore/">Singapore, Israel and California to develop consumer products almost biologically identical to those traditionally sourced from plants and animals</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/singapore-approves-cell-cultured-chicken-bites-who-will-be-the-first-to-try-them-151388">Singapore approves cell-cultured chicken bites – who will be the first to try them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A few products are already in restaurants and on supermarket shelves. The cellular agriculture dairy company <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90697108/this-new-whey-protein-works-like-it-comes-from-real-cows-milk-but-it-doesnt-use-any-cows">Perfect Day brews dairy proteins in bioreactors using yeast, much like a craft brewer produces beer</a>. One of the largest plant-based food companies, Impossible Foods, uses cellular derived soy heme in its signature burger. Their Whoppers are for sale at Burger King and they have just raised a further <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/impossible-foods-raises-500-mln-latest-funding-2021-11-23/">US$500 million in investment capital</a> to scale up production. The food-tech startup Eat Just <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/18/singapore-restaurant-first-ever-to-serve-eat-just-lab-grown-chicken.html">mixes chicken proteins produced through cellular agriculture with plant-based ingredients</a> to create an analogue to a chicken nugget.</p>
<p>Some current cellular agriculture technologies involve animal-based inputs such as stem cells and growth media. These products are not necessarily vegetarian, and so <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/impossible-pork-and-family-secrets-1.6270847/why-plant-based-pork-is-giving-some-jews-and-muslims-pause-1.6273076">may not be universally accepted by consumers for cultural, religious or dietary reasons</a>. </p>
<p>That said, there is a huge potential to reduce water consumption, energy use, land use and greenhouse gases. While there are debates as the extent of the hoped-for environmental benefits, optimists are betting on the fact that carefully designed bioreactors using renewable energy will <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/cellular-agriculture-climate-friendly-answer-to-food-demands/">be more sustainable than a lot of the world’s livestock systems</a>. </p>
<h2>The Canadian context</h2>
<p>Canada is already an agri-food powerhouse. <a href="https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/098.nsf/eng/00015.html">We export $62 billion in agri-food products annually — which represents 12 per cent of our total exports — and the sector employs over 500,000 people</a>. Cellular agriculture offers us a chance to grow this economic position while strengthening domestic food security, and helping sustainably feed a growing population.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Selection of milk and dairy products on shelves in a supermarket" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437639/original/file-20211214-17-1it7svi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While the demand for protein has grown, there has also been an increased interest in and demand for meat and dairy alternatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ontario Genomics, alongside researchers at the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, prepared a report <a href="https://www.ontariogenomics.ca/news-events/cellular-agriculture-report-identifies-billions-in-annual-economic-opportunity-for-canada-over-the-next-decade/">examining the potential role of cellular agriculture in Canada</a>. The report shows cellular agriculture could create up to $12.5 billion in opportunities in food innovation for Canada, which would also create up to 142,000 new jobs. </p>
<p>To realize the potential of the cellular agricultural industry, we must support research and development, foster an entrepreneurial startup culture and create transparent regulatory frameworks for new methods of food production. </p>
<p>The Ontario Genomics report provides three recommendations for helping this sector obtain a foothold. First, we need a national vision and strategy for the Canadian cellular agriculture industry. To become a global leader, it is essential to have an intellectual foundation that can both encourage and support innovation.</p>
<p>Second, we must establish a clear and transparent regulatory framework for cellular agricultural products produced in Canada and abroad. This should build on existing regulatory processes by upholding the highest food safety and nutritional standards as well as promoting sustainable development.</p>
<p>Third, we must support mechanisms for research and commercial development. Encouraging public-private partnerships, collaborating on public and private investment, developing infrastructure and supporting training will all be necessary.</p>
<h2>Canadian futures</h2>
<p>A combination of public awareness and technological advancement in areas like cellular agriculture have given us an opportunity to think about how we can change our food systems for the better. </p>
<p>As a country, we must ask ourselves if we want to be leading this change. If we do not seize this opportunity, we will watch others reap the benefits of innovation while we import cellular agriculture products rather than producing our own and growing Canada’s export position.</p>
<p><em>Bettina Hamelin, Elaine Corbett and Laura Riley from Ontario Genomics co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173404/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Fraser receives funding from Ontario and Canadian governments through a range of sources including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian First Research Excellent Fund project Food from Thought. He also directs the Arrell Food Institute that is funded by the the Arrell Family Foundation. He is the vice-chair of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security, co-chairs the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council, is on the advisory council for Protein Industries Canada's "road map to 25billion", and is a member of the European Commission's High Level Expert Group on Food Systems Sciences. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Alexandra Newman receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lenore Newman receives funding from Genome BC and Future Skills Centre Canada </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael von Massow receives funding from a variety of organizations including the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Genome Canada, and Protein Industries Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Newell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and Future Skills Centre Canada. </span></em></p>Technological advancements in food production have created new ways to meet the growing demand for protein. Canada’s investment in this industry may create jobs and reduce carbon emissions.Evan Fraser, Director of the Arrell Food Institute and Professor in the Dept. of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of GuelphKatherine Alexandra Newman, PhD Candidate, Political Science, University of VictoriaLenore Newman, Canada Research Chair, Food Security and the Environment, University of The Fraser ValleyMichael von Massow, Associate Professor, Food Economics, University of GuelphRobert Newell, Associate Director, Food and Agriculture Institute, University of The Fraser ValleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1716582021-11-24T14:54:02Z2021-11-24T14:54:02ZMilk jugs, cartons or plastic bags — which one is best for the environment?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433557/original/file-20211123-23-1s8ug8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C442%2C4968%2C2709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The environmental footprint of milk containers varies substantially.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/milk-jugs--cartons-or-plastic-bags-—-which-one-is-best-for-the-environment" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>If you are a typical Canadian milk consumer, you probably drink <a href="https://www.dairyinfo.gc.ca/eng/about-the-canadian-dairy-information-centre/canada-s-dairy-industry-at-a-glance/?id=1502465180911">more than 60 litres of milk a year</a>. It adds up to about two billion milk containers purchased in Canada annually. </p>
<p>How that milk is packaged depends on where you are, and new research shows that one type of milk container is best for the environment. </p>
<p>Milk comes in an unusually wide array of packaging. In Canada, the most common milk containers are rigid high-density polyethylene jugs, plastic-laminated paper cartons and “pillow pouches,” which are better known as milk bags. Reusable glass bottles are rare, and that’s good, since they have the <a href="https://doi.org/10.31025/2611-4135/2020.14025">highest global warming potential of all beverage containers</a>. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I, chemists and physicists who work in materials research and energy storage, were interested in consumer issues related to sustainability. We
recently assessed the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129347">environmental impacts of milk jugs, cartons and bags in Toronto and Halifax</a>, and found that milk bags were the most environmentally friendly option.</p>
<p>According to a 2010 report by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, most milk containers sold in <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/k7930e/k7930e00.pdf">North America are jugs (68 per cent), followed by cartons (24 per cent) and bags (seven per cent)</a>. Conversely, bags dominate in countries in Mediterranean African (72 per cent) and the former Soviet Union (54 per cent). </p>
<p>The American chemical company DuPont <a href="https://www.producer.com/opinion/milk-bags-avoid-anti-plastic-environmental-backlash/">introduced milk bags made of thin polyethylene plastic in Canada in 1967</a>. The innovation took off in the 1970s, when Canada converted to the metric system, because their volume could be modified more easily than cartons or jugs. </p>
<h2>Container impact</h2>
<p>Our study was a life-cycle assessment of a wide variety of milk containers — the types and sizes that consumers in Toronto and Halifax were likely to encounter. We evaluated the energy inputs, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumed to produce, transport and dispose of the containers. </p>
<p>We found the greatest energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions came from production of plastic polymers and paper, much more than from transportation and material processing or disposal. These polymers are found in milk jugs, screw caps, the laminate of cartons, milk bags and their tags, and the paper is part of the carton.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Milk in bags and cartons in a refrigerated shelf in a grocery store." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433558/original/file-20211123-20-1v4hsie.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bagged milk became popular in Canada in the 1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bagged_Milk_in_Store_(3293358107).jpg">(Kevin Qiu/wikimedia)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In both locations, per litre of milk, milk bags require less energy and water, and produce less greenhouse gases, than jugs or cartons. This is mainly because milk bags weigh only 20 to 30 per cent as much as the jugs or cartons for the same volume. </p>
<p>The differences are substantial. Litre for litre, compared with jugs or cartons, milk bags consume only about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the energy, use about two per cent (compared to cartons) to 40 per cent (compared to jugs) as much water, and produce only 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the greenhouse gases. </p>
<p>Even when milk bags are disposed in a landfill or incinerated — and jugs or cartons are fully recycled — bags have the lowest environmental impact.</p>
<h2>Limitations and comparisons</h2>
<p>Our investigation neglected several small matters, including the materials and processes associated with labelling such as inks and printing. We also excluded the jug that’s needed to hold the milk bag when it’s being used. Another study showed <a href="https://www.techylib.com/en/view/cockeysvilleuterus/life_cycle_assessment_of_example_packaging_systems_for_milk">the impact of that supporting jug is small</a> and, in my experience, these jugs can last several years. A major matter our study ignored is the impact of the various milk containers on the ocean and marine life.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/recycling-isnt-enough-the-worlds-plastic-pollution-crisis-is-only-getting-worse-144175">Recycling isn't enough — the world's plastic pollution crisis is only getting worse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The results of our study were validated by comparison with earlier investigations in the United Kingdom and <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/k7930e/k7930e00.pdf">several other countries</a>. Our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions calculations were consistent with theirs. </p>
<p>Container production, processing and transport uses a lot of water, but a considerable amount of water is recouped by recycling. The net water consumption is the small difference between these large numbers and is therefore not very certain. However, we did find that cartons use an extreme volume of water: nearly 20 litres of water are needed to produce the paper carton for each litre of milk.</p>
<p>An insight gained from our international comparison is that the energy consumed by milk bags in the U.K. was almost four times our result, because the milk bags used in the U.K. are transported from Canada. This finding highlights the importance of location in a life-cycle assessment. However, our results were essentially the same for Toronto and Halifax, indicating that the lowest impact for milk bags would pertain to any location in southern Canada.</p>
<p>That is, milk bags would have the least impact of any milk container for Canadian consumers, if everyone could buy milk bags. Milk bags are not presently available in Western Canada. The use of milk bags in Western Canada could save up to 5,000 tonnes of plastic annually.</p>
<h2>Spoiled milk?</h2>
<p>With this new information, will consumers swing over to milk bags? Bagged milk is sold only in four-litre allotments in Canada, which may be too much for some consumers, leading to unconsumed or spoiled milk. This would wipe out any environmental benefits. </p>
<p>Stand-alone <a href="https://www.brodowin.de/der-betrieb/unsere-produkte/mehr-zur-einwegverpackung/">one-litre milk pouches are now available in Germany</a>. While these are heavier than our bags, they would still be better than jugs or cartons.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072152">The environmental impact of milk waste is even greater than its packaging</a>. In the U.S., milk accounts for about 13 per cent of food waste, and consumer milk waste produces about 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions annually.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canadas-single-use-plastic-ban-could-help-the-environment-and-wildlife-118796">Why Canada's single-use plastic ban could help the environment and wildlife</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2020/10/canada-one-step-closer-to-zero-plastic-waste-by-2030.html">Canada aims to ban single-use plastic by 2030</a>, but it’s unclear if milk containers would be included in the ban. Our analysis suggests plastic components remain the best option for low-waste milk containment. </p>
<p>If an average Canadian household switched from jugs or cartons to bags, the weekly energy savings would be equivalent to one load of laundry in a clothes dryer. For those who are concerned with the environment, it’s a start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Anne White received funding (2010-2016) from NSERC's CREATE program, for DREAMS (Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability) from which the milk container analysis project sprang, as part of a graduate course for which she was coordinator, "Sustainable Materials Issues". </span></em></p>In Canada, milk is available in jugs, cartons, bags and glass bottles. A new analysis reveals which type of container has the smallest environmental footprint — from container production to disposal.Mary Anne White, Professor emerita, Department of chemistry, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1707262021-10-28T15:26:54Z2021-10-28T15:26:54ZClimate change is already hitting Africa’s livestock - here’s how to address the risks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428789/original/file-20211027-25-z30sli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A herd of cows returning from a drinking hole in Amboseli, Kenya.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Buena Vista Images/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a common scene across many African countries’ rural areas: cows grazing peacefully. But, by 2050, heat stress induced by climate change may drastically alter this familiar picture.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15825">Findings</a> from the International Livestock Research Institute show that, unless massive adaptation measures are put in place, the number of extreme heat events driven by climate change – especially in the continent’s tropics – will increase. Poultry and pigs <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15825">already face</a> major heat stress challenges in many regions of the tropics where they are currently raised. The same is true for all five major domesticated species in large swathes of West Africa, where heat stress is likely to make it nearly impossible for livestock to be kept outdoors. </p>
<p>Heat stress is likely to be only the beginning of the problems. Not enough is known about likely future impacts of increased climate variability on feed and forages, grazing area and water, or about shifts in climate-sensitive diseases and disease vectors and their impacts on livestock.</p>
<p>Even <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15825">under</a> relatively mild but realistic climate scenarios, it will be necessary to reconfigure and relocate agricultural systems. This will have profound consequences for people’s nutrition and well-being. Livelihoods will be threatened. The livestock sector <a href="https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/Future%20scenarios%20for%20livestock%20systems%20in%20Africa_CCAFS_2020.pdf">contributes</a> about 30-50% of agricultural GDP and supports the food security and livelihoods of about one-third of Africa’s population, or about 350 million people.</p>
<p>Livestock tends to be viewed merely as part of the climate change problem. Research focuses on mitigating the harms livestock causes. Some of these harms are very real: livestock emissions, particularly from cattle, <a href="https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/">are responsible for</a> a significant fraction of the gases that contribute to global warming worldwide. But sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://www.fao.org/gleam/results/en/">accounts</a> for only a small part of those emissions.</p>
<p>In the developing world, these harms are more than balanced by the good they do. Livestock provides livelihoods, nutrition and cultural capital. How, then, do we adapt to the challenges the sector faces and capitalise on the opportunities it presents? </p>
<h2>Threats to livestock</h2>
<p>Projections <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111738">show</a> that, in the coming years, heat stress in animals will occur more frequently and for longer periods. This will affect milk and meat productivity for cattle, small ruminants (like goats and sheep), pigs and poultry across East Africa. This will make much of the region unsuitable for exotic pig, poultry and cattle production – animals whose productivity is easily compromised by heat stress.</p>
<p>Rising heat and humidity are already <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106482">causing a drop</a> in Tanzanian dairy cattle’s milk yields, hitting the income of smallholder dairy farmers.</p>
<p>In Uganda, <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110342">heat stress levels</a> are high and increasing. By the end of the century over 90% of Ugandan districts will experience severe heat stress, putting the livelihoods of pig producers and sustainability of the pig sector as a whole at risk. The pig sector <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/115255">provides</a> a source of income to more than 2 million households in Uganda, and the country has the highest per capita consumption of pork in east Africa.</p>
<h2>Addressing the risks</h2>
<p>The International Livestock Research Institute has started to address these risks in various ways. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/105755">Index Based Livestock Insurance programme</a> protects livestock keepers in drought-prone arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya and Ethiopia from climate-related losses. Unlike traditional insurance programmes, which pay out on the loss of the animal, it is tied to climatic conditions – such as the amount of rainfall and distribution of pasture availability – over a season. By tying the payouts to objective criteria, the programme avoids the moral hazards of traditional insurance programmes while giving herders the resources to help their animals survive periods of sustained crisis.</p></li>
<li><p>Rangeland ecology in East and West Africa rationalises land use and protect livelihoods. Community land management programmes help resolve conflicts between land users. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00226-8">Recent modelling</a> of heat stress impacts is one of our efforts to understand the impacts of climate change.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Farmers we’re working with are also making the necessary local adaptations.</p>
<p>In Ethiopia’s arid pastoral Afar region, pastoralists are experiencing increased flooding and drought and an overall shift in seasonal weather patterns. In response, they are shifting from large to small ruminants, and changing their grazing and feed management systems. </p>
<p>In Kenya’s central rift valley, farmers who practise mixed crop and dairy farming have begun to experiment with different feed production and preservation strategies to overcome feed shortages in the prolonged dry seasons.</p>
<p>But this is a fraction of what is needed. More must be done to work with governments and help livestock keepers across the continent meet the challenge of adaptation. </p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>Building climate-resilient livestock systems to cope with these challenges requires concerted, coordinated action from investors and policymakers at the national and global levels. This will need to be informed by a solid research base that scientists have only started to assemble with the minimal funds allocated so far.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, because of donor priorities, most research attention to date has focused on mitigating the contributions of livestock production to climate change rather than <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/101605/climateChangeBrief1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">adapting to its consequences</a> – even though the priority in African countries is adaptation. Where there has been adaptation research, it has focused <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101605">primarily on</a> climate-induced impacts on cropping systems rather than on livestock.</p>
<p>Researchers need to develop a toolbox of effective adaptation practices, technologies and policies that are robust across different scales, priorities and climate futures. They must also work with funders and governments to prioritise investments in the livestock sector. It’s not just technical inputs that are needed, but institutional change in the way that livestock are viewed by funders and governments. This will require a considerable evidence base.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are very far from these goals and not nearly enough resources are being devoted to achieving them. Consider that between 2012 and 2017, US$185.8 billion was dedicated to climate-related development projects worldwide, <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35495">with only</a> 0.57% (about US$1 billion) devoted to the livestock sector. </p>
<p>The cost of livestock mitigation and adaptation actions for the next five years is estimated in the billions of dollars, much of that to be supported by partners in the form of finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Polly Ericksen receives funding from USAID, BMZ, FCDO, the World Bank, and the CGIAR System Council through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock AgriFood Systems.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Cramer receives funding from BMZ and the CGIAR System Council through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). </span></em></p>African livestock keepers need help: without proactive interventions, increasing temperatures will reduce meat and milk production.Polly Ericksen, Program Leader, Sustainable Livestock Systems, International Livestock Research Institute Laura Cramer, Graduate Fellow, International Livestock Research Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679312021-10-01T15:44:42Z2021-10-01T15:44:42ZSocial media is reducing climate change debates to your views on veganism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424022/original/file-20210930-12-1p05lrb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C1276%2C852&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Online debates over the environmental impact of eating meat are getting heated.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/man-people-boy-grill-grilling-bbq-791505/">Kaboompics/Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ten years ago, when we ranked <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/05/the-controversial-topics-of-wikipedia/">the most controversial articles on Wikipedia</a>, George W. Bush was at the top of the list with global warming at number five. The article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Global_warming&redirect=no">global warming</a> has now been re-titled as <a href="https://mashable.com/feature/climate-change-wikipedia">climate change</a>, but this remains among the most polarising issues of our time – and one frequently debated on social media.</p>
<p>This might seem like it’s due to the way climate change is often presented primarily as a political issue: something you can choose whether or not to support. But perhaps it’s as much a result of the way social media works. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0022250X.2020.1818078?journalCode=gmas20">Our recent research</a> shows that polarisation on social media is mathematically inevitable. </p>
<p>What’s more, this polarisation is allowing online discussions about climate change to be overridden by culturally-focused arguments about things like diet. This appears to be further cementing the idea that climate change is a matter of ideology, making it harder to convince people to support action to tackle it.</p>
<p>The fact that it’s so easy to unfriend or unfollow people you disagree with on social media has accelerated the formation of online <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-of-living-inside-echo-chambers-110486">echo chambers</a> to the extent that even an algorithmic tool designed to break the bubbles <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.02878">won’t be able</a> to help.</p>
<p>Don’t get us wrong: we’re big fans of social media and most likely have already tweeted this article by the time you read it. Social media can be seen as a <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.13754">marketplace of ideas</a>, providing an open forum to exchange facts and opinions and, importantly for scientists, to inform the public about their research. But polarisation can ruin it for everyone.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1442491858366578698"}"></div></p>
<p>An example of this relates to the UK bakery chain Greggs’ vegan sausage roll, which ignited days of social media turmoil when it was introduced to the UK in January 2019 to coincide with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/03/veganuary-signed-up-record-400000-people-campaign-reveals">Veganuary</a>, a month-long UK-based charity campaign designed to encourage veganism. Veganuary-oriented social media discussions that year were <a href="https://twitter.com/i/events/1080479300158136320">dominated</a> by arguments over the sausage roll’s relative merits.</p>
<p>To understand the extent of this interference, we analysed about half a million tweets posted between 28 December 2018 and 28 January 2019 containing any of the hashtags “#vegan”, “#veganuary” and “#veganuary2019” to map out the prevalence of extreme opinions among the tweets.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1080551847461601280"}"></div></p>
<p>Around 30% of the tweets we analysed were firmly pro-vegan, while 20% of tweets used Veganuary-related hashtags to express their protest against veganism. More importantly, many Twitter users who tweeted about Veganuary explicitly said if it wasn’t for the Greggs story, they wouldn’t have gotten involved. </p>
<p>On one hand, bringing extra attention to the campaign might be considered a blessing. On the other, the polarised nature of online arguments disproportionately focused on the issue of the vegan sausage roll. </p>
<p>This shifted what could have been a fruitful and logical discussion around the pros and cons of veganism towards unproductive fights centred around perceived <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/07/08/men-eat-meat-to-feel-manly-study/">threats to people’s identities</a> tied up with what they do or don’t eat and what that means. Many quickly took sides, refusing to engage in conversation and instead attacking the personal qualities or intelligence of the “other side”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1201746375886745600"}"></div></p>
<p>This conflict surfaced again on social media a few months later, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-endorsed organisation, published its <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/">Special Report</a> on Climate Change and Land in August 2019. In order to gauge the level of public engagement with the report, we collected all tweets sent in August 2019 which contained the phrase “IPCC”. We then used software to analyse the content of some 6,000 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03182-1">tweets in English</a> in order to extract the main topics of discussion. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1159388993454301190"}"></div></p>
<p>We found that not only were a large portion of the tweets in response to the IPCC report specifically about diet, but these tweets contained the most toxic and polarised language in the sample. This is even more surprising when considering that diet was only mentioned briefly in the original IPCC report, without any explicit recommendations about meat or dairy consumption.</p>
<p>Evidence like this suggests that diet and cooking are now forming the core of a new <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/23/meat-eaters-are-showing-their-teeth-in-the-new-culture-wars">culture war</a> around climate. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1441668570052653068"}"></div></p>
<p>This could be catastrophic for climate action. Politicians and policy makers traditionally tend to avoid issues that are <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/09/opinion/zelizer-inequality-class-warfare/index.html">culturally controversial</a>, and polarisation of public opinion has been shown to weaken politicians’ <a href="https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=79738">accountability</a> when it comes to making major decisions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map of Twitter users and those they retweet, from our Veganuary dataset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424021/original/file-20210930-26-jzuu1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of Twitter users and those they retweet, from our Veganuary dataset.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our work <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03182-1">recently published in Climatic Change</a> shows how tools such as computational topic modelling and sentiment analysis can be used to monitor public discourse about topics like climate events, diet and climate policies. This could help policymakers plan more engaging communication strategies: in other words, to help them read the room.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1442254404682387457"}"></div></p>
<p>Both scientists and science communicators who discuss reports like that produced by the IPCC must understand, and anticipate, the likelihood of emotionally charged, potentially negative responses to such polarising issues as climate change – as well as specific areas of polarisation, such as diet, that are currently more popular. This way, they can work to communicate key information in ways that allow readers to focus on what really matters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taha Yasseri has received funding from Wellcome Trust and EPSRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Sanford has received funding from the ESRC and LEAP project.</span></em></p>Diet - specifically veganism - and its impact on identity is becoming the focus of increasingly heated online discussions around climate change.Taha Yasseri, Associate Professor, School of Sociology; Geary Fellow, Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College DublinMary Sanford, PhD Candidate in Social Data Science, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1666902021-09-13T16:43:27Z2021-09-13T16:43:27ZThe carbon footprint of a full English breakfast – and how to reduce it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420783/original/file-20210913-25-1u6locx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1440&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of the most popular UK breakfasts is less than friendly to the environment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/english-breakfast-toast-tea-food-2421038/">Ruckers/Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2017/01/23/bacon-most-important-part-full-english-breakfast">four-fifths</a> of the English population say they enjoy a full English breakfast. But when food production accounts for a <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions">quarter</a> of global greenhouse gas emissions, and 11% of UK emissions come from <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/land-use-reducing-emissions-and-preparing-for-climate-change/">agriculture</a>, it’s time to think critically about how we can reduce the impact of our breakfasts – without compromising on quality or taste. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/47YSDFmjbwVxK6h5LcMkQdQ/how-to-make-a-lower-carbon-fry-up">Our research</a>, originally conducted for a BBC Radio 5 Live investigation, takes a look at how to make your first meal of the day lower carbon. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00200-w">Cooking</a> at home can account for up to 27% of total emissions for meat products and up to 61% for vegetables. The good news is that a full English breakfast is fairly quick to make compared to, for example, a roast dinner, reducing emissions associated with cooking processes. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-footprints-are-hard-to-understand-heres-what-you-need-to-know-144317">carbon footprint</a> of a full English is also less than a roast dinner, thanks to its staple meats – sausage and bacon – being derived from pork rather than emissions-intensive red meats such as beef or lamb. </p>
<p>Beef has multiple times the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-most-polluting-protein-environmental-impact-of-beef-pork-poultry/">environmental impact</a> of pork, since cattle are <a href="https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/how-cows-eat-grass#:%7E:text=Cows%20are%20known%20as%20%E2%80%9Cruminants,stomach%20is%20called%20the%20rumen.&text=This%20process%20of%20swallowing%2C%20%E2%80%9Cun,more%20completely%2C%20which%20improves%20digestion.">“ruminants”</a> – animals with complex stomach systems containing greenhouse gas-producing microbes. </p>
<p>But the majority of the carbon footprint of this breakfast still comes from <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2017/01/23/bacon-most-important-part-full-english-breakfast">its meat</a>: 34% from the sausage and 29% from the bacon. </p>
<p>The second greatest carbon culprit is usually <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12169">tomatoes</a>. These contribute about 9% to this breakfast’s total emissions during winter and spring, when they aren’t in season – or if they’re a specialist variety with a lower yield, such as cherry tomatoes.</p>
<p>A breakfast using plant-based bacon substitutes and vegetarian sausage would reduce its carbon footprint by 51%. An average vegetarian sausage has about a quarter of the impact of a standard <a href="https://healabel.com/s-ingredients/sausage">pork sausage</a>, making it an easy option to significantly reduce the breakfast’s environmental impact without dramatically affecting flavour. This change alone would reduce the breakfast’s footprint by 25%. </p>
<p>For an even lower-carbon breakfast, switching to wholemeal bread, seasonal, local tomatoes and a plant-based spread – which has around <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11367-019-01703-w">3.7 times</a> less environmental impact than dairy spreads – could reduce its footprint by a further 12%.</p>
<p><strong>The footprint of a full English</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three pie charts showing the carbon footprints of different breakfast varieties" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421062/original/file-20210914-15-qt6y75.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A comparison of the carbon footprints of full English breakfast varieties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you switched to eating the vegetarian equivalent of a full English every weekend for a year – including wholemeal bread, plant-based spread and seasonal, local tomatoes – by the end of that year you’d have saved the equivalent carbon footprint of a return flight from London to Amsterdam. You’d have helped your <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673618317884">health</a>, too, as cutting down on red meat has been shown to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4141">reduce</a> the likelihood of cardiovascular disease.</p>
<p>However, the overall benefits of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-ways-to-reduce-the-carbon-in-your-food-basket-128811">low-carbon diet</a> depend on which proteins are used to substitute meat. Not all vegetarian diets are equally healthy for the planet: <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/is-dairy-or-meat-worse-for-the-environment-b1891387.html">cheese</a>, for example, can have twice the carbon footprint of pork.</p>
<p>Similarly, plant-based diets have been shown to generally contain more <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jn/article-abstract/151/1/120/5874423?redirectedFrom=fulltext">ultra-processed foods</a>. These are foods that go through <a href="https://www.heartandstroke.ca/articles/what-is-ultra-processed-food">multiple processes</a> during production, including the addition of numerous artificial ingredients, and as a result tend to have significantly reduced nutritional value. This means the possible trade-off between nutritional quality and carbon footprint should be carefully considered when planning meals.</p>
<h2>Low carb, low carbon</h2>
<p>What about other breakfast foods? A bowl of cereal or porridge is an excellent, low-carbon source of energy, with a carbon footprint about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550915000238?via%3Dihub">one-tenth</a> that of a single pork sausage. </p>
<p>The key factor in the footprint of cereal or porridge is the amount and type of milk used. Adding a standard serving of dairy milk to a bowl of cereal quadruples its footprint, and for a <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/perfect-porridge">standard porridge recipe</a> would increase its footprint sevenfold.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cows walk in front of a factory" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420787/original/file-20210913-23-5ywmp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The meat and dairy industries are significant contributors to food’s carbon footprint.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/ohio-farm-rural-sky-clouds-fields-114092/">12019/Pixabay</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dairy milk is typically <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46654042">3.5 times</a> more emissions-intensive than alternative milks. The alternatives that produce the least carbon emissions are almond, oat and soy. Contrary to popular belief, the amount of water needed to produce even the most water-intensive <a href="https://www.truthordrought.com/almond-milk-myths">alternative milk</a> – almond – is less than the amount needed for dairy milk. </p>
<p>Fruit is another great source of low carbon energy, as highlighted in Mike Berners-Lee’s book <a href="https://howbadarebananas.com/">“How Bad Are Bananas?”</a> (spoiler – not very). Fruits such as berries and grapes typically have about twice the footprint of a banana due to their <a href="https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-foods-are-perishable#:%7E:text=Perishable%20foods%20are%20those%20likely,Refrigeration%20slows%20bacterial%20growth.">perishability</a>, so opting for a banana or apple could be an easy low-carbon breakfast switch. </p>
<h2>Breakfast beverages</h2>
<p>Switching to fruit juices with ingredients that can be grown in the UK, such as apple juice, can help to reduce the impact of your breakfast beverage selection. Even better, make smoothies with <a href="https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/food-waste/millions-of-tonnes-of-ugly-fruit-and-veg-wasted-says-report/570736.article">surplus, wonky or overripe</a> fruit that would otherwise be wasted, to avoid the emissions associated with <a href="http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=15256#:%7E:text=It%20is%20currently%20estimated%20that,of%20landfill%20gas%20recovery%20schemes.">landfills</a>.</p>
<p>As with cereal, the environmental impact of tea and coffee depends most on which milk you use.</p>
<p><strong>Coffee’s carbon footprint</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bar chart showing the carbon footprints of different types of coffee and milk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421063/original/file-20210914-19-qvd9ro.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A comparison of the carbon footprint of coffee types and use of oat milk instead of dairy milk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although it looks like there’s no such thing as 100% “green” eggs and bacon, making these switches can have a surprising impact on your carbon footprint while still allowing you to enjoy the most important meal of the day.</p>
<p>Fortunately, many of the ways to make our food footprint more palatable have benefits for personal as well as planetary health. But while consumers have a lot of power in designing more sustainable diets, dietary change shouldn’t be our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620357188?via%3Dihub">sole responsibility</a>. </p>
<p>Sustainable dietary choices should be supported by action from food producers and supermarkets – for instance, by providing accessible <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/27/traffic-light-system-of-eco-scores-to-be-piloted-on-british-food-labels">carbon footprint data</a> on food packaging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Garvey receives funding from the EPSRC Doctoral Training Programme.</span></em></p>Green eggs and bacon anyone? The substitutes you need to make to change your traditional full English into a breakfast which is healthier for the planet – and for you.Alice Garvey, PhD Researcher in Environmental Policy, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1560912021-03-02T15:06:05Z2021-03-02T15:06:05Z‘Buttergate’ debunked: No evidence butter is harder due to palm supplements for cows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387245/original/file-20210302-17-vzg0me.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4735%2C3145&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A recent debate over the consistency of butter has led to attention on cows' feed.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent controversies over <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/dairy-farmers-of-canada-responds-to-hard-butter-controversy">the properties of butter and how dairy cows are fed</a> have become a case study in media attention and the weight of evidence behind it. Anecdotal comments about the consistency of butter snowballed into <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1865739843731">sometimes overheated discussion of dairy cows’ diets</a>. </p>
<p>To paraphrase the Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift, <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/">sensationalism flies and consideration comes limping after it</a>. Dairy Farmers of Canada announced a committee to consider issues related to palm-based feed supplements for cows, <a href="https://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/consider-using-alternatives-palm-supplements-says-dairy-farmers-canada">but soon after pre-emptively asked farmers to consider avoiding their use</a>. </p>
<p>The problem started with a question about a perceived change in the hardness of butter and moved to whether a contentious product such as palm oil should be used in ingredients for cows’ feed.</p>
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<h2>The weight of evidence</h2>
<p>University professors and other experts are accorded some presumption of basing their comments on rigorous data and analysis when contributing to public discussion of issues. That trust must be supported by being clear about the basis for statements: What is the quantity and quality of the evidence? Is there presently a scientific consensus? What is opinion versus evidence that has at least passed the basic standard of peer review and publication in a scientific journal?</p>
<p>This controversy started over <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/article-is-your-butter-not-as-soft-as-it-used-to-be-the-pandemic-and-our-urge/">whether butter is harder</a> at room temperature than it used to be. Although that question has melted away, it’s instructive to trace this story from its start.</p>
<p>Consider the difference in value between replying to a social media post and conducting a formal survey of a representative sample of people. It’s not hard to see how you might get a very different view by asking “Does anyone else think that butter is harder?” or “Please rate your satisfaction with the texture of butter from very dissatisfied to very satisfied,” including an option for “no opinion.”</p>
<p>If we wanted to know if butter is hard or harder than it used to be, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/dairy-farmers-lobby-asks-members-to-stop-using-palm-as-it-investigates-buttergate-1.5323703">we would have to measure it</a>. That is not difficult to do, but it has not been done in this case. That might have been the end of it. Astute observations raise questions that research may answer, but without a clear question it is impossible to propose a solution.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A knife spreading butter on bread" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387025/original/file-20210301-13-141xyrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To definitively know whether the consistency of butter had changed, we would have needed to measure its consistency over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this case, the observation was made that some dairy farmers sometimes feed small amounts (about one per cent of the cow’s diet) of palm-based feed supplements to some of their cows. Presumably because butter is 80 per cent milk fat, this led to speculation that there might be an association between this feeding practice and the consistency of butter. Here, there are some data. And also some muddied waters. </p>
<p>While the terminology is possibly confusing, cow’s milk — like human breast milk — contains palmitic acid, a saturated fat. It’s 30 to 35 per cent of the many different fats in cows’ milk, whether the cows eat any palm-based feeds or not.</p>
<h2>Cows’ diets</h2>
<p>Most of what cows in Canada eat is grown on their home farm or locally: corn and alfalfa silage, corn grain and some soybean meal are staples. Dairy farmers set their cows’ diets based on <a href="https://www.merckvetmanual.com/management-and-nutrition/nutrition-dairy-cattle/nutritional-requirements-of-dairy-cattle">detailed and ongoing analysis</a> and <a href="https://dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/dairy-in-canada/dairy-excellence/canadian-dairy-cow-diet">formulation by professional nutritionists</a>. Veterinarians routinely monitor cows’ health, visiting dairy farms for preventive medicine every week or every other week. </p>
<p>Vegetable-based fat supplements may be included at about one per cent of a dairy cow’s total diet <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817052-6.00009-4">to help counter the energy deficit that can occur in early lactation</a>, or to shore up the cow’s energy supply during the heat of the summer. That has been done to meet seasonally fluctuating market demands for butterfat <a href="https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2017-12924">for decades</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X55YvgyPgm0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Adam Lock, an expert on dairy cow nutrition and its impact on milk fat, produced a briefing and summary of the current science.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feeding palm-based supplements to dairy cows will change the palmitic acid content of milk to a small degree. There is no evidence of negative health implications for the cows or the people who consume the milk from these cows. </p>
<p>Cows are not fed palm oil itself but palmitic acid supplements, which may come from palm oil or by-products of palm oil processing. There is no evidence that there has been any change in the feeding of palmitic acid. In fact, the evidence based on data on the fatty acid profile of milk from cows in Québec is that the palmitic acid content of milk has not changed over the last year, and data from 2018 showed <a href="https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-02-24/vaches-nourries-a-l-huile-de-palme/les-transformateurs-laitiers-condamnent-la-pratique.php">less than a one per cent difference</a> in palmitic acid content in herds that did or didn’t feed supplemental fat — 33 versus 33.5 per cent.</p>
<p>There is little data on whether or how the details of cows’ diets might affect the properties of dairy food. More research is needed, <a href="https://www.lebulletin.com/elevage/non-le-gras-ajoute-a-la-ration-des-vaches-vaches-laitieres-ne-rend-pas-le-beurre-plus-dur-111519">and is being pursued on several fronts</a>. But based on the available evidence, it is improbable that feeding palm-based supplements has had appreciable effects on the properties of butter.</p>
<h2>Informed decisions?</h2>
<p>Not all decisions are, or ought to be, based on scientific data alone. We often have to make decisions in the absence of fulsome evidence, and consider our values as well as hard data. Context helps. Palm oil and its derivatives are used in many foods (check the baked goods, granola bars and hazelnut spread in your pantry, and the margarine in the fridge), cosmetics and biofuels.</p>
<p>There are concerns about the sustainability of palm oil production. Like the coffee, cocoa and forestry industries, there are established <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/palm-oil">international schemes</a> to support sustainable practices in palm production. </p>
<p>Individuals or industries may well make values-based practices and purchasing decisions but they should first consider the best available scientific evidence. Otherwise we’re on a slope more slippery than butter, hard or soft.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen LeBlanc receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. In the past 5 years, he has received research funding from Landus Coopertive (an animal nutrition company) and Elanco Animal Health Canada. He received research funding from Dairy Farmers of Ontario in 2013, and from Dairy Farmers of Canada from 2012 to 2016.</span></em></p>A recent controversy over the consistency of butter reflects the need for evidence rather than anecdotal data.Stephen LeBlanc, Professor, Veterinary Population Medicine, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1476602020-10-13T18:49:04Z2020-10-13T18:49:04ZWhich ‘milk’ is best for the environment? We compared dairy, nut, soy, hemp and grain milks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363096/original/file-20201013-21-12w78z2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C17%2C3956%2C2619&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Making eco-conscious choices at the shops can be tricky when we’re presented with so many options, especially when it comes to milk. Should we buy plant-based milk, or dairy? We’ve looked at the evidence to help you choose. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soy-oat-almond-rice-coconut-dairy-which-milk-is-best-for-our-health-146869">Soy, oat, almond, rice, coconut, dairy: which 'milk' is best for our health?</a>
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<h2>Dairy has the biggest environmental footprint, by far</h2>
<p>Any plant-based milk, be it made from beans, nuts or seeds, has a lighter impact than dairy when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the use of water and land. All available studies, including systematic reviews, categorically point this out. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">2018 study</a> estimates dairy to be around three times more greenhouse gas emission-intensive than plant-based milks.</p>
<p>In the case of cow’s milk, its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.082">global warming potential</a> — measured as kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent per litre of milk — varies between 1.14 in Australia and New Zealand to 2.50 in Africa. Compare this to the global warming potential of plant-based milks, which, on average, is just 0.42 for almond and coconut milk and 0.75 for soy milk. </p>
<p>What’s more, dairy generally requires nine times more land than any of the plant-based alternatives. Every litre of cow’s milk uses 8.9 square metres per year, compared to 0.8 for oat, 0.7 for soy, 0.5 for almond and 0.3 for rice milk. </p>
<p>Water use is similarly higher for cow’s milk: 628 litres of water for every litre of dairy, compared to 371 for almond, 270 for rice, 48 for oat and 28 for soy milk.</p>
<h2>Milks from nuts</h2>
<p>Milk can be made from almost any nuts, but almond, hazelnut and coconut are proving popular. Not only do nut milks generally require smaller land areas, the trees they grow on absorb carbon and, at the end of their life, produce useful woody biomass. </p>
<p>Still, there are vast differences in the geographical conditions where various nut trees are grown. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cluster of hazelnuts on a tree." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363098/original/file-20201013-23-1ojmuwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hazelnuts, and other nuts, grow on trees which require smaller land areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Almond</strong></p>
<p>California is the largest producer of almond milk in the world, followed by Australia. </p>
<p>Compared to other plant-based milk options, its water use is much higher and largely depends on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01716-5">freshwater irrigation</a>. One kernel of California almond requires <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.12.063">12 litres</a> of water, which raises questions about the industrial production of these nuts in water-scarce areas.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almonds-dont-lactate-but-thats-no-reason-to-start-calling-almond-milk-juice-121306">Almonds don't lactate, but that's no reason to start calling almond milk juice</a>
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<p>However the biggest environmental concern with almond production in the US is the high mortality of bees, used for tree cross-pollination. This might be because the bees are exposed to pesticides, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/24/monsanto-weedkiller-harms-bees-research-finds">glyphosate</a>, and the intensive industrial agriculture which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe">drastically transforms</a> nature’s fragile ecosystems. </p>
<p>In Australia, where almond orchards are smaller-scale and less industrialised, beekeepers do not experience such problems. Still, millions of bees are needed, and fires, drought, floods, smoke and heat damage can threaten their health. </p>
<p><strong>Coconut</strong></p>
<p>Generally, the environmental performance of coconut milk is good – coconut trees use <a href="https://inhabitat.com/how-to-choose-the-healthiest-most-sustainable-milk-alternative/">small amounts</a> of water and absorb carbon dioxide. </p>
<p>Yet as coconuts are grown only in tropical areas, the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3575129">industrial production</a> of this milk can destroy wildlife habitat. Increasing global demand for coconut milk is likely to put further pressure on the environment and wildlife, and deepen these conflicts.</p>
<p><strong>Hazelnut</strong></p>
<p>Hazelnut is a better option for the environment as the trees are cross-pollinated by wind which carries airborne dry pollen between neighbouring plants, not bees. </p>
<p>Hazelnuts also grow in areas with higher rainfall around the Black Sea, Southern Europe and in North America, demanding much less water than almond trees. </p>
<p>Hazelnut milk is already commercially available and although its demand and production are rising, the cultivation of the bush trees is not yet subjected to intensive large-scale operations. </p>
<h2>Milks from legumes</h2>
<p>Soy milk has been used for millennia in China and has already an established presence in the West, but the hemp alternative is relatively new. </p>
<p>All legumes are nitrogen fixing. This means the bacteria in plant tissue produce nitrogen, which improves soil fertility and reduces the need for fertilisers. Legumes are also water-efficient, particularly when compared with almonds and dairy. </p>
<p><strong>Soy</strong></p>
<p>Soy milk has a very good environmental performance in terms of water, global warming potential and land-use.</p>
<p>The US and Brazil are <a href="https://www.world-grain.com/articles/13108-brazil-to-overtake-us-as-leading-soybean-producer">the biggest suppliers</a> of soybeans, and the plant is very versatile when it comes to its commercial uses, with a large share of the beans used as livestock feed. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soy-versus-dairy-whats-the-footprint-of-milk-8498">Soy versus dairy: what's the footprint of milk?
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<p>However, a major environmental concern is the need to clear and convert large swathes of native vegetation to grow soybeans. An overall reduction in the demand for meat and animal-based foods could potentially decrease the need to produce large amounts of soybeans for animal feed, but we’re yet to witness such changes. </p>
<p><strong>Hemp</strong></p>
<p>The environmental <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267766816_Ecological_benefits_of_hemp_and_flax_cultivation_and_products">benefits of hemp milk</a> make it a game-changer. </p>
<p>Its seeds are processed for oil and milk, but the plant itself is very versatile — all its parts can be used as construction material, textile fibres, pulp and paper or hemp-based plastics. </p>
<p>Its roots grow deep, which improves the soil structure and reduces the presence of fungi. It’s also resistant to diseases, and it produces a lot of shade, which supresses the growth of weeds. This, in turn, cuts down the need for herbicides and pesticides. </p>
<p>Hemp requires more water than soy, but less than almond and dairy. Despite being one of the oldest crops used, particularly in Europe, hemp is produced in very low quantities. </p>
<h2>Milks from grains</h2>
<p>We can produce plant-based milk from almost any grains, but rice and oat are proving popular. However, they require more land compared with nut milks. </p>
<p><strong>Rice</strong></p>
<p>Rice milk has a big water footprint. More notably, it’s associated with higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to the other plant-based options because methane-producing bacteria develop in the rice paddies. </p>
<p>In some cases, rice milk may contain <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19393210.2013.842941">unacceptable levels of arsenic</a>. And applying fertilisers to boost yields can pollute nearby waterways. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-eating-too-much-arsenic-we-need-better-tests-to-know-40732">Are we eating too much arsenic? We need better tests to know</a>
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<p><strong>Oat</strong></p>
<p>Oat milk has been becoming increasingly popular around the world because of its overall <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-oatly-oat-milk-global-domination/">environmental benefits</a>. </p>
<p>But similar to soy, the bulk of oat production is used for livestock feed and any reduction in the demand for animal-based foods would decrease the pressure on this plant. </p>
<p>Currently grown in Canada and the US, most oat operations are large-scale monoculture, which means it’s the only type of crop grown in a large area. This practice depletes the soil’s fertility, limits the diversity of insects and increases the risk of diseases and pest infection. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Oat milk carton beside a coffee" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363101/original/file-20201013-21-19bb1mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oat production is mostly used to feed livestock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaffee Meister/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Oats are also <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2019/02/glyphosate-contamination-food-goes-far-beyond-oat-products">typically grown</a> with glyphosate-based pesticides, which tarnishes its environmental credentials because <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717330279">it can cause</a> glyphosate-resistant plant, animal and insect pathogens to proliferate.</p>
<h2>The final message: diversify your choices</h2>
<p>Organic versions of all these plant-based milks are better for the environment because they use, for example, fewer chemical fertilisers, they’re free from pesticides and herbicides, and they put less pressure on the soils. Any additives, be it fortifiers, such as calcium or vitamins, flavours or additional ingredients, such as sugar, coffee or chocolate, should be taken into account separately. </p>
<p>Packaging is also very important to consider. Packaging <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01716-5">contributes 45%</a> of the global warming potential of California’s almond milk. And it’s worth keeping in mind that wasting milk has a much bigger environmental footprint, and questions the ethics of how humans exploit the animal world.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/recycling-is-not-enough-zero-packaging-stores-show-we-can-kick-our-plastic-addiction-106357">Recycling is not enough. Zero-packaging stores show we can kick our plastic addiction</a>
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<p>If, as a consumer you are trying to reduce the environmental footprint of the milk you drink, the first message is you should avoid dairy and replace it with plant-based options. </p>
<p>The second message is it’s better to diversify the plant-based milks we use. Shifting to only one option, even if it’s the most environmentally friendly one for the time being, means the market demand may potentially become overexploited.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dairy has the biggest environmental footprint, but some plant-based alternatives come with a number of environmental issues, too.Dora Marinova, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityDiana Bogueva, Postdoctoral Researcher, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1468692020-09-29T03:18:57Z2020-09-29T03:18:57ZSoy, oat, almond, rice, coconut, dairy: which ‘milk’ is best for our health?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360209/original/file-20200928-14-v9izxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5982%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A trip to the supermarket presents shoppers with an overwhelming number of milk choices. And far from just being the domain of the modern hipster, plant-based milk alternatives are going mainstream.</p>
<p>These alternatives may be suitable for people who are intolerant to dairy milk, or have ethical or other personal preferences. They tend to be lower in saturated fats and energy than dairy milk, but also lower in protein (except soy) and calcium (unless fortified). Some are also high in added sugars.</p>
<p>As to which milk is best, there’s no simple answer. Dairy milk tends to come out on top for nutrient quality, though soy is a good substitute from a nutrition perspective. And it should be noted these alternatives aren’t technically milks, as they’re not derived from mammals.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the nutritional quality of the different alternatives varies considerably, so it’s important to take note of these differences when making a selection.</p>
<h2>Dairy milk</h2>
<p>Milk provides us with important nutrients including calcium, protein, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin (B2), zinc, phosphorus and iodine. The quantity and quality of cow’s milk proteins is high, with both whey and casein containing all nine essential amino acids. Milk plays an important role in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29560832/">bone health</a> and is a particularly rich source of dietary calcium.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17160208/">Research</a> investigating the ability of the body to absorb and utilise calcium determined the best-absorbed calcium source is dairy milk and its derivatives.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-do-our-bones-get-calcium-and-why-do-they-need-it-75227">Explainer: how do our bones get calcium and why do they need it?</a>
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<p>Although dairy foods do contain some saturated fats, the fat in dairy doesn’t seem to be overly problematic for heart health. A large study featuring people from 21 countries, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31812-9/fulltext">published in 2018</a>, found dairy consumption was associated with lower risk of heart disease and death. </p>
<p>Although dairy milk has a high nutritional value, there’s no reason why people need to drink it if they choose not to. All of the nutrients in milk can be obtained elsewhere in the diet.</p>
<h2>Soy</h2>
<p>If you’re seeking a dairy-free alternative, then soy is a good choice (though some people may be intolerant to soy). It’s made from ground soy beans or soy protein powder, water and vegetable oils and is usually fortified with vitamins and minerals including calcium.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s13197-017-2915-y?sharing_token=dSGQOoFqAnaBksQKDPHeXPe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY566j3jpTfl6ce1UkWrDc7nH_pgea0Y1AeHuE68v7CZL6-wCNCUK0cCDGuRKeUB071F3K3JSW9MzFGQuu0vPD_QgsmZ452V4FEMEhHsN8iiNQaFntL05mN-GYC8Iv0UJPs%3D">2017 study</a> found soy fared considerably better than other milk alternatives including almond, rice and coconut varieties in terms of nutritional profile.</p>
<p>Available in full-fat and low-fat versions, soy is a good source of plant protein, carbohydrates, B vitamins and most are fortified with calcium making it nutritionally comparable to dairy milk. The ability of the body to absorb and utilise the added calcium in soy drink is approaching that of dairy milk. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/71/5/1166/4729243">One study</a> indicated calcium from fortified soy drink was absorbed at 75% the efficiency of calcium from dairy milk, though there appears to be limited data on this.</p>
<p>It typically contains more protein than other plant-based alternatives, and contains healthy unsaturated fats and fibre.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Milk varieties on a supermarket shelf" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360214/original/file-20200928-14-1f5ohil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One study found soy to be more nutritious than many other plant-based milk alternatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>It also contains compounds called phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are natural plant compounds that imitate the body’s own natural oestrogen but to a lesser extent. There was initially some <a href="https://www.aicr.org/resources/blog/soy-and-cancer-myths-and-misconceptions/">speculation</a> based on earlier <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3192476/">animal studies</a> about potential adverse effects of phytoestrogens on the risk of breast cancer and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40647-x">hyperthyroidism</a>. However, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24586662/">studies</a> conducted in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21177797/">humans</a> don’t support this.</p>
<p>Conversely, there is some evidence to suggest they may have a protective effect against some cancers. A review study from 2019 found soy consumption is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mnfr.201900751">more beneficial than harmful</a>. In a <a href="https://wiki.cancer.org.au/policy/Position_statement_-_Soy,_phyto-oestrogens_and_cancer_prevention">position statement</a> on soy, phytoestrogens and cancer prevention, the Cancer Council of Australia supports the consumption of soy foods in the diet but doesn’t recommend high dose phytoestrogen supplementation, especially for women with existing breast cancer.</p>
<h2>Almond</h2>
<p>Nut drinks such as almond consist mainly of ground nuts and water. Despite almonds being a good plant source of protein, almond drink is significantly lower in protein and calcium than dairy milk. Consumers should take care with almond drink to ensure essential nutrients are met elsewhere in the diet. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/dairy/milk/articles/almond-milk">2017 survey</a> of widely available commercial almond milks, consumer group Choice found almond drink contained only 2-14% almonds, with water being the predominant ingredient. It tends to be low in energy and saturated fat and contains some healthy unsaturated fats as well as vitamin E, manganese, zinc and potassium.</p>
<p>Almond drink often contains added sugars. Terms to keep an eye on include those indicating added sugars, such as organic rice syrup, agave syrup, organic evaporated cane juice, raw sugar, or organic corn maltodextrin. It’s best to look for unsweetened varieties if you can.</p>
<p>Almond drink may be suitable for people who are intolerant to both dairy milk and soy, but isn’t suitable for those with nut allergies.</p>
<p>If you’re using almond milk as an alternative to dairy milk and wanting similar nutritional benefits, look for one that’s fortified with calcium aiming for as close to 115-120mg per 100mL (similar to dairy milk) as possible.</p>
<h2>Oat</h2>
<p>Oat milk is made by blending oats and water and straining off the liquid. It’s a source of fibre, vitamin E, folate and riboflavin. It’s low in fat and is naturally sweet, containing double the carbohydrates of cow’s milk, so it may not be suitable for people with diabetes.</p>
<p>It tends to be low in both protein and calcium, so look for a fortified brand. It’s not suitable for people with a gluten intolerance, nor is it a nutritionally adequate substitute for young children. </p>
<h2>Coconut</h2>
<p>Coconut milk is low in protein and carbohydrates, and high in saturated fat. Some brands have added sugars. Similar to nut drinks, it doesn’t naturally contain calcium and isn’t a suitable substitute for dairy milk nutritionally.</p>
<h2>Rice</h2>
<p>Rice drink is produced from milled rice and water. It’s naturally high in carbohydrate and sugars, and has a high glycaemic index meaning the glucose is quickly released into the blood which may mean it’s not suitable for people with diabetes. It’s also particularly low in protein and needs to be calcium fortified. </p>
<p>Rice is the least likely to trigger allergies of all of the milk alternatives. However, it’s not a suitable milk substitute, particularly for children, due to its low nutrient quality.</p>
<p>Ultimately, when deciding which plant-based alternative to drink, you should choose fortified and preferably unsweetened varieties. Also, look for those with a calcium content as close to 115-120mg per 100ml (or 300mg per cup) as possible, as this is similar to dairy milk.</p>
<p>Your choice should also take into account your overall diet and nutrient requirements. This is especially important for children, adolescents, older adults and those following a restricted diet. Finally, factors such as flavour, taste, texture and mouth feel are all important considerations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Dowling does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are so many milk alternatives these days, but it can be difficult to tell how beneficial they might be for our health. So we asked a dietitian to run through the main options.Leah Dowling, Lecturer in Dietetics, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1395542020-05-28T06:03:49Z2020-05-28T06:03:49ZNew Zealand government ignores expert advice in its plan to improve water quality in rivers and lakes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338141/original/file-20200528-143715-xmcx4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C158%2C6556%2C2374&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey McNamara/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New Zealand’s government has been praised for <a href="https://theconversation.com/overjoyed-a-leading-health-expert-on-new-zealands-coronavirus-shutdown-and-the-challenging-weeks-ahead-134395">listening</a> to health experts in its pandemic response, but when it comes to dealing with pollution of the country’s waterways, scientific advice seems less important. </p>
<p>Today, the government released a long-awaited <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/action-for-healthy-waterways">NZ$700 million package</a> to address freshwater pollution. The new rules include higher standards around cleanliness of swimming spots, set controls for some farming practices and how much synthetic fertiliser is used, and require mandatory and enforceable farm environment plans. </p>
<p>But the package is flawed. It does not include any measurable limits on key nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) and the rules’ implementation is left to regional authorities. Over the 30 years they have been managing the environment, the health of lakes and rivers has <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/Environment-Aotearoa-2019-Summary">continued to decline</a>. </p>
<p>For full disclosure, I was part of the 18-person <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/fresh-water/science-and-technical-advisory-group">science technical advisory group</a> that made the recommendations. Despite more than a year of consultation and evidence-based science, the government has deferred or ignored our advice on introducing measurable limits on nitrogen and phosphorus. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/polluted-drained-and-drying-out-new-warnings-on-new-zealands-rivers-and-lakes-136486">Polluted, drained, and drying out: new warnings on New Zealand's rivers and lakes</a>
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<h2>Waterways in decline</h2>
<p>The declining state of rivers, lakes and wetlands was the most important environmental issue for 80% of New Zealanders in a <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/freshwater-quality-kiwis-biggest-environmental-concern">recent survey</a>. It was also an <a href="https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/pq/article/view/5684">election issue</a> in 2017, so there was a clear mandate for significant change. </p>
<p>But despite years of work from government appointed expert panels, including the technical advisory group I was part of, the Māori freshwater forum <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/fresh-water/kahui-wai-m%C4%81ori-freshwater-forum">Kahui Wai Māori</a> and the Freshwater Leaders groups, crucial advice was ignored. </p>
<p>The technical advisory group, supported by <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/summary-of-modelling-inform-environmental-impact-assessment-of-nutrient">research</a>, was unequivocal that specific nitrogen and phosphorus limits are necessary to protect the quality of people’s drinking water and the ecological health of waterways. </p>
<p>The proposed nutrient limits were key to achieving real change, and far from being extreme, would have brought New Zealand <a href="http://www.jlakes.org/uploadfile/news_images/hpkx/2019-01-15/1-s2.0-S1001074217308215-main.pdf">into line with the rest of the world</a>. For example, in China, the limit for nitrogen in rivers is <a href="https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/improve-water-qualityChina-need-cut/97/i9">1 milligram per litre</a> – the same limit as our technical advisory group recommended. In New Zealand, <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/river-water-quality-nitrogen">85% of waterways in pasture catchments</a> (which make up half of the country’s waterways, if measured by length) now exceed <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/australian-and-new-zealand-guidelines-fresh-and-marine-water-quality">nitrate limit guidelines</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, Minister for the Environment David Parker decided to postpone this discussion by another year – meaning New Zealand will continue to lag other nations in having clear, enforceable nutrient limits.</p>
<p>This delay will inevitably result in a continued decline of water quality, with a corresponding decline in a suite of ecological, <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Fresh%20water/kahui-wai-maori-report.pdf">cultural</a>, <a href="https://www.sbc.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/99419/A-Best-Use-Solution-for-NZs-Water-Problems.pdf">social</a> and <a href="https://nzier.org.nz/static/media/filer_public/d2/ce/d2cef6fa-3b58-4f11-bb0b-7b2a684ac181/nzier_public_discussion_paper_2014-01_-_water_management_in_nz.pdf">economic</a> values a healthy environment could support.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-urban-freshwater-is-improving-but-a-major-report-reveals-huge-gaps-in-our-knowledge-115695">New Zealand’s urban freshwater is improving, but a major report reveals huge gaps in our knowledge</a>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338149/original/file-20200528-143724-6f6ztn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The government’s package includes a cap on the use of nitrogen fertiliser.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexey Stiop/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Capping use of nitrogen fertiliser</h2>
<p>The other main policy the expert panels pushed for was a cap on the use of nitrogen fertiliser. This was indeed part of the announcement, which is a positive and important step forward. But the cap is set at 190kg per hectare per year, which is too high. This is like telling someone they should reduce smoking from three to two and a half packets a day to be healthier. </p>
<p>I believe <a href="https://www.dairynz.co.nz/news/proposed-freshwater-policies-could-cost-nz-6-billion/">claims from the dairy industry</a> that the tightening of environmental standards for freshwater would threaten New Zealand’s economic recovery are exaggerated. They also ignore the fact clean water and a healthy environment provide the foundation for our current and future economic well-being. </p>
<p>And they fly in the face of modelling by the Ministry for the Environment, which shows implementation of freshwater reforms would <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Fresh%20water/action-for-healthy-waterways-information-on-benefits-and-costs.pdf">save NZ$3.8 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Excess nitrogen is not just an issue for ecosystem health. Nitrate (which forms when nitrogen combines with oxygen) in drinking water has been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29435982/">linked to colon cancer</a>, which is <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/conditions-and-treatments/diseases-and-illnesses/bowel-cancer">disproportionately high</a> in many parts of New Zealand. </p>
<p>The New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine and the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCEN_EVI_91358_EN19676/dd42a1bfc8f08775c45494269a7271c05173a179">Hawkes Bay district health board</a> both made <a href="https://www.nzcphm.org.nz/media/133210/final_nzcphm_freshwater_submission.pdf">submissions</a> calling for a nitrate limit in rivers and aquifers to protect people’s health – at the same level the technical advisory group recommended to protect ecosystems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drinking-water-study-raises-health-concerns-for-new-zealanders-108510">Drinking water study raises health concerns for New Zealanders</a>
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<p>Our dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is unsustainable, and it is adding to New Zealand’s greenhouse gas footprint through nitrous oxide emissions. There is <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/97071476/demonstration-dairy-farm-cuts-nitrate-leaching-30-per-cent-and-stays-profitable">growing evidence</a> farmers can make more profit by reducing their use of artificial fertilisers. </p>
<p>Continued use will only further degrade soils across productive landscapes and reduce the farming sector’s resilience in a changing climate. </p>
<p>The irony is that for a century, New Zealand produced milk without synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. Instead, farmers grew clover which converts nitrogen from the air. If we want to strive for better water quality for future generations, we need to front up to the unsustainable use of artificial fertiliser and seek more <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-regenerative-farming-can-help-grow-food-with-less-impact-123090">regenerative farming practices</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Joy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A long-awaited NZ$700 million package to clean up New Zealand’s rivers and lakes has disappointed some of the government’s expert advisers – especially a delay on setting clear pollution limits.Mike Joy, Senior Researcher; Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.