5 Dairy

[Gigí Ruais]

About90% of Americans do not get enough dairy. Most people would benefit from getting more fat-free or low-fat dairy. This can come from milk, yogurt, or cheese. It can also come from lactose-free milk and fortified soy milk or yogurt.

Eating or drinking dairy products offers health benefits, like building and maintaining strong bones. Dairy Group foods provide nutrients that are vital for the health and maintenance of the body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.

Many people do not get enough potassium. Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Dairy products, especially dairy milk and yogurt, and fortified soy milk, provide potassium.

Vitamin D helps the body maintain proper levels of calcium and phosphorous, which helps to build and maintain bones. Milk and soy milk that are fortified with vitamin D are good sources of this nutrient. Other sources include some fish such as salmon and foods fortified with vitamin D.

Do you want to know more about the foods in the Dairy Group? What does a cup of dairy look like? Check out the Food Group Gallery! This is also a great resource if you're trying to move to fat-free or low-fat dairy. It will also help if you want to try something new. This is also a great resource if you're trying to move to fat-free or low-fat dairy. It will also help if you want to try something new.

Dairy Program's vision is to be efficient, effective, and innovative in program service delivery in the continually changing industry and government environments. Dairy Program also provides excellent customer service and industry relations with highly skilled and motivated employees.

At the Dairy Program, we recognize that our government service is a public trust for which we are all accountable. We subscribe to the following core values in our service to the dairy industry, the public, and within our own organization: cooperation, fairness, integrity, objectivity, and respect.

The AMS Dairy Program helps the U.S. dairy industry efficiently market high-quality milk and dairy products. It also ensures that U.S. consumers have access to a sufficient supply of these products at all times.

This Dairy Data page includes data files covering domestic supply, demand, and international trade of various dairy products. Data on the U.S. dairy situation and supply and utilization are updated monthly, whereas the U.S. milk production and related data are updated quarterly. All other dairy data files are updated annually. These files include data on supply and allocation of milk fat and skim solids; dairy per capita consumption; fluid milk sales; milk supply by State and region; milk production and factors affecting supply and utilization of milk in all dairy products; and numbers and size of milk bottling plants.

Other data of interest for the dairy industry include Milk Cost of Production Estimates and Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer. Older archived dairy data, preceding the data files below, are available in the Dairy Yearbook (last updated in September 2005).

Errata: On July 18, 2024, two Dairy data files were reposted to correct a unit conversion error for Other-than-American cheese export and domestic use data for the months February 2024 through May 2024. The files and data affected include the table titled Other Cheese, monthly in the Supply and utilization of dairy product categories (monthly and annual) and the U.S. dairy situation at a glance (monthly and annual) data entries for Domestic disappearance for Other-than-American cheese. No other data were affected by the error.

Dairy One offers a variety of tools and solutions to help farms of all types and sizes make more informed decisions. Dairy One Soil Laboratory provides soil analysis and pre-sidedress nitrate testing. The Dairy One Forage Laboratory offers feed, forage, manure, water, and plant tissue analysis. Information regarding DHIA testing, records, and milk analysis for dairy cows and goats can be found through DHIA Records & Milk Analysis. Cameras, network solutions, herd management software, animal identification, and activity monitoring systems are offered by our Integrated Farming Solutions team. Other Lab Services include pregnancy and disease testing offered by our Animal Health Diagnostic Lab, wet chemistry analysis of liquid dairy products through our Check Mark Lab, and bacteria and regulatory testing performed by our Producer Payment Lab.

Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk.[1] The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as yogurt, cheese, milk and butter.[2][3] A facility that produces dairy products is a dairy.[a][4] Dairy products are consumed worldwide to varying degrees.[5] Some people avoid some or all dairy products because of lactose intolerance, veganism, environmental concerns, other health reasons or beliefs.

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

Rates of dairy consumption vary widely worldwide. High-consumption countries consume more than 150 kilograms (330 lb) per capita per year. These countries are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Costa Rica, most European countries, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, North America and Pakistan. Medium-consumption countries consume 30 kilograms (66 lb) to 150 kg per capita per year. These countries are: India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, North and Southern Africa, most of the Middle East, and most of Latin America and the Caribbean. Low-consumption countries consume under 30 kg per capita per year. These countries are: Senegal, most of Central Africa, and most of East and Southeast Asia.[5][6]

Dairy products may upset the digestive system in individuals with lactose intolerance or a milk allergy.[7][8][9] People who experience lactose intolerance usually avoid milk and other lactose-containing dairy products, which may cause mild side effects, such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, gas, and nausea.[7][8] Such individuals may use non-dairy milk substitutes.

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF), Cancer Council Australia (CCA) and Cancer Research UK have stated that there is strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer.[10][11][12][13] The AICR, WCRF, CCA and Prostate Cancer UK have stated that there is limited but suggestive evidence that dairy products increase risk of prostate cancer.[10][11][12][14][15] The American Cancer Society (ACS) have stated that because dairy products "may lower the risk of some cancers and possibly increase the risk of others, the ACS does not make specific recommendations on dairy food consumption for cancer prevention."[16]

It has been suggested that consumption of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in dairy products could increase cancer risk, particularly prostate cancer.[17][18] However, a 2018 review by the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) concluded that there is "insufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions as to whether exposure to dietary IGF-1 is associated with an increased incidence of cancer in consumers".[18] The COC also stated it is unlikely that there would be absorption of intact IGF-1 from food by most consumers.[19]

The British Dietetic Association have described the idea that milk promotes hormone related cancerous tumour growth as a myth, stating "no link between dairy containing diets and risk of cancer or promoting cancer growth as a result of hormones".[20]

A 2019 review concluded that higher-quality research was needed to characterise valid associations between dairy consumption and risk of and/or cancer-related mortality.[21] A 2021 umbrella review found strong evidence that consumption of dairy products decreases risk of colorectal cancer.[22] Fermented dairy is associated with significantly decreased bladder cancer and colorectal cancer risk.[23]

The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that people replace full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products.[25] In 2017, the AMA stated that there is no high-quality clinical evidence that cheese consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.[26] In 2021, they stated that "taken together, replacing full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products and other sources of unsaturated fat shifts the composition of dietary patterns toward higher unsaturated to saturated fat ratios that are associated with better cardiovascular health".[25]

In 2017, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand published an umbrella review which found an "overall neutral effect of dairy on cardiovascular risk for the general population".[27] Their position paper stated that "the evidence overall suggests dairy products can be included in a heart-healthy eating pattern and choosing reduced-fat dairy over full-fat dairy reduces risk for some, but not all, cardiovascular risk factors".[28]

In 2019 the National Heart Foundation of Australia published a position statement on full fat dairy products, "Based on current evidence, there is not enough evidence to recommend full fat over reduced fat products or reduced fat over full fat products for the general population. For people with elevated cholesterol and those with existing coronary heart disease, reduced fat products are recommended."[29] The position statement also noted that the "evidence for milk, yoghurt and cheese does not extend to butter, cream, ice-cream and dairy-based desserts; these products should be avoided in a heart healthy eating pattern".[29]

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