Dairy products. Back row left to right: smetana, kefir, cottage cheese, ricotta, mozzarella. Front row left to right: quark, cheese, butter, yogurt, milk.
Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk.[1][a] The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, and sheep. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as yogurt, cheese, milk and butter.[4][5] A facility that produces dairy products is a dairy.[b][6] Dairy products are consumed worldwide to varying degrees.[7] Some people avoid some or all dairy products because of lactose intolerance, veganism, environmental concerns, other health reasons or beliefs.
While cattle were domesticated as early as 12,000 years ago as a food source and as beasts of burden, the earliest evidence of using domesticated cows for dairy production is from the seventh millennium BC – the early Neolithic era – in northwestern Anatolia.[8] Dairy farming developed elsewhere in the world in subsequent centuries: the sixth millennium BC in eastern Europe, the fifth millennium BC in Africa, and the fourth millennium BC in Britain and Northern Europe.[8]
In the last century or so larger farms specialising in dairy alone have emerged. Large scale dairy farming is only viable where either a large amount of milk is required for production of more durable dairy products such as cheese, butter, etc. or there is a substantial market of people with money to buy milk, but no cows of their own. In the 1800s, economist Johann Heinrich von Thünen argued that there was about a 100-mile radius surrounding a city where such fresh milk supply was economically viable.
Cool temperature has been the main method by which milk freshness has been extended. When windmills and well pumps were invented, one of their first uses on the farm, besides providing water for animals themselves, was for cooling milk, to extend its storage life, until it would be transported to the town market. The naturally cold underground water would be continuously pumped into a cooling tub or vat. Tall, ten-gallon metal containers filled with freshly obtained milk, which is naturally warm, were placed in this cooling bath. This method of milk cooling was popular before the arrival of electricity and refrigeration.
Harold McGee writes that, for thousands of years, "the making of cheese, yogurt, and other fermented products was largely uncontrolled, with microbes from the air or left over from the previous batch, whether desirable or not, colonizing the milk.... By the turn of the [twentieth] century, purified bacterial cultures were being used to control the quality of cheese more closely."[9]
Consumption patterns worldwide
Rates of dairy consumption vary widely worldwide. High-consumption countries consume more than 150 kilograms (330lb)per capita per year. These countries are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Costa Rica, most European countries, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, the United States and Pakistan. Medium-consumption countries consume 30 kilograms (66lb) to 150kg 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 30kg per capita per year. These countries are: Senegal, most of Central Africa, and most of East and Southeast Asia.[7][10]
Lactose levels
For those with some degree of lactose intolerance, considering the amount of lactose in dairy products can be important to health.
There is no scientific evidence that consuming dairy products causes cancer.[14] 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".[15] In 2024, Cancer Research UK stated "there is no reliable evidence that casein or hormones in dairy causes cancer in people".[14] The American Cancer Society (ACS) does not make specific recommendations on dairy food consumption for cancer prevention.[16] Higher-quality research is needed to characterise valid associations between dairy consumption and risk of and/or cancer-related mortality.[17]
A 2023 review found no association between consumption of dairy products and breast cancer.[18] Other recent reviews have found that low-fat dairy intake is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer.[19][20]
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.[21][22][23][27][28] Cancer Research UK have stated that "research has not proven that milk or dairy increases the risk of prostate cancer" and that high-quality research is needed.[14]
It has been suggested that consumption of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in dairy products could increase cancer risk, particularly prostate cancer.[29][30] 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".[30] The COC also stated it is unlikely that there would be absorption of intact IGF-1 from food by most consumers.[31]
Cardiovascular disease
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that people replace full-fat dairy products with nonfat and low-fat dairy products.[32] In 2017, the AMA stated that there is no high-quality clinical evidence that cheese consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.[33] 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".[32]
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".[34] 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".[35]
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."[36] 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".[36]
Recent reviews of randomized controlled trials have found that dairy intake from cheese, milk and yogurt does not have detrimental effects on markers of cardiometabolic health.[37][38] A 2025 global analysis found that that total dairy consumption is associated with a 3.7% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and a 6% reduced risk of stroke.[39]
Other
Consumption of dairy products such as low-fat and whole milk have been associated with an increased acne risk, however, as of 2022[update] there is no conclusive evidence.[40][41][42] Fermented and low-fat dairy products are associated with a decreased risk of diabetes.[43][44] Consumption of dairy products are also associated with a decreased risk of gout.[45]
A 2023 review found that higher intake of dairy products is significantly associated with a lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease.[46] A 2025 review found that dairy product intake is associated with a lower incidence of tinnitus.[47] A 2025 scoping review of systematic reviews found that dairy consumption is not associated with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases or mortality and may reduce the risk of several health outcomes.[48]
Avoidance on principle
Some groups avoid dairy products for non-health-related reasons. Some religions restrict or do not allow the consumption of dairy products. For example, some scholars of Jainism advocate not consuming any dairy products because dairy is perceived to involve violence against cows.[49] Orthodox Judaism requires that meat and dairy products not be served at the same meal, served or cooked in the same utensils, or stored together, as prescribed in Deuteronomy 14:21.[50]
Veganism is the avoidance of all animal products, including dairy products, most often due to the ethics regarding how dairy products are produced. The ethical reasons for avoiding meat and dairy products include how dairy is produced, how the animals are handled, and the environmental effect of dairy production.[51][52] According to a report of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization in 2010 the dairy sector accounted for 4 percent of global human-made greenhouse gas emissions.[53][54]
Growing awareness of dairy products' environmental impact, specifically greenhouse gas emissions, has led to many people reducing or avoiding dairy. In the EU, dairy is responsible for 27% of all diet related emissions, on average, while plant-based milks cause 2.5–4.5 times fewer emissions.[55][56]
12"Lactose Intolerance". National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, US National Institutes of Health. 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
12"Lactose intolerance". Genetics Home Reference. 8 February 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
↑Aghasi M, Golzarand M, Shab-Bidar S, Aminianfar A, Omidian M, Taheri F (2018). "Dairy intake and acne development: A meta-analysis of observational studies". Clinical Nutrition. 38 (3): 1067–1075. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2018.04.015. PMID29778512. S2CID29167833.
↑Dall'Oglio F, Nasca MR, Fiorentini F, Micali G (2021). "Diet and acne: review of the evidence from 2009 to 2020". International Journal of Dermatology. 60 (6): 672–685. doi:10.1111/ijd.15390. PMID33462816. S2CID231643205.
↑Zhang K, Bai P, Deng Z (2022). "Dose-Dependent Effect of Intake of Fermented Dairy Foods on the Risk of Diabetes: Results From a Meta-analysis". Can J Diabetes. 46 (3): 307–312. doi:10.1016/j.jcjd.2021.09.003. PMID35568432. S2CID239148132.
↑Wiley, K.L. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Jainism. Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series. Scarecrow Press. p.78. ISBN978-0-8108-6558-7. Retrieved 15 April 2019. In recent times, out of concern for the treatment of cows in commercial dairy farming, some Jains in the diaspora and in India now observe a vegan diet and discourage the use of dairy products in temple rituals.
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