Food chain approach to lowering the saturated fat of milk and dairy products

Abstract

Lactating cow diets were supplemented with high-oleic acid sunflower oil over two production periods spanning two years, to modify the milk fat, partially replacing saturated fatty acids with cis-monounsaturated fatty acids. The resulting milk was used for ultrahigh-temperature milk, butter and Cheddar cheese production, and fatty acid profiles were compared with those of conventionally produced products. Fat from products made with modified milk had lower saturated fatty acids and higher cis- and trans-monounsaturated fatty acid concentrations than that of conventional products. This was consistent over both production periods, demonstrating that this food chain approach could be adopted on a wider scale.