Organic milk best: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 18 2011

The latest research published by Newcastle University, UK has ­shown that organic milk contains less unhealthy fat, as well as a range of important healthy nutrients. It contains fewer chemicals and poses less risk for children to develop allergies and eczema. Organic milk is also rich in omega 3 fatty acids that re good for the heart. However it costs more. At least 60 per cent of the diet of organic cows has to be organically grown grass and its ­traditional ­derivatives — silage and hay.

The authors of the study suggest that organic milk is 30-40 per cent lower in the more dangerous saturated fats than standard milk, but higher in the crucial Omega-3 fatty acids. These lower the risk of heart disease, and, in the young, may help in healthy brain and sight development. Research in Holland has shown that if infants and mothers eat organic dairy produce, the children are 36 per cent less likely to develop eczema. One study comparing the chemical composition of milk and cheese in 1940 with that of 2002 found significant reductions in levels of minerals such as iron, ­magnesium and calcium.

Gillian Butler, livestock project manager for the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at Newcastle University, who led the study stated simply, “What cows are fed has a big influence on milk quality… This research shows that letting cows graze naturally is the most important reason for the differences in composition between organic and conventional milk.” She added, “The results suggest greater uniformity of feeding practice on farms supplying organic milk since there were no brands which differed consistently in fat composition… This implies a fairly uniform approach to feeding practiced across these suppliers.”

The team who are part of the University’s Nafferton Ecological Farming Group and its Human Nutrition Centre, looked at the quality of 22 different milks brands in supermarkets across North East England at varying times of year over a two-year period. Of these 10 were organic. They concluded that organic brands of milk available in supermarkets are higher in beneficial fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids in summer and winter.

The study was published in the Journal of Dairy Science. It contradicts the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) statement four years ago that organic milk could contain higher levels of short-chain omega-3 fatty acids but that they were of “limited health benefit” compared with the long-chain acids found in oily fish. It was in the last year when an FSA-funded review by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that organic food, produced without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, was no healthier than conventional produce. This study refutes the finding.

Source: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/