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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
THE DAIRY INDUSTRY TODAY
Milk provides an easily accessible matrix, rich in a large variety of essential
nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and easy digestible proteins with balanced amino
acid profiles. Therefore dairy products are important to support overall body function
(Steijns, 2008). Dairy products provide key nutrients in the daily human diet
(Vandevijvere et al., 2009) and their consumption is associated with overall diet quality
(Steijns, 2008) and human health implications (Table 1; Bauman et al., 2006). Although,
over the last 40 years, the nutritional image has also suffered from its content of
saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (TFA) which increases serum
cholesterol, and hence is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in
humans. A meta-analysis study from 2003 (Mensink et al., 2003) concluded that
replacing SFA and TFA from industrial origin by cis-unsaturated fatty acids (FA) reduces
the risk most effectively. Most meta-analysis conclude that public health implications of
consuming trans fats from ruminant products are relatively limited, possibly due to
lower levels of the intake (less than 0.5% of total energy intake), different biologic
effects of ruminant and industrial TFA, or the presence of other factors in dairy products
which may cover negative effects of small amounts of TFA (Mozaffarian et al., 2006;
Bendsen et al., 2011). A recent meta-analysis of 17 prospective studies even found a
decrease in CVD risk with increasing milk intake (Soedamah-Muthu et al., 2011).
Nevertheless, additional studies are needed to motivate or eliminate the consumers’
concerns on dairy products.
As the number of inhabitants on our planet is currently exponentially increasing,
we will be challenged to provide 9 billion of people with a sufficient amount of food of a
high and safe quality by mid-21 st century (UNPD, 2010). Tight supplies and rising food
prices currently push more than 1 billion people around the world into food insecurity
(Godfray et al., 2010). The latter imposes the need to make safe, affordable and
abundant food a global right (Simmons, 2012). But how should we best resolve the need
for an increased food production, with the desire to minimize its environmental impact
Green et al. (2005) demonstrated that up till now, data still support land sparing
through increased yield over wild-life friendly farming in regions with long histories of
agriculture such as Europe.
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