Milk-and-Dairy-Products-in-Human-Nutrition-FAO

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Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
even contribute to reducing CVD. Consuming milk and dairy products may reduce
the risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in adults (Chapter 4). Several
studies suggest that milk may offer protection against colorectal cancer and possibly
bladder cancer, although limited evidence suggests that high consumption of milk and
dairy products is a cause of prostate cancer (Chapter 4).
It appears, therefore, that there is no special need to target overconsumption of
dairy products. A more pressing need is to improve the urban poor’s access to milk
and milk products.
The nutritional challenges facing people living in growing cities are well known,
but cities also offer opportunities for developing new products and promoting
healthy lifestyles. Cities offer large, compact populations that consume more
animal-source foods than rural people (Chapter 2), providing a ready market for
dairy products. Economies of scale, higher incomes and the willingness of city
populations to try new diets also make it attractive to invest in new products that
boost nutrition, such as fortified foods, fermented foods and foods with specific
dairy components, such as lactose and fat, either removed/reduced or added via
processing for consumers with special diets and specific intolerances (Chapter 5), or
products with increased shelf-life, such as ultra-high-temperature-treated yoghurt.
As innovative products become more common, a regulatory framework is needed
that assures the safety and quality of products and protects the consumer from
misleading information and fraudulent practices (Chapters 5 and 6).
As access to diverse types of food does not guarantee healthy nutrition choices,
the easy access to communication and active social networks in cities should be
exploited in order to provide people with better information about dairy products
and nutrition.
The economies of scale of large, dense populations make it possible to initiate
urban nutrition programmes like those of Belo Horizonte in Brazil (Lappé, 2009),
which started a food-security programme in 1993 to end hunger within the city.
Using a range of initiatives that include provision of free school meals, subsidized
meals in designated “People’s restaurants”, support of local food production,
improved distribution in poor parts of the city, community and school gardens and
nutrition education, impressive reductions in child mortality and malnutrition rates
have been achieved.
9.2.4 Scaling up: implications for food supply, food safety
and farmer livelihoods
The livestock sector worldwide is scaling up 59 and intensifying 60 in response to
population growth, economic development and technological changes (FAO, 2009).
However, the dairy sector has scaled-up and intensified more slowly than other
livestock sectors such as poultry and pigs (FAO, 2009). The difference has occurred
for a number of reasons. One relates to government policies in much of South Asia
and parts of Central Asia and Africa, which have either positively encouraged small-
59 Scaling up in this context refers to production and processing units becoming on average larger.
60 Intensification is the process by which production and processing transition from low to higher
inputs.