Editing Milk (section)

===Food product for humans===
[[File:Cow female black white.jpg|thumb| The [[Holstein Friesian cattle|Holstein Friesian cow]] is the dominant breed in industrialized dairy farms today.]]
[[File:A bowl of milk for the shaman rite. Buryatia. Russia.png|thumb|A bowl of milk for the shaman rite; [[Buryatia]], [[Russia]]]]
[[File:World Production Of Bovine Milk.svg|thumb|World production of cow milk]]
In many cultures, especially in [[Western world|the West]], humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy, using the milk of other mammals (especially cattle, goats and sheep) as a food product. Initially, the ability to digest milk was limited to children as adults did not produce [[lactase]], an enzyme necessary for digesting the lactose in milk. People therefore converted milk to [[curd]], cheese, and other products to reduce the levels of lactose. Thousands of years ago, a chance mutation spread in human populations in northwestern Europe that enabled the [[Lactase persistence|production of lactase in adulthood]]. This mutation allowed milk to be used as a new source of nutrition which could sustain populations when other food sources failed.<ref name="Nature Milk">{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/500020a |title=Archaeology: The milk revolution |last=Curry |first=Andrew |date=July 31, 2013 |journal=Nature |volume=500 |pages=20–22 |issue=7460 |pmid=23903732 |bibcode=2013Natur.500...20C|doi-access=free}}</ref> Milk is processed into a variety of products such as [[cream]], [[butter]], [[yogurt]], [[kefir]], [[ice cream]] and [[cheese]]. Modern industrial processes use milk to produce [[casein]], [[whey protein]], lactose, [[condensed milk]], [[powdered milk]], and many other food-additives and industrial products.

Whole milk, butter, and cream have high levels of [[saturated fat]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html |title=Nutrition for Everyone: Basics: Saturated Fat{{nbsp}}– DNPAO |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129222042/http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html |archive-date=January 29, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Eat-less-saturated-fat.aspx |title=Eat less saturated fat |publisher=[[National Health Service]] |date=April 27, 2018 |access-date=April 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424075505/http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood/pages/eat-less-saturated-fat.aspx |archive-date=April 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The sugar lactose is found only in milk, and possibly in [[forsythia]] flowers and a few tropical shrubs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Adam |first1=Ana C. |last2=Rubio-Texeira |first2=Marta |last3=Polaina |first3=Julio |date=February 10, 2005 |title=Lactose: The Milk Sugar from a Biotechnological Perspective |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10408690490931411 |journal=Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition |volume=44 |issue=7–8 |pages=553–557 |doi=10.1080/10408690490931411 |pmid=15969327 |s2cid=24005833 |issn=1040-8398}}</ref> Lactase, the enzyme needed to digest lactose, reaches its highest levels in the human small intestine immediately after birth, and then begins a slow decline unless milk is consumed regularly.<ref name="On Food and Cooking">{{Cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |author-link=Harold McGee |title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen |orig-year=1984 |year=2004 |publisher=Scribner |edition=2nd |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-80001-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC&pg=PA7 |pages=7–67 |chapter=Milk and Dairy Products |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226095557/https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref> Those groups who continue to tolerate milk have often exercised great creativity in using the milk of [[domestication|domesticated]] [[ungulate]]s, not only cattle, but also sheep, goats, [[yak]]s, [[water buffalo]], horses, [[reindeer]] and [[camel milk|camels]]. India is the largest producer and consumer of cattle milk and buffalo milk in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiadairy.com/ind_world_number_one_milk_producer.html |title=World's No 1 Milk Producer |publisher=Indiadairy.com |access-date=August 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516142829/http://www.indiadairy.com/ind_world_number_one_milk_producer.html |archive-date=May 16, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+Per capita consumption of milk and milk products in selected countries in 2011<ref name="intro">{{cite web |last=Goff |first=Douglas |title=Introduction to Dairy Science and Technology: Milk History, Consumption, Production, and Composition: World-wide Milk Consumption and Production |url=https://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/book-page/world-wide-milk-consumption-and-production |work=Dairy Science and Technology |publisher=University of Guelph |access-date=November 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112222438/https://www.uoguelph.ca/foodscience/book-page/world-wide-milk-consumption-and-production |archive-date=November 12, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
! Country !! Milk (liters) !! Cheese (kg) !! Butter (kg)
|-
| {{IRL}} || 135.6 || 6.7 || 2.4
|-
| {{FIN}} || 127.0 || 22.5 || 4.1
|-
| {{GBR}} || 105.9 || 10.9 || 3.0
|-
| {{AUS}} || 105.3 || 11.7 || 4.0
|-
| {{SWE}} || 90.1 || 19.1 || 1.7
|-
| {{CAN}} || 78.4 || 12.3 || 2.5
|-
| {{USA}} || 75.8 || 15.1 || 2.8
|-
| {{EUR}} || 62.8 || 17.1 || 3.6
|-
| {{BRA}} || 55.7 || 3.6 || 0.4
|-
| {{FRA}} || 55.5 || 26.3 || 7.5
|-
| {{ITA}} || 54.2 || 21.8 || 2.3
|-
| {{DEU}} || 51.8 || 22.9 || 5.9
|-
| {{GRE}} || 49.1 || 23.4 || 0.7
|-
| {{NED}} || 47.5 || 19.4 || 3.3
|-
| {{IND}} || 39.5 || – || 3.5
|-
| {{CHN}} || 9.1 || – || 0.1
|}