Why fat content of milk is not measured in neat numbers?

Sheep, goat, camel, mare – these and other kinds of milk a person uses in food often enough. The composition of macro- and microelements, content of vitamins, protein, and fat content is very Variability.

Goat’s milk: 2,5-9,5% fat, 2,8-5% protein. Sheep’s milk: 4-10% fat, 4.5-7% protein. Mare’s milk: 1.5-2.5% fat, 1.5-2.7% protein.

Cow’s milk is also different, its fat content ranges from 2.8% to 6%. It affects the animal’s breed, type of feed, the content mode. Thus, the winter and summer fatter milk contains more protein – due to lower temperatures and changes in the diet of cows. The liquid milk becomes metabolic disorders in the cow. For example, if it is fed with roughage and concentrates.

Since the percentage of fat cow’s milk is not very large, even a small change significantly alters the taste, but also affects the nutritional and energy value. You can compare for yourself: pour into a glass of milk fat content of 1.2%, while in the other – 4.7%. Not difficult to spot the difference.

According to EU standards, the fat content range in cow’s milk is great: 0.5; 1.2; 1.5; 2.0; 2.5; 2.7; 2.8; 3.0; 3.2; 3.5; 4.0; 4.5; 4.7; 5.0; 5.5; 6.0; 6.5; 7.0; 7.2; 7.5; 8.0; 8.5; 9.0; 9.5. What to choose – a matter of taste.

There is also a GOST pasteurized goat’s milk as the most common after a cow. It standardized fat mass fraction of from 2.8 to 5.6%, protein – not less than 3%. On the other types of milk producer is able to develop its own standards.

Creams are made by separation, i.e. processing, when the fatty part is separated from low fat milk. Separation does not affect the quality of the product. This separation of milk under the action of centrifugal force into two fractions, each of which is used in its intended for the expansion of the range of dairy products.

The fatty cream is at least 10%, and the change in this indicator does not affect any percent. We do not distinguish the juicy cream 10% of 10.5%, but 10% and 15% of taste are already quite different. Viscosity will also be viscosity and energy value. Therefore, cream, as well as sour cream, developed on them, are fatty 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% or 30%.

Read also an article where the top-12 milk facts are collected, which may be surprised.