Ed DePeters, a professor of animal science at UC Davis, milks a demonstration cow at a presentation Tuesday announcing the development of a diet supplement to reduce the amount of saturated fat in milk. Sacramento Bee/Jay Mather

Udder alternative

UCD researchers develop a diet additive for cows they hope will block most of the saturated fat.

By Loretta Kalb -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Wednesday, November 5, 2003

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University researchers in Davis have put dairy cows on a diet that blocked a significant amount of cholesterol-elevating fat from their milk, the scientists announced Tuesday.

They hope their findings will lead to a healthier glass of milk in a year, but dairy industry veterans said the success of their endeavor will depend on solid nutritional benefits and marketing.

Using a heat-treated supplement of whey protein and oil, the two professors at the University of California, Davis, thwarted a bovine digestive twist that takes feed high in unsaturated fat and transforms it into its unwelcome saturated kin in the cow's milk.

The food supplement prevented that conversion by shielding the unsaturated fats from the action of microorganisms and protozoa in the cow's largest stomach, known as the rumen, researchers said.

High levels of saturated fats in diet have been linked to elevation of cholesterol and to heart disease.

Professor Moshe Rosenberg, a dairy specialist in UCD's department of food science and technology, and Ed DePeters, a UCD animal science professor, ran multiple 21-day tests involving more than 1,500 milk samples for a year. During the tests, researchers recorded as much as an eightfold increase in the levels of unsaturated fats in cows' milk.

The formula does not require approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because the processes and food used are already permitted, said Rosenberg.

Researchers said they have moved onto the next phase of the effort: pilot projects followed by larger-scale milk and feed production.

"This is a technology that can be used commercially on any dairy in the U.S.," said DePeters, noting that it was developed without genetic modifications and using ingredients safe for consumers.

Industry experts said acceptance by dairy farmers will depend in large part on acceptance by consumers.

"The dairy farmer is going to have to work with the person or the company that buys the milk," said Joe O'Donnell, executive director of the California Dairy Research Foundation in Davis.

"If you have a dairy farmer selling a product to ... the retail marketplace, (the retailer) is going to have to do the market research and determine how much consumers are going to be willing to pay for a value-added product."

Mike Newell, president of Crystal Cream & Butter Co. in Sacramento, took a cautious approach when asked about consumer acceptance, saying he does not know "how far a leap forward this is in terms of the nutritional value."

Although it would be healthier, milk, cheeses and even meat with lower saturated fats would not translate into fewer calories. The benefits, said researchers, would be in improved cardiovascular health.

Even then, not everyone would gain.

O'Donnell, who has a doctorate in nutrition, said cardiovascular health is highly complex with many factors at play -- human genetics is perhaps the largest among them.

"The saturated fat tends to be associated with a higher cholesterol level in the blood," he said. "When that happens, you start getting more buildup of blockages in the arteries.

"Those who are susceptible ... will be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. But it's a very personal thing. Not everybody responds the same."

As milk with higher unsaturated fat content arrives on store shelves, it would share the spotlight with a host of competing products -- including organic dairy products and those that already are nonfat.

"In a nonfat milk you have no unsaturated (or saturated) fat," said Nancy Fletcher, a vice president for the California Milk Advisory Board, which produced the widely known "real California cheese" campaign.

"Right now we have a wide variety of dairy products with ... nonfat yogurt."

For those consumers who already gravitate to whole milk -- often because of taste -- there was little clue Tuesday about how milk produced using the UCD approach might differ. Researchers said they were not authorized to produce milk for human consumption and, so, had only smelled the product.

And what do the cows think?

Researchers brought two cows -- a Jersey and a Holstein -- to a courtyard to exhibit to reporters and to demonstrate their fondness for the food additive.

Neither cow had participated in the research. Yet they did their best to cooperate with researchers, who hand-fed them the whey-oil concoction.

The Holstein had her fill of food while waiting for the gaggle of reporters. She wasn't much interested.

Only the Jersey, Daisy, sampled the fare as cameras clicked and whirred.

The invention has been submitted to the U.S. Patent Office for approval.

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	Professor Moshe Rosenberg shows how the new cattle-feed supplement is canned at UC Davis. Sacramento Bee/Jay Mather

	Sources: University of California, Davis; www.cattletoday.com, www.fofweb.com Sacramento Bee/Val B. Mina