on 10-Aug-2019 (Sat)

The great French chemist Louis Pasteur inspired two fundamental changes in dairy prac - tice: pasteurization, the pathogen-killing heat treatment that bears his name; and the use of standard, purified microbial cul - tures to make cheeses and other fermented foods.

Manufacturers now remove much of what makes milk, cheese, ice cream, and butter distinctive and pleasurable: they remove milk fat

Thanks to the rumen microbes, which convert the unsaturated fatty acids of grass and grain into saturated fatty acids, the milk fat of ruminant animals is the most highly saturated of our common foods. Only coconut oil beats it. Saturated fat does raise blood cholesterol levels, and high blood cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of heart disease; but the other foods in a balanced diet can com - pensate for this disadvantage (p. 253).