The potential value of cultured dairy products for child nutrition.

The author suggests that under certain conditions cultured milk, rather than fluid milk, can be used for infant and child nutrition as well as for school milk programs. Some of the major problems with fluid milk, fresh or reconstituted, are discussed. A review of the literature indicates that the assumption of lactose intolerance among many populations is exaggerated. Inappropriate handling of pasteurized milk very often is responsible for a high bacterial count and organoleptic defects. Such quality defects are more pronounced in countries with a warm climate. The use of polluted water in the reconstitution of milk powder, is probably more often responsible for diarrhea than lactose intolerance. For these reasons it is suggested that under appropriate conditions a cultured milk product such as yogurt or quark, be used for infant and child nutrition. The advantages are: 1) the low pH caused by the high lactic acid content detrimentally affects food spoilage and pathogenic organisms in milk; 2) longer shelf life of the fermented product at ambient temperature; and 3) fermented milk products contain the enzyme lactase which facilitates digestion of residual lactose even after ingestion.