Abstract
Nutrient-rich foods play a major role in countering the challenges of nourishing an increasing global population. Milk is a source of high-quality protein and bioavailable amino acids, several vitamins, and minerals such as calcium. We used the DELTA Model, which calculates the delivery of nutrition from global food production scenarios, to examine the role of milk in global nutrition. Of the 29 nutrients considered by the model, milk contributes to the global availability of 28. Milk is the main contributing food item for calcium (49% of global nutrient availability), Vitamin B2 (24%), lysine (18%), and dietary fat (15%), and contributes more than 10% of global nutrient availability for a further five indispensable amino acids, protein, vitamins A, B5, and B12, phosphorous, and potassium. Despite these high contributions to individual nutrients, milk is responsible for only 7% of food energy availability, indicating a valuable contribution to global nutrition without necessitating high concomitant energy intakes. Among the 98 food items considered by the model, milk ranks in the top five contributors to 23 of the 29 nutrients modeled. This quantification of the importance of milk to global nutrition in the current global food system demonstrates the need for the high valuation of this food when considering future changes to the system.
Highlights
Achieving global nutrition and food security is a great challenge given the large forecast increases in the global population and the current degree of undernutrition, overnutrition, and inequitable food distribution present in many parts of the world [1,2,3]
The DELTA Model provides insight into several aspects of the global food system and global nutrition; here, we report the results pertaining to the nutrition provided by milk production in 2018
The most notable contributions were to calcium, protein and the indispensable amino acids, dietary fat, phosphorous, potassium and several vitamins, providing 10–49% of the global availability of these nutrients from all food sources
Summary
Achieving global nutrition and food security is a great challenge given the large forecast increases in the global population and the current degree of undernutrition, overnutrition, and inequitable food distribution present in many parts of the world [1,2,3]. Nutrient-rich foods will be one of the solutions important in ensuring that the global population is nourished. Foods with high nutrient to energy ratios will be important in achieving nutrition without the attendant non-communicable disease risks and healthcare costs of excess energy intake [3]. Mammalian milks are consumed throughout the lifespan and in all parts of the world, with global milk production for human consumption in excess of 800 million tons per year and growing [7, 8]. Milk and other dairy food products produced from further processing of milk are a large contributor to human nutrition
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