07/16/08 Natural Low Fat Milk

During any given trip to the grocery store I invariably find myself standing in the dairy section trying to decide which percentage of milk fat I should choose for my family and whether we'll sacrifice taste going with 1 percent over 2 percent. Nature appears to have come to the rescue by engineering her own natural source of good tasting low-fat milk in the guise of a cow named "Marge" from New Zealand. It was discovered by scientists that Marge and her offspring carry a mutant gene which enables them to produce milk that only contains around 1 percent fat content, compared to about 3.5 percent for whole milk. The milk from these cows is also high in healthy omega 3 fatty acids and makes easily spreadable butter even if chilled. Fonterra Cooperative Group, one of the world's largest milk producers, purchased the cow and is doing extensive research and testing to determine whether the genetic trait will remain dominant. If so, the company is hoping to be able to supply natural low-fat milk and spreadable butter for the market by 2011. Truly a treat to look forward to!