Dairy products make important contributions to the American diet.
They provide high-quality protein and are good sources of vitamins
A, D, and B-12, and also riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium,
zinc, and calcium.
In 1909, Americans consumed a total of 34 gallons of fluid milk
per person—27 gallons of whole milk and 7 gallons of milks
lower in fat than whole milk, mostly buttermilk. Back then, buttermilk
was the byproduct of churning milk or cream into butter, often
done on farms. Today, the major byproduct of the commercial butter-making
process is nonfat dry milk, and our buttermilk is cultured, or
soured, by the addition of lactic acid or suitable bacteria to
sweet milk. More than half (56 percent) of the milk consumed in
1909 was consumed on the farms where it was produced, compared
with 10 percent in 1960 and 0.3 percent in 2001.
Significant improvements in milk production in the first half of
the 20th century helped to control the spread of disease and enhance
the nutritional value of milk. In the early 1900s, when diseases
like typhoid fever and diptheria were spread through the milk supply,
public health authorities promoted pasteurization and other measures
to eliminate disease-producing organisms from milk. In the 1930s
and 1940s, fortification of milk with vitamin D was a critical step
in the control of rickets, a vitamin D deficiency disease of children
in which bones are softened or deformed. Homogenization prevented
milkfat (cream) and fat-soluble vitamin D from rising to the top
of the milk and being poured off for uses other than drinking and
ensured that children obtained the nutrients they needed from drinking
milk.
Fluid milk consumption shot up from
34 gallons per person in 1941 to a peak of 45 gallons per person
in 1945.
War production lifted Americans’ incomes but curbed civilian
production and the goods consumers could buy. Many food items
were rationed, including meats, butter, and sugar. Milk was
not rationed, and consumption soared. Since 1945, however,
milk consumption has fallen steadily, reaching a record low
of just under 23 gallons per person in 2001 (the latest year
for which data are available). Steep declines in consumption
of whole milk and buttermilk far outpaced an increase in other
lower fat milks. By 2001, Americans were consuming less than
8 gallons per person of whole milk, compared with nearly 41
gallons in 1945 and 25 gallons in 1970. In contrast, per capita
consumption of total lower fat milks was 15 gallons in 2001,
up from 4 gallons in 1945 and 6 gallons in 1970. These changes
are consistent with increased public concern about cholesterol,
saturated fat, and calories. However, the decline in per capita
consumption of fluid milk also may be attributed to competition
from other beverages, especially carbonated soft drinks and
bottled water, a smaller percentage of children and adolescents
in the U.S., and a more ethnically diverse population whose
diet does not normally include milk.
In 2001, Americans consumed 30 pounds of cheese
per person, 8 times more than they did in 1909 and more than
twice as much as they did in 1975. Demand for time-saving convenience
foods is a major force behind this growth in cheese consumption.
More than half (about 55 percent to 65 percent) of our cheese
now comes in commercially manufactured and prepared foods (including
for food service), such as fast food sandwiches and packaged
snack foods. New products, such as resealable bags of shredded
cheeses, have also raised consumption.
U.S. per capita consumption of ice cream reached
an all-time high of 23 pounds (more than 20 quarts per person)
in 1946 as America celebrated its World War II victory and
sugar rationing was lifted. From 1949 through 1987, per capita
ice cream consumption was relatively constant in the U.S. As
more prepackaged ice cream was sold through supermarkets, traditional
ice cream parlors and soda fountains started to disappear.
Also during this period, average consumption of other frozen
dairy products, such as sherbet and reduced-fat ice cream,
increased. Since 1988, Americans, on average, have been eating
a little less ice cream overall but more of the higher priced,
higher milkfat premium and superpremium ice creams as well
as frozen yogurt and other frozen dairy products.
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