The Dairy Blog

Early in my career I was privileged to represent Mayfield Dairy Farms at meetings of the American Cultured Dairy Products Institute.  These meetings were held bi-annually, usually with a plant tour of some new dairy plant.  The purpose of ACDPI was to improve the quality, consistency and flavor of cultured products (mainly cottage cheese, buttermilk and sour cream) nationwide.  ACDPI sponsored product judging, and I took great pride knowing Mayfield products were some of the best in the nation.

It was at an ACDPI meeting that I first became aware of the potential for cultured products to improve one’s health.  ACDPI meetings attracted leaders in the dairy industry, their suppliers and also university professors who taught dairy science.  There was considerable consensus that cultured products enhanced good health, and that research into the matter was needed.  As an industry, we did not want to make health claims we could not back up with research.

By the late 1970’s, yogurt manufacturers joined ACDPI.  We knew yogurt was a very healthy dairy product; however, for most Americans, it was too sour unless sweetened with sugar.  Also, about this time a supplier of cultures introduced a clever idea, which was to add the probiotic culture Lactobacillus Acidolphilus to milk after pasteurization – viola!  Hence, Sweet Acidolphilus milk was born!  Kroger sold Sweet Acidolphilus in Knoxville.  When my young children had colic, I would drive to Knoxville to purchase Sweet Acidolphilus so we could add it to their formula.  It always worked.

In 1987, Mayfield became the first dairy in the United States to offer Nu-Trish a/B_®, which was 1% lowfat milk with both Acidolphilus and Bifidum cultures.  This product, with the two probiotic cultures, was considered a great improvement over Sweet Acidolphilus.  We knew then that the cultures aided digestion, and we suspected better overall health.  We were years ahead of our time, as research now proves the benefits to one’s immune system.  Today, Mayfield is changing the name of Nu-Trish to NURTURE MILK.  We will have two products (1% and 2%), and we have boosted the amount of the cultures.  In one product most of us consume every day, we will get the nutrition of milk with the immune system enhancement of probiotic cultures.  For years, Nu-Trish has been the milk we drink at my house, and now you can be sure Nurture will be our milk from now on.  The web site is up so check it out (http://www.nurturemilk.com/).

I am convinced both children and adults who drink Nurture milk will be healthier.