The headline screamed …
Coca-Cola to Sell Sexy Lactose-Free Milk!
Nice!
Nothing says sexy like “lactose-free.” Seriously, have you ever been intimate with someone who’s lactose-intolerant – at the most inconvenient time? It ain’t pretty. So thank God for Coca-Cola. (Sarcasm intended)
At the recent Morgan Stanley Global Consumer Conference, Coca-Cola’s North American chief Sandy Douglas told a crowd of uncomfortable fake smiles that this new product, called Fairlife, is the premiumization of milk, saying, “We’ll charge twice as much for it as the milk we’re used to buying in a jug.”
Brilliant!
According to the Independent, Fairlife will be boosted and juiced and altered in various ways to be more like an energy drink than fresh-from-the-teat milk. Which, interestingly, is not something many Americans will ever have the opportunity to drink.
The company will pump extra protein and more calcium in this milk product and reduce the sugar content. You know, because that’ll make it healthier. Well, at least according to company reps. Of course, I’m pretty sure that anything Mother Nature has already come up with is significantly healthier than anything a food scientist can come up with in a lab.
While Coca-Cola goes full steam ahead on pushing its new “healthier” milk product, there’s already a “healthier” milk available. Well, at least for those folks living in states where it’s not illegal.
It’s called raw milk – and I’m willing to bet that it’s a hell of a lot better for you than Fairlife.
There are mountains of data and loads of studies that clearly illustrate the benefits of raw milk provided by healthy cows and responsible farmers. And the folks over at livestrong have actually done a great job at boiling a lot of this stuff down for consumers. Take a look …
Nutrient Content
Raw milk is nutritionally superior to pasteurized milk because heat alters and degrades some of the nutrients naturally found in it. Several heat-sensitive vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamins C, E and B-12, are destroyed in the pasteurization process and are found in smaller amounts in pasteurized milk than in raw milk. The fat content of raw milk — 4 percent on average — is higher than that of commercial whole milk, which is standardized at 3.5 percent.
Microbial Content
Raw milk is rich in microorganisms. In pasteurization, milk is heated to a high enough temperature to kill off any harmful microorganisms that may be present, the most common of which are campylobacter, salmonella and Escherichia coli. About 0 to 6 percent of raw cow milk in Europe is estimated to contain one or more of these harmful bacteria. However, pasteurization also destroys bacteria that may be beneficial to you, such as Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, as well as bacteria that may help digest the lactose in milk. Claeys reports that the relevance and number of these bacteria are too limited to have any physiological effect for consumers.
Protection Against Asthma and Allergies
Several epidemiological studies, including one by Anna Lluis and colleagues published in 2014 in the “Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology,” reported that drinking raw milk early in life may reduce the risk for developing asthma, allergic rhinitis, hay fever, pollen allergy and atopic sensitization. Scientists have not yet identified which components of raw milk are responsible for this protective effect. In a 2010 report in “Clinical and Experimental Allergy,” researchers suggested that the higher microbial load, higher milk fat or whey proteins in raw milk might be responsible for this protective effect.
Lactose Intolerance
Proponents of drinking raw milk claim that raw milk is more easily digested by those who are lactose-intolerant. Lactose is a sugar found in both raw and pasteurized milk and other dairy products. Individuals who are lactose-intolerant are unable to digest this sugar because their bodies do not produce lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose. Neither raw nor pasteurized milk contains lactase. Lactic acid bacteria in raw milk produce lactase, which may make raw milk more easily digestible for those who are lactose-intolerant; however, Claeys states in “Food Control” that the production of lactase by these bacteria is very limited at the refrigeration temperature required for storage of raw milk.
Milk Allergy
People who have a milk allergy may tolerate raw milk better than pasteurized. In the 2010 article in “Clinical and Experimental Allergy,” the authors reported that homogenization, a process that breaks up fat globules and prevents a cream layer from separating out of milk, favors milk allergy in animal models.
Raw, Sexist and Offensive
Of course, raw milk isn’t available to just anyone. No, you have to be granted permission by the state to sell it. Fairlife? Well, I’m willing to bet you’ll have no problem picking some up at any grocery store or convenience store in the country.
Truth is, the only problem Coca-Cola has run into with its new milk product is in regards to its advertising. Apparently some folks found its new ads to be sexist and offensive. But I find it far more offensive that some random bureaucrat gets to decide what you can and cannot drink.
The truth is, I really don’t care about Fairlife or how many people drink it. If Coca-Cola wants to sell it, and people want to buy it – have at it! But remember this, dear reader. As Coca-Cola gets ready to launch a new multi-million dollar product with no politician interfering, an honest, hard-working farmer in a small town is being watched by the FDA – just to make sure he or she doesn’t sell a few gallons of delicious, wholesome raw milk.
Ah yes, justice for all.
