Which nutrients are provided by dairy foods?
Dairy foods are all made from milk. Milk provides important amounts of protein which contains the essential amino acids required for growth and a wide range of different vitamins and minerals. Milk and milk products provide approximately half of our calcium requirements. There is also an important amount of the mineral zinc provided.
Milk also provides vitamin B12 which is needed for healthy blood And vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) which we need to make the most out of the energy in our food. A variety of different milks available, such as whole milk provides 4% fat, semi-skimmed milk which is less than 2% fat, 1% milk and skimmed milk.
Cheese provides similar nutrients to milk, but provides more calcium and fat as it is more concentrated due to the loss of fluid. A range of cheeses, such as hard cheese, soft cheese and cottage cheese, are also available with different fat contents for consumers to choose from.
Yogurt also provides similar nutrients to milk. Different varieties of yogurts with different fat contents and probiotic yogurts are also available. There is interest in some of the potential health benefits of these food products.
These foods make a good contribution to a wide range of nutrients.