– I drink milk straight from the tank here, says farmer Odd-Einar Hjortnæs. Between the snow-covered fields in Asker, the shutters have started to be placed around the dairy farmer’s barn. – I don’t deliver the milk in a lorry to the dairy, and then buy it in cartons. It’s backwards. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news “Lean dairy product instead of fat”, the recommendation in the national dietary advice from the Norwegian Directorate of Health is not to be mistaken. At the same time, the sale of whole milk at the dairy is increasing, figures from Melk.no show. Rørosmeieriet in particular has sold far more fat dairy products in recent years: both cream and butter are full-fat products. The cream from Rørosmeiriet contains 39 per cent fat and the butter 85 per cent. In Norway, the sale of whole milk has increased by 1 per cent every year since 2015. In 2023, the sale will increase by a whopping 4.3 per cent, writes the Information Office for Dairy Products in an email to news. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news – I think more people have realized that research that has examined the connection between full-fat dairy products and disease does not support that there is any risk in eating them, says nutritional biologist Marit Kolby. The Norwegian Directorate of Health does not completely agree on that. – We cannot base dietary advice on individual studies, says Linda Granlund, divisional director in the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Marit Kolby, university lecturer and nutritional biologist. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news But what is the difference? We take the trip to the barn for answers. From teat to fridge On the farm in Asker, the temperature drops, but inside the window in the barn, 22 dairy cows are warm and well. Rautinga spreads among curious cows, which are not used to visitors. – We just have to live with them fussing a bit, says the farmer. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news Historically speaking, milk has been a central part of the diet of Norwegians, but we drink far less now, compared to the past. In the 1950s, we drank an average of 200 liters of milk a year. Today, we barely get 80 liters a year. A group of researchers at NTNU have researched why we drank less. They have pointed to the fear of saturated fat as one of the reasons. But with the increased sale of whole milk, it may look like this is changing. Senior nutrition advisor at Tine, Kari Helene Bugge. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news – I definitely think it is influenced by social media, but we also see that over several years there has been a trend that people are less afraid of saturated fat, says senior nutrition advisor in Tine, Kari Helene Bug. On the farm, the farmer prepares for milking. He has flushed the dairy with boiling water, and now three cows are ready. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news – This is Teleros. He says that the cows are named the first time they calve. Odd-Einar takes around Teleros’s udder and test milk jug to check if she is ready. Then he looked at a blue mammary organ. He has been developed so that he should look like a calf drinking from the udder, so that the cow gives milk. The milk goes through closed pipes to a farm tank that keeps it cool. A couple of times a week, the milk truck comes and takes the milk on to the dairy. A few liters of fat, untreated, milk go straight to the farmer’s fridge. You won’t find such fat milk on the shop shelves. Before she ends up there, she goes through a long process. The long milk route She comes from the farm in Asker, but eventually ends up here. The smell of milk lingers in the walls of Tine’s dairy at Kalbakken in Oslo. Photo: Mathilde Sunde Solsvik / news On the floor are large silver tanks. Reeds hang from the ceiling as far as the eye can see. Fresh cow’s milk flows inside many of them, from the surrounding gardens. Jan Erik Oppen, adviser to Tine, says they have a higher production of whole milk today than just a few years ago. – Some days we produce more whole milk than skimmed milk here. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news In one of the rooms there is noise from large machines. This is the first stop for the milk when it arrives at the dairy. – After we have tested for antibiotics and bacteria, we separate the milk into skimmed milk and whey, explains Oppen. All milk goes through the same process at the dairy: White-clad workers with hairnets and safety shoes walk around and control the machines in the factory. They ensure that the right milk comes in the right carton, before it is sent on to the shops. But what kind of milk is actually the most “correct”? Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news – The dietary guidelines are out of date Dairy products are an important part of the diet, but we should choose lean products, are the national dietary guidelines from the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The council must guide the entire population to choose products that lead to healthy health. And is updated every year, based on new research. When the proposals for changes from the Nordic Council of Ministers came last year, the debate was quickly underway. Among other things, they advised that everyone should eat as little food with a lot of fat as possible – including dairy products. Marit Kolby (top) and Linda Granlund. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news « … the knowledge base is changing. But our dietary advice does not follow,” wrote employees at Oslo Nye Høgskole in a statement on news. One of the authors is nutritional biologist Marit Kolby. She thinks it is strange that the council still encourages low-fat dairy products. – Newer research indicates that the connection between the saturated fat in dairy products is not related to heart and vascular diseases, as was previously thought, says Kolby. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news It’s not that she wants to recommend that people should only eat whole-fat products either, but: – There is nothing in our knowledge base that indicates that they must be lean either, she says. She has actively shared the message with her 100,000 followers on Instagram. Too much saturated fat The Norwegian Directorate of Health believes that there is no reason to recommend low-fat dairy products. They base the dietary advice on the newest and best global research, says Linda Granlund, division director in the directorate. – When we create national councils, we look at all knowledge in summary, not individual studies. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news They are now working on revising the national dietary advice. Therefore, Granlund is also careful not to advance the dietary advice as it currently stands. At the same time: We consume too much saturated fat in Norway. – The usual dairy products, which contain a lot of fat, contribute to this. We therefore recommend light dairy products, says Granlund. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news To milk or not to milk Senior nutrition advisor in Tine, Kari Helene Bugge, recalls that there is actually not that big a difference between the types of milk. – They contain the same useful nutrients that everyone needs, and are all equally natural. Both skimmed, light and whole milk are produced in exactly the same way. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news Farmer Odd-Einar doesn’t think that it is whole milk or whey that is the problem either. – I think the big problem to a far greater extent is snop, chocolate, crisps and the like. He drank the fattest milk you can get. – But I do understand that those who sit a lot, who are not that active on a daily basis, should perhaps not eat too much full-fat dairy products. He smiles and adds: – But it’s not as if I’m in danger of becoming a sumo wrestler anyhow. Photo: Matilde Sunde Solsvik / news
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The sale of whole milk and fatty dairy products is increasing – Direct
