Explanations for population variation in
adult milk digestion depend on
evolutionary histories with dairying and milk
usage.
 So, it is essential to know what consumption
practices were like in the past, especially
among populations with high frequencies
of lactase persistence.
 We do know that milk consumption
becomes much more common in the late
19th century in Europe and the United
States, but why?
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Earliest domestication of dairy animals was
~8,000 years ago in the Middle East
Milk may have been one of the earliest uses for
these animals, who were also used for other
purposes
Cows (Bos taurus and Bos indicus) were
important sources of milk in Europe and South
Asia, respectively
Goats and sheep were more common in the
Mediterranean
Lactase persistence co-evolved with milk
usage in Europe, Africa, and South Asia.
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Evidence from household budgets,
rations for poorhouses, representations in
art, culinary traditions
 Probably not – more frequently used to
produce cheese, butter, buttermilk.
Whey used in porridge
 Beer or wine more common as
beverages for both adults and children
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Coffee, tea, and chocolate, which were all
products imported from European colonies,
were often consumed with milk.
 This reduced bitterness and gave rise to an
increase in milk consumption in Europe in
conjunction with these commodities.
 These were often consumed by workers as
a cheap stimulants and “hunger-killers”
(See Sidney Mintz, Sweetness and Power)
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© 2011 Taylor and Francis
No domestic source of milk – had to
purchase from the market
 Concern over “putrefication” – i.e.
traditional modes of fermentation of milk
products
 More women working in factories – in
need of a breastmilk substitute for infants
 Urban women lost their social network for
wet nursing and cows milk became the
wet-nurse substitute as well
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© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Cows kept in close confinement outside
of cities – spread of disease
 Cows poorly nourished and fed “swill,”
the remains of alcohol fermentation
 No means to keep milk cold while it was
transported to urban consumers
 Milk contaminated with pathogens –
contributed to infant and child mortality
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© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Correlation of trends in child deaths from diarrheal disease and
spread of pasteurization in Massachusetts (Source: Drawn from data
in Crumbine and Tobey (1929)).
A ghoulish figure selling swill milk to a mother and her sickly child in
New York City
(Source: Harpers Weekly (1878)).
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
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Louis Pasteur – heating destroys microbes that induce
fermentation or that cause disease.
Robert Koch – germ theory of disease (1882)
Concerns about milk’s safety led to pasteurization of milk
supply to cities in late 19th- early 20th century
Questions about milk as an appropriate food, especially
for children, were framed in terms of safety; it was
assumed that milk drinking was the “natural” state of
affairs
Ensuring a safe milk supply was seen as a way of solving
some of the social problems of city life in the 19th century.
Refrigerated transport allowed broader distribution of
pasteurized milk.
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
With increased production of milk, need
for larger market
 Children (older than infants) became the
target market for milk
 National Dairy Council formed in 1915 to
promote milk
 Child health equated with milk drinking
 Milk promoted as key to child growth
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© 2011 Taylor and Francis
Milk promotion emphasizing milk’s value for child growth
(Source: Ladies Home Journal (June 1904)).
U.S. Bureau of Education recommendations for schoolchildren
(Source: Reaney (1922)).
© 2011 Taylor and Francis
•Milk consumption peaked
during WWII and has been
declining ever since and is
well below levels from the
early 20th century
•Cheese consumption has
continued to climb
Trends in fluid milk and cheese consumption in the United States
(Source: Drawn
from data from United States Department of Agriculture (2008)).
•Does this represent a
return to pre-industrial
forms of milk/dairy
consumption?
© 2011 Taylor and Francis