Milk and dairy products such as cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais are great sources of protein and vitamins A and B12. They're also an important source of calcium, which helps to keep our bones strong. The calcium in dairy foods are easy for the body to absorb.
On this page
Healthier choices
When you are pregnant
Babies and children
Pasteurisation
Allergy and intolerance
Healthier choices
The fat content of different dairy
products varies a lot and much of this is saturated fat, which can raise
cholesterol and is linked to heart disease. Most cheeses (e.g. Brie, Stilton, Cheddar, Lancashire and Double Gloucester) contain between 20 and 40g fat per 100g. If you're trying to make the healthier choice, you don't need to avoid cheese, but it's a good idea to keep a check on how much you eat and how often. For example, you could try eating it less often or having smaller portions.
If you're using cheese to flavour a dish or a sauce, you could try using a very strong-tasting cheese, such as mature Cheddar or blue cheese, because then you'll need less.
Another option is to choose reduced-fat hard cheeses, which usually contain between 10 and 16g fat per 100g. A few cheeses are even lower in fat (3g fat per 100g or less), including reduced-fat cottage cheese and Quark.
If you're trying to cut down on fat, it's a good idea to go for lower fat milks. As well as semi-skimmed and skimmed milks, you can also buy 1% fat milk. This contains nearly half the fat of semi-skimmed milk but still provides the important nutritional benefits of milk, including calcium, protein, minerals and vitamins. You can also choose low-fat yoghurts or fromage frais. These products contain at least the same amount of protein, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc as full-fat versions. They just contain less fat.
Cream and butter are high in fat, so try to use them sparingly. You can use plain yoghurt and fromage frais instead of cream, soured cream or Crème fraîche in recipes. And low-fat spreads can be used instead of butter.
It's also worth remembering that some dairy products can be high in salt, and too much salt can cause high blood pressure (hypertension), which is also linked to heart disease. Adults should be eating no more than 6g of salt a day.
Some flavoured and malted milk products and shakes tend to contain added sugar, which can be bad for our teeth.
You can check the amount of fat, salt and sugar by looking at the nutrition information on the label. If you compare similar products you will be able to choose the ones with lower amounts.
Visit our salt websiteWhen you are pregnant
Dairy foods are very important in
pregnancy because calcium helps your unborn baby's developing bones to
harden.But when you're pregnant you should avoid unpasteurised dairy products and cheeses such as Camembert, Brie or chevre (a type of goats' cheese), or others that have a similar rind. You should also avoid soft blue cheeses.
This is because they can contain high levels of listeria, a germ that can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or severe illness in a newborn baby.
There is no listeria risk with cottage cheese, processed cheese or hard cheeses (such as Cheddar), even if they are unpasteurised, so there is no need to avoid these.
Babies and children
Milk and dairy products are an
important part of a child's diet. They are a good source of energy and
protein, and contain a wide range of vitamins and minerals, particularly
calcium, which growing children and young people need to build healthy
bones and teeth.Babies
Breast milk is the best drink for babies for the first year and beyond. The only alternative to breast milk in the first six months is infant formula. Choose an infant formula based on cows' milk unless you have been advised otherwise by your health professional. You should continue to give your baby breast milk or formula milk until he or she is at least a year old.
Ordinary milk isn't suitable as a drink until a baby is a year old. This is because it doesn't contain the right balance of nutrients to meet your baby's needs. Ordinary full-fat milks (from cows, goats or sheep) can be used for cooking in foods such as cheese sauce and custard from six months.
At about a year old, a switch can be made from formula to full-fat milk as a drink. If you are breastfeeding you can continue to breastfeed.
Another type of infant formula is soya-based infant formula. But only use soya-based infant formula on the advice of your GP or health visitor. Babies who are allergic to cows' milk may also be allergic to soya.
In almost all cases, breastfeeding or another type of formula will be a better choice.
Infant formulas and follow-on formulas based on goats' milk protein are not suitable for babies and have not been approved for use in Europe. If you are currently using a goats' milk formula for feeding your baby it is important to seek the advice of your health professional about the most appropriate type of formula for your baby's needs, before changing to a different formula.
Children
Children should drink full-fat milk until they are at least two years old because they may not get as many calories as they need from semi-skimmed milk.
After the age of two, children can gradually move to semi-skimmed milk as a main drink, as long as they are eating a varied and balanced diet and growing well.
Don't give skimmed or 1% fat milk to children as a main drink until they're at least five years old because they don't contain enough vitamin A and skimmed milk doesn't contain enough calories.
Children between the ages of one and three need to have about 350mg of calcium a day. About 300ml milk (three fifths of a pint) would provide this.
Goats' and sheep's milk
These aren't suitable as drinks for babies under a year old because they don't contain the right balance of nutrients to meet your baby's needs.
Providing they are pasteurised, ordinary full-fat goats' and sheep's milk can be used as drinks once a baby is a year old.
Ordinary full-fat milks (from cows, goats or sheep) can be used for cooking in foods such as cheese sauce and custard from six months.
Pasteurisation
Pasteurisation is a process of heat
treatment intended to kill harmful food poisoning bacteria.You can sometimes buy unpasteurised milk and cream. Although these products are very popular with some people, they could be harmful.
This is because they have not been heat-treated and so could contain harmful food poisoning bacteria.
When you see raw drinking milk (from cows, goats or sheep) on sale, it needs to carry a warning to say that it has not been heat-treated and may contain harmful bacteria.
Children, people who are unwell, pregnant women and older people are particularly vulnerable to food poisoning and so should not have unpasteurised milk or cream.
If you choose unpasteurised milk or cream, be especially careful to keep them properly refrigerated because they both have a short shelf-life.
Allergy and intolerance
Some people have an intolerance to milk. This is called 'lactose intolerance'. Lactose intolerance is more common in certain countries and ethnic groups than in others. In communities where milk is not traditionally part of the typical adult diet, a much bigger proportion of people are affected. For example, in South America, Africa and Asia, more than 50% of the population are intolerant to lactose, reaching nearly 100% in some parts of Asia. In the UK, Ireland, Northern Europe and America, we think that, on average, about 5% of the adult population have this condition.
Lactose intolerance can cause symptoms such as bloating and diarrhoea. There is no medical treatment for lactose intolerance, but symptoms can be avoided by controlling the amount of lactose in the diet. Adults with lactose intolerance can often have a small amount of milk without reacting. Milk from mammals including cows, goats and sheep all contain lactose. This means that goats' milk and sheep's milk aren't suitable alternatives to cows' milk for people who are intolerant to lactose.
People with lactose intolerance often find that they can eat cheese and yoghurt without any problems. Cheese contains much less lactose than milk. Yoghurt contains a similar amount of lactose to milk, but it still seems to be easier to digest for people with lactose intolerance. This might be something to do with the bacteria used to make it.
Milk allergy, unlike lactose intolerance, can cause severe reactions. But often the symptoms are mild. They can affect any part of the body and can include rashes, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and difficulty breathing.
In a very few cases, milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis. This is a life-threatening allergic reaction, which involves someone finding it hard to breathe, their lips or mouth become swollen, and they could collapse. If this does happen, you should call 999 immediately and describe what is happening.
Milk allergy affects 2 to 7% of babies under a year old. Children usually grow out of milk allergy by the time they are three, but about a fifth are still allergic to milk when they are adults.
Don't cut milk and dairy products out of your diet, or your child's diet, without talking to your GP or a dietitian. Otherwise you or your child might not get enough of important nutrients such as calcium.
