Future of Milk Fat Modification by Production or Processing: Integration of Nutrition, Food Science, and Animal Science

Food components can be chemically or physiologically defined. Chemical definitions were more thoroughly understood when the USFDA published its first labeling regulations, and the chemical definitions of fats persist on food labels today. Advances in nutritional information reveal serious disparities between the two types of definitions. Clearly the consumers' expectations are not being met by the definitions behind the regulations in force today. For example, the chemical definitions of subgroups, such as saturated fat, that are placed on food labels and the physiological implications of fat as understood by the consumer reading those labels are often seriously incompatible. Accurate information on food labels is the first issue that needs to be addressed so that consumers have the information needed to design diets that are consistent with a healthy lifestyle. A second issue is a method to motivate the consumer to use nutritional information. Both issues, accurate label information and behavior modification, have the full attention of competitive food industries.