Dairy Research Bulletin: Selected Articles from November 2022

Dairy Research Bulletin

Selected Articles from November 2022

Environmental Management and Sustainability

California-Based Research – Artificial Intelligence Approach for Estimating Dairy Methane Emissions. Jeong S, Fischer ML, Breunig H, Marklein AR, Hopkins FM, Biraud SC. Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Apr 19;56(8):4849-4858.

California’s dairy sector accounts for ∼50% of anthropogenic CH₄emissions in the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory. Although California dairy facilities’ location and herd size vary over time, atmospheric inverse modeling studies rely on decade-old facility-scale geospatial information.
For the first time, researchers applied artificial intelligence (AI) to aerial imagery to estimate dairy CH₄emissions from California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), a region with ∼90% of the state’s dairy population.
Using an AI method, the researchers processed 316,882 images to estimate the facility-scale herd size across the SJV.
The AI approach predicts herd size that strongly (>95%) correlates with that made by human visual inspection, providing a low-cost alternative to the labor-intensive inventory development process. The researchers estimate SJV’s dairy enteric and manure CH₄emissions for 2018 to be 496-763 Gg/yr using the predicted herd size.
The researchers also applied their AI approach to estimate CH₄emission reduction from anaerobic digester deployment. They identified 162 large (90th percentile) farms and estimated a CH₄ reduction potential of 83 Gg CH₄/yr for these large facilities from anaerobic digester adoption.
The results indicate that this AI approach can be applied to characterize the manure system (g., use of an anaerobic lagoon) and estimate GHG emissions for other sectors.

DATAMAN: A global database of methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emission factors for livestock housing and outdoor storage of manure. Hassouna M, van der Weerden TJ, Simon P. et al. J Environ Qual. 2022 Nov 23.

Livestock manure management systems can be significant sources of nitrous oxide (N₂O) methane (CH₄ ) and ammonia (NH₃ ) emissions. Many studies have been conducted to improve our understanding of the emission processes and to identify influential variables in order to develop mitigation techniques adapted to each manure management step (animal house, outdoor storage, and manure spreading to land).
The international project DATAMAN (http://www.dataman.co.nz) aims to develop a global database on greenhouse gases (N₂O, CH₄ ) and NH₃ emissions from the manure management chain to refine emission factors for national greenhouse gas (GHG) and NH₃
This paper describes the housing and outdoor storage components of this database. Relevant information for different animal categories, manure types, livestock buildings, outdoor storage and climatic conditions were collated from published peer reviewed research, conference papers and existing databases published between 1995 and 2021.
The storage database contains 654 NH₃emission factors from 16 countries, 243 CH₄ emission factors from 13 countries and 421 N₂ O emission factors from 17 countries.
Across all gases, dairy cattle and swine production in temperate climate zones are the most represented animal and climate categories. In the housing database, 2024 emission factors were collated (63% for NH₃, 19.5% for CH₄ and 17.5% for N₂ O). As for the storage database, the number of emission factors for the tropical climate zone is under-represented with only 8 values included.
The DATAMAN database can be used for the refinement of national inventories and better assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a range of mitigation strategies.

California-Based Research – Climate Justice and California’s Methane Superemitters: Environmental Equity Assessment of Community Proximity and Exposure Intensity. Casey JA, Cushing L, Depsky N, Morello-Frosch R. Environ Sci Technol. 2021 Nov 2;55(21):14746-14757.

Methane superemitters emit non-methane copollutants that are harmful to human health. Yet, no prior studies have assessed disparities in exposure to methane superemitters with respect to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and civic engagement.
To do so, researchers obtained the location, category (e.g., landfill, refinery), and emission rate of California methane superemitters from Next Generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG) flights conducted between 2016 and 2018.
The researchers identified block groups within 2 km of superemitters (exposed) and 5-10 km away (unexposed) using dasymetric mapping and assigned level of exposure among block groups within 2 km (measured via number of superemitter categories and total methane emissions).
Analyses included 483 superemitters. The majority were dairy/manure (n= 213) and oil/gas production sites (n = 127). Results from fully adjusted logistic mixed models indicate environmental injustice in methane superemitter locations.
For example, for every 10% increase in non-Hispanic Black residents, the odds of exposure increased by 10% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.17). The researchers observed similar disparities for Hispanics and Native Americans but not with indicators of socioeconomic status.
Among block groups located within 2 km, increasing proportions of non-White populations and lower voter turnout were associated with higher superemitter emission intensity.
Previously unrecognized racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to California methane superemitters should be considered in policies to tackle methane emissions.

Dairy production sustainability through a one-health lens. Nguyen BT, Briggs KR, Nydam DV. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2022 Nov 14:1-5.

Dairy production provides high-quality, healthful nutrients to people on a planet soon to be inhabited by over 9 billion people. In doing so, it is ever more important to continuously improve the care of dairy animals, safeguard the environment we all share, and reliably produce nutritious food while maintaining the economic viability of the people working in dairy agriculture.
In this paper, researchers review some associations between dairy consumption and human health along with the many interconnections between people, dairy animals, plants, and our shared environment. Understanding these relationships is an example of one health at work.
In the US, total dairy consumption is at its highest point in the last 50 years, while many objective measures of cow health (eg, subclinical mastitis) have never been better since they have been recorded. Further, indications of food safety such as violative antibiotic residues in milk have never been lower.
Dairy foods provide essential nutrients such as protein, vitamin B12, and calcium, while there is also evidence that they are protective against chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
Finally, the environmental footprint of dairy production in the US, as measured by metrics such as carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions intensity per unit of dairy nutrient, is the lowest it has ever been.

UC Davis Research – Physico-chemical assessment of on-farm bioconversion of organic waste in dairy farms in context to sustainability and circular bioeconomy. Pandey PK, Shetty BD, Wickam P, Aminabadi P, Chen Z, Mai K, Stackhouse JW, Jay-Russell MT. Environ Technol. 2022 Nov 15:1-36.

On a milk-producing dairy farm, milk production is correlated with manure production and number of cattle, and manure is widely used as soil fertilizer. However, excessive dairy manure production is linked with greenhouse gas emissions and water quality issues.
On-farm planning of manure storage and application to enhance soil nutrients are essential in a circular economy to reduce environmental impact, where manure is not landfilled and incinerated. Instead, it creates a nutrient resource for crops, and soil.
Dairy manure, which is rich in nutrients, is valuable fertilizer that contains many nutrients such as nitrogen (N), organic matter (OM), phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) and micronutrients.
In this work, a pilot field research was conducted between 2016 and 2018 in various parts of California, USA (San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento Valley, Shasta Cascade, and the North Coast of California) to assess physio-chemical characteristics of solid fractions of dairy manure among various dairy farms.
A total of 156 samples were collected from the gut (n = 107) and toe (n = 49) of the manure piles across California for determining total solid (TS), volatile solids (VS), temperature, moisture content, and carbon nitrogen ratio (C:N).
Results showed that C:N, OM, and MC of solid fractions of dairy manure vary significantly among dairy farms. Average C:N ratio of manure (26.32) among various regions was close to an ideal C:N value of 24:1 for soil microbes to stimulate nutrient release to crops. Manure pH varied between 7.0 and 8.0, which was close to an optimal pH rages for common crops (6.0-8.0).
Moreover, considering less cost and surplus availability, manure will likely to continue providing a cost-effective organic fertilizer resource compared to commercial chemical fertilizers.

Utilization of salt-rich by-products from the dairy industry as feedstock for recombinant protein production by Debaryomyces hansenii. Estrada M, Navarrete C, Møller S, Procentese A, Martínez JL. Microb Biotechnol. 2022 Nov 24.

The dairy industry processes vast amounts of milk and generates high amounts of secondary by-products, which are still rich in nutrients (high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels) but contain high concentrations of salt.
The current European legislation only allows disposing of these effluents directly into the waterways with previous treatment, which is laborious and expensive. Therefore, as much as possible, these by-products are reutilized as animal feed material and, if not applicable, used as fertilizers adding phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, and other nutrients to the soil.
Finding biological alternatives to revalue dairy by-products is of crucial interest in order to improve the utilization of dry dairy matter and reduce the environmental impact of every litre of milk produced.
Debaryomyces hansenii is a halotolerant non-conventional yeast with high potential for this purpose. It presents some beneficial traits – capacity to metabolize a variety of sugars, tolerance to high osmotic environments, resistance to extreme temperatures and pHs – that make this yeast a well-suited option to grow using complex feedstock, such as industrial waste, instead of the traditional commercial media.
In this work, researchers study for the first time D. hansenii’s ability to grow and produce a recombinant protein (YFP) from dairy saline whey by-products. Cultivations at different scales (1.5, 100 and 500 ml) were performed without neither sterilizing the medium nor using pure water.
The results show that D. hansenii is able to perform well and produce YFP in the aforementioned salty substrate. Interestingly, it is able to outcompete other microorganisms present in the waste without altering its cell performance or protein production capacity.

Nitrogen and phosphate removal from dairy processing side-streams by monocultures or consortium of microalgae. Kiani H, Azimi Y, Li Y, Mousavi M, Cara F, Mulcahy S, McDonnell H, Blanco A, Halim R. J Biotechnol. 2022 Nov 18:S0168-1656(22)00269-3.

Acid-casein production generates waste streams that are rich in nitrogen (in the form of protein and nitrate) and phosphate. This makes this type of waste very difficult to treat using conventional techniques resulting in a high amount of operating cost and costly investment.
In this research, the application of single culture or consortium of microalgae for uptake of nitrogen and phosphate in the wastewater of an acid-casein factory was investigated.
The waste was a 1:1 mixture of nanofiltered whey permeate and dairy processing wastewater. Monocultures of Chlorella vulgaris, Tetradesmus obloquus, Nonnochlropsis ocenica and a consortium of the three microalgae were analyzed.
The results showed that the consortium exhibited more efficient nitrogen and phosphate removal compared to the individual species. The consortium was able to rapidly hydrolyze exogenous protein present in the waste medium, removing 88% of protein and breaking down complex protein molecules into simpler compounds (such as nitrate) for assimilation into the biomass.
In the first fourteen days of cultivation, the rate of nitrate assimilation by the consortium biomass was lower than that of nitrate formation from protein degradation, leading to a net increase in nitrate concentration in the medium. As protein source was depleted and biomass concentration increased, however, the rate of nitrate assimilation began to exceed that of nitrate formation allowing for net removal of nitrate.
The microalgae consortium was shown to successfully bioremediate all nitrates by day 21. It was indicated that Chlorella and Nannochloropsis species were responsible for nitrogen removal in monocultures. Phosphate, on the other hand, was efficiently removed by Tetradesmus.
The results indicated that a consortium cultivation of three species of microalgae led to effective elimination of both nitrogen and phosphate. It can be concluded that the application of microalgae consortium for simultaneous recovery of nitrogen and phosphate is a promising approach for treating acid-casein wastewater.

Effects of different composting methods on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and microbial diversity in dairy cattle manures. Tang M, Wu Z, Li W, Shoaib M, Aqib AI, Shang R, Yang Z, Pu W. J Dairy Sci. 2022 Nov 1:S0022-0302(22)00633-6.

Composting is a common practice used for treating animal manures before they are used as organic fertilizers for crop production. Whether composting can effectively reduce microbial pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes remain poorly understood.
In this study, researchers compared 3 different dairy manure composting methods-anaerobic fermentation (AF), static compost (SC), and organic fertilizer production (OFP)-for their effects on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and microbial community diversity in the treated manures.
The 3 composting methods produced variable and distinct effects on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, zoonotic bacteria, and resistance genes, some of which were decreased and others of which showed no significant changes during composting. Particularly, SC and OFP reduced chloramphenicol resistance gene fexA and opportunistic pathogen Vibrio fluvialis, whereas AF significantly reduced tetracycline resistance gene tetB and opportunistic pathogens Enterococcus faecium and Escherichia fergusonii. In general, SC and OFP produced a more profound effect than AF on microbial community diversities, pathogens, and dominant species.
The compositions of microbial communities varied significantly during the composting processes, and there were significant differences between the 3 composting methods. In all 3 composts, the dominant phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria.
Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States function prediction analysis indicated that the genes related to membrane transport and amino acid metabolism were abundant in the 3 composts. The metabolism of amino acids, lipids, and carbohydrates increased as composting progressed. The biosynthesis of antibiotics was enhanced after fermentation in the 3 composting methods, and the increase in the SC was the most obvious.
These results reveal dynamic changes in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, microbial community composition, and function succession in different dairy manure composts and provide useful information for further optimization of composting practices.

Animal Health and Food Safety

Voluntary heat stress abatement system for dairy cows: Does it mitigate the effects of heat stress on physiology and behavior? Grinter LN, Mazon G, Costa JHC. J Dairy Sci. 2022 Nov 21:S0022-0302(22)00677-4.

Many cooling strategies are used to keep cows in thermal homeostasis; however, most of them are applied to the group level, commonly at the feed bunk or milking parlor. The variance of heat stress effects on animals are well known, but with more individualized management in dairy farms, group cooling opportunities are becoming restricted. It is known that dairy cattle are variable in their responses to an increase in heat load.
Thus, the first objective of this study was to investigate the effect of 2 mandatory soakings at the exit of the milking parlor and free access to a voluntary soaking system compared with cows with access to a voluntary soaking system only, with no mandatory soakings. The second objective of this study was to assess the heat abatement capability of voluntary soaking of cows by assessing cow physiology, behavior, and milk production. Last, this study aimed to determine the individual use of the voluntary heat abatement system and its relationship with temperature-humidity index.
Fifteen mid-lactation Holstein cows were enrolled in this study and had free access to a motion-activated soaker (Cool Sense, Edstrom) located adjacent to the research pen for an 8-wk data collection period. Cows were paired according to parity, milk production, and body weight, and assigned a treatment with or without mandatory soakings twice per day. In the mandatory soaking treatment, cows were soaked using a motion-activated soaker at the exit of the milking parlor and had free access to the voluntary soaker in the pen. Cows in the treatment without mandatory soakings were not soaked at the exit of the milking parlor and had free access to the voluntary soaker in the pen.
There was great individual variation in voluntary soaker use, ranging from 0 to 227 soakings/day. Treatment did not affect voluntary soaker use, respiration rate, or milk yield. However, mandatory soaking treatment cows spent more time ruminating. Temperature-humidity index had a positive relationship with voluntary soaker use and mean respiration rate.
In conclusion, voluntary soaker use related positively to the temperature-humidity index, but no major productive, physiological, or behavioral differences were observed between soaking treatments. Furthermore, it was found that voluntary soaker use is highly variable among cows and it was related positively to milk yield, where higher producing cows used the soaker more frequently.

Infrared thermography as a tool for the measurement of negative emotions in dairy cows. Uddin J, McNeill DM, Phillips CJC. Int J Biometeorol. 2022 Nov 19.

In commercial dairy cows, the conditions in which they are kept may lead to negative emotional states associated with the development of chronic physiological and behavioural abnormalities that may compromise their health, welfare and productivity. Such states include fear, stress or anxiety.
Behavioral rather than physiological tests are more likely to be used to indicate these states but can be limited by their subjectivity, need for specialized infrastructure and training (of the operator and sometimes the animal) and the time-consuming nature of data collection.
Popularly used physiological measures such as blood cortisol may be more appropriate for acute rather than chronic assessments but are easily confounded, for example by a response to the act of measurement per se. More sophisticated physiological measures such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) may be impractical due to cost and time and, like blood cortisol, have the confounding associated with the act of measurement.
By contrast, infrared thermography of external body surfaces is remote, non-invasive, easily repeated and follows an objective methodology, allowing longitudinal data acquisition for the inference of changes in chronic emotional state over time.
The objective of this review was to investigate the potential of infrared thermography to measure cow emotions. In lactating dairy cows, maximum infrared thermography of the eyes and coronary band of the limbs seem to be most representative of thermoregulatory changes, which are repeatable and correlate with behavioral and physiological indicators of emotional state.
Infrared thermography methodologies have the potential to become a fundamental tool for the objective assessment of welfare state in dairy cows.

Incidence and Treatments of Bovine Mastitis and Other Diseases on 37 Dairy Farms in Wisconsin. Gonçalves JL, de Campos JL, Steinberger AJ, Safdar N, Kates A, Sethi A, Shutske J, Suen G, Goldberg T, Cue RI, Ruegg PL. Pathogens. 2022 Nov 1;11(11):1282.

Bovine mastitis (BM) is one of the most common diseases of dairy cattle, causing economic and welfare problems in dairy farming worldwide. Because of the predominant bacterial etiology, the treatment of BM is mostly based on antibiotics.
The aim of this research was to describe the incidence and treatments of mastitis and other common bovine diseases using one year of retrospective observational data (n = 50,329 cow-lactations) obtained from herd management software of 37 large dairy farms in Wisconsin.
Incidence rate was defined as the number of first cases of each disease divided by the number of lactations per farm.
Across all herds, the mean incidence rate (cases per 100 cow-lactations) was 24.4 for clinical mastitis, 14.5 for foot disorders (FD), 11.2 for metritis (ME), 8.6 for ketosis (KE), 7.4 for retained fetal membranes (RFM), 4.5 for diarrhea (DI), 3.1 for displaced abomasum (DA), 2.9 for pneumonia (PN) and 1.9 for milk fever (MF).
More than 30% of cows that had first cases of CM, DA, RFM, DI, and FD did not receive antibiotics. Of those treated, more than 50% of cows diagnosed with PN, ME and CM received ceftiofur as a treatment.
The incidence rate of mastitis and most other diseases was greater in older cows (parity ≥ 3) during the first 100 days of lactation and these cows were more likely to receive antibiotic treatments (as compared to younger cows diagnosed in later lactation).
Cows of first and second parities in early lactation were more likely to remain in the herd after diagnosis of disease, as compared to older cows and cows in later stages of lactation. Most older cows diagnosed with CM in later lactation were culled before completion of the lactation.
These results provide baseline data for disease incidence in dairy cows on modern U.S. dairy farms and reinforce the role of mastitis as an important cause of dairy cow morbidity.

A longitudinal census of the bacterial community in raw milk correlated with Staphylococcus aureus clinical mastitis infections in dairy cattle. Park S, Jung D, Altshuler I, Kruban D, Dufour S, Ronholm J. Anim Microbiome. 2022 Nov 24;4(1):59.

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle. Optimizing the bovine mammary gland microbiota to resist aureus colonization is a growing area of research. However, the details of the interbacterial interactions between S. aureus and commensal bacteria, which would be required to manipulate the microbiome to resist infection, are still unknown.
This study aims to characterize changes in the bovine milk bacterial community before, during, and after aureus clinical mastitis and to compare bacterial communities present in milk between infected and healthy quarters.
Researchers collected quarter-level milk samples from 698 Holstein dairy cows over an entire lactation. A total of 11 quarters from 10 cows were affected by aureus clinical mastitis and milk samples from these 10 cows (n = 583) regardless of health status were analyzed by performing 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.
The milk microbiota of healthy quarters was distinguishable from that of aureus clinical mastitis quarters two weeks before clinical mastitis diagnosis via visual inspection. Microbial network analysis showed that 11 OTUs had negative associations with OTU0001 (Staphylococcus). A low diversity or dysbiotic milk microbiome did not necessarily correlate with increased inflammation. Specifically, Staphylococcus xylosus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Aerococcus urinaeequi were each abundant in milk from the quarters with low levels of inflammation.
These results show that the udder microbiome is highly dynamic, yet a change in the abundance in certain bacteria can be a potential indicator of future aureus clinical mastitis. This study has identified potential prophylactic bacterial species that could act as a barrier against S. aureus colonization and prevent future instances of S. aureus clinical mastitis

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Foodborne Pathogens Isolated from Dairy Cattle and Poultry Manure Amended Farms in Northeastern Ohio, the United States. Hailu W, Helmy YA, Carney-Knisely G, Kauffman M, Fraga D, Rajashekara G.Antibiotics (Basel). 2021 Nov 25;10(12):1450.

Foodborne pathogens significantly impact public health globally. Excessive antimicrobial use plays a significant role in the development of the public health crisis of antibiotic resistance.
Here, researchers determined the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of coliO157, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and Campylobacter isolated between 2016 and 2020 from small scale agricultural settings that were amended with dairy cattle or poultry manure in Northeastern Ohio.
The total prevalence of the foodborne pathogens was 19.3%: Campylobacter8%, Listeria monocytogenes9%, Escherichia coli O157 1.8%, and Salmonella 1.5%. The prevalence was significantly higher in dairy cattle (87.7%) compared to poultry (12.2%) manure amended farms.
Furthermore, the prevalence was higher in manure samples (84%) compared to soil samples. Multiple drug resistance was observed in 73%, 77%, 100%, and 57.3% of coliO157, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and Campylobacter isolates recovered, respectively.
The most frequently observed resistance genes were mphA, aadA, and aphA1in coli O157; blaTEM, tet(B), and strA in Salmonella; penA, ampC, lde, ermB, tet(O), and aadB in L. monocytogenes and blaOXA-61, tet(O), and aadE in Campylobacter.
These results highlight the critical need to address the dissemination of foodborne pathogens and antibiotic resistance in agricultural settings.

Molecular Epidemiological Evidence Implicates Cattle as a Primary Reservoir of Campylobacter jejuni Infecting People via Contaminated Chickens. Teixeira JS, Boras VF, Hetman BM, Taboada EN, Inglis GD. Pathogens. 2022 Nov 16;11(11):1366.

Campylobacteriosis is one of the most common foodborne bacterial-incited diseases of human beings in many countries including Canada. Campylobacter jejuni is a primary incitant of campylobacteriosis, and this bacterium is responsible for the majority of cases globally (≈95%).
Campylobacter jejuni colonizes a large number of hosts, of which many do not show any overt evidence of being infected. Chickens are a chief reservoir of jejuni infecting people, and the consumption of inadequately prepared chicken meat contaminated with the bacterium is generally considered to be the primary contributor to campylobacteriosis.
The study aimed to determine the relative contribution of cattle to the burden of illness in a model agroecosystem with high rates of human campylobacteriosis (≥ 115 cases/100 K), and high densities of cattle, including large numbers of cattle housed in confined feeding operations (i.e., in southwestern Alberta, Canada).
To accomplish this, a large-scale molecular epidemiological analysis of Campylobacter jejunicirculating within the study location was completed. In excess of 8000 isolates of jejuni from people (n = 2548 isolates), chickens (n = 1849 isolates), cattle (n = 2921 isolates), and water (n = 771 isolates) were subtyped.
In contrast to previous studies, the source attribution estimates of clinical cases attributable to cattle vastly exceeded those attributed to chicken (i.e., three- to six-fold). Moreover, cattle were often colonized by jejuni(51%) and shed the bacterium in their feces.
A large proportion of study isolates were found in subtypes primarily associated with cattle (46%), including subtypes infecting people and those associated with chickens (19%). The implication of cattle as a primary amplifying reservoir of jejuni subtypes in circulation in the study location is supported by the strong cattle association with subtypes that were found in chickens and in people, a lack of evidence indicating the foodborne transmission of C. jejuni from beef and dairy, and the large number of cattle and the substantial quantities of untreated manure containing C. jejuni cells.
Importantly, the evidence implicated cattle as a source of jejuniinfecting people through a transmission pathway from cattle to people via the consumption of chicken. This has implications for reducing the burden of campylobacteriosis in the study location and elsewhere.

Human Health and Nutrition

Yogurt consumption and risk of mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: a comprehensive systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Tutunchi H, Naghshi S, Naemi M, Naeini F, Esmaillzadeh A. Public Health Nutr. 2022 Nov 9:1-29.

Yogurt provides valuable nutrients, high-quality protein, calcium and potassium, and is considered an integral part of a well-balanced diet. Yogurt intake has been associated with overall better dietary quality, and recent studies have reported positive effects of yogurt intake on health outcomes, such as the lower incidence chronic disease.
The objective of the study was to quantify the dose-response relation between yogurt consumption and risk of mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer.
Researchers conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus databases through August 2022 for cohort studies reporting the association of yogurt consumption with mortality from all causes, CVD, and cancer.
The results showed tha thigh intake of yogurt compared with low intake was significantly associated with a 7% lower risk of deaths from all causes and 11% lower risk for CVD, but not with cancer.
Each additional serving of yogurt consumption per day was significantly associated with a 7% reduced risk of all-cause and 14% lower risk of CVD mortality. There was evidence of non-linearity between yogurt consumption and risk of all-cause and CVD mortality, and there was no further reduction in risk above 0.5 serving/day.
Summarizing earlier cohort studies, we found an inverse association between yogurt consumption and risk of all-cause and CVD mortality; however, there was no significant association between yogurt consumption and risk of cancer mortality.

The Impact of Prebiotic, Probiotic, and Synbiotic Supplements and Yogurt Consumption on the Risk of Colorectal Neoplasia among Adults: A Systematic Review. Kim CE, Yoon LS, Michels KB, Tranfield W, Jacobs JP, May FP. Nutrients. 2022 Nov 21;14(22):4937.

Prebiotic and probiotic supplementation and yogurt consumption (a probiotic food) alter gut microbial diversity, which may influence colorectal carcinogenesis.
This systematic review evaluates the existing literature on the effect of these nutritional supplements and yogurt consumption on colorectal neoplasia incidence among adults.
Researchers systematically identified ten randomized controlled trials and observational studies in adults age ≥ 18 without baseline gastrointestinal disease.
Prebiotics included inulin, fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides, isomaltooligosaccharides, and β-glucans. Probiotics included bacterial strains of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Saccharomyces, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Bacillus, Pediococcus, Leuconostoc, and Escherichia coli. Synbiotic supplements, a mixture of both prebiotic and probiotic supplements, and yogurt, a commonly consumed dietary source of live microbes, were also included.
Overall, findings suggest a moderate decrease in risk of adenoma and CRC for high levels of yogurt consumption compared to low or no consumption. Prebiotic supplementation was not associated with colorectal neoplasia risk. There was some evidence that probiotic supplementation may be associated with lower risk of adenomas but not with CRC incidence.
Higher yogurt consumption may be associated with lower incidence of colorectal neoplasia. The researchers found little evidence to suggest that prebiotic or probiotic supplements are associated with significant decreases in CRC occurrence.

Dairy intake in relation to metabolic health status in overweight and obese adolescents. Tirani SA, Mirzaei S, Asadi A, Akhlaghi M, Saneei P. Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 1;12(1):18365.

There was a lack of evidence on the association between dairy intake and metabolic health status in overweight/obese adolescents.
This study evaluated the association between dairy intake and metabolic health status in overweight/obese Iranian adolescents.
Overweight/obese adolescents (n = 203; 101 boys and 102 girls) selected by a multistage cluster random sampling method have participated in this cross-sectional study. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated 147-item food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric indices, blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, and lipid profile were measured.
Participants were categorized to metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and a combination of IDF with Homeostasis Model Assessment Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) criteria.
The frequency of MUO based on IDF, and IDF/HOMA-IR definitions was 38.9% and 33.0%, respectively. In fully-adjusted model, participants in the highest tertile of dairy intake had 61% lower odds of MUO based on IDF criteria. Higher dairy intake was associated with a non-significant lower risk of MUO according to IDF/HOMA-IR definition in the maximally-adjusted model (OR = 0.44).
Stratified analysis by sex and body mass index revealed that the association was stronger in girls and overweight subjects. Furthermore, higher intake of low-fat dairy was related to a reduced likelihood of MUO, while higher intake of high-fat dairy was related to increased odds of MUO.
This community-based cross-sectional study revealed that higher intake of dairy was associated with a significant lower odd of MUO among Iranian adolescents, especially in girls and overweight subjects.

Modulation of gene expression profile following consumption of high-dairy products in subjects with hyperinsulinemia. Khorraminezhad L, Rudkowska I. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2022 Nov 1:S0939-4753(22)00440-9.

Dysregulation of gene expression is associated to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. Further, research indicates that dairy consumption may potentially affect gene expression.
The aim of this study was to examine if genes and pathways associated with T2D are differentially changed in subjects with hyperinsulinemia after high dairy diet.
Ten obese patients with hyperinsulinemia who consumed a higher dairy diet (4 servings/day) for six weeks participated in this study.
Results indicated that 236 genes (137 up-regulated and 99 down-regulated) were expressed differentially between before and after high dairy intake. Genes related to pathways associated with insulin signaling and inflammation, such as olfactory receptor activity, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), phosphatidylinositol-3-OHKinase (PI3K)/AKT2 (PI3K-AKT2), Ras signaling, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) were altered following HD.
Overall, results suggest a potential protective effect of high dairy diet intake in individuals at risk of type 2 diabetes through modification of gene expression profiles.

Maternal Consumption of Dairy Products during Pregnancy Is Associated with Decreased Risk of Emotional Problems in 5-Year-Olds: The Kyushu Okinawa Maternal and Child Health Study. Nguyen MQ, Miyake Y, Tanaka K, Hasuo S, Takahashi K, Nakamura Y, Okubo H, Sasaki S, Arakawa M. Nutrients. 2022 Nov 8;14(22):4713.

Milk is a good source of fats, minerals, and vitamins.
The present prebirth cohort study examined the association between maternal dairy product intake during pregnancy and the risk of childhood behavioral problems in 5-year-old Japanese children.
Study subjects were 1199 mother-child pairs. Dietary intake was assessed using a diet history questionnaire. Emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity problems, peer problems, and low prosocial behavior were assessed using the parent-reported version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
A significant inverse exposure-response association was observed between maternal total dairy intake during pregnancy and the risk of childhood emotional problems (adjusted odds ratio [OR] between extreme quartiles, 0.62).
The greater maternal consumption of cow’s milk, but not yogurt or cheese, during pregnancy was independently related to a reduced risk of emotional problems in children (adjusted OR between extreme quartiles, 0.41). Higher maternal consumption levels of total dairy products, especially cow’s milk, during pregnancy may be associated with a decreased risk of emotional problems in 5-year-old children.

The association between dairy products and the risk of COVID-19. Darand M, Hassanizadeh S, Marzban A, Mirzaei M, Hosseinzadeh M. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2022 Nov;76(11):1583-1589.

The fast spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic and its high mortality were quickly noticed by the health community. Dairy products have been recognized as part of a healthy diet that helps strengthen body immunity and prevent infections. The present study can provide a comprehensive picture of the associations between dairy products consumption and COVID-19 incidence.
Methods: This study was undertaken on 8801 adults participants of Yazd Health Study (YaHS) and Taghzieh Mardom-e-Yazd (TAMIZ) study aged 20 to 70 years. Data on dietary intakes were obtained using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between dairy consumption and COVID-19.
The findings indicated that moderate intake of total dairy (OR: 0.63) could reduce the odds of COVID-19 and higher intake of low-fat dairy products (OR: 0.51) and low-fat milk (OR: 0.47) had a protective effect on COVID-19 after adjusting for confounders.
However, higher intake of high-fat-dairy-product (OR: 1.40), high-fat milk (OR: 1.54), total yogurt (OR: 1.40), cheese (OR: 1.80), and butter (OR: 1.80) were related to increase the odds of COVID-19.
Moderate intake of total dairy could reduce odds of COVID-19 by 37% and, a higher intake of low-fat dairy products had a protective role on COVID-19. Although this study has promising results, stronger clinical studies are needed.

Role of milk glycome in prevention, treatment, and recovery of COVID-19. Kaplan M, Şahutoğlu AS, Sarıtaş S, Duman H, Arslan A, Pekdemir B, Karav S.Front Nutr. 2022 Nov 8;9:1033779.

Milk contains all essential macro and micro-nutrients for the development of the newborn. Its high therapeutic and antimicrobial content provides an important function for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of certain diseases throughout life.
The bioactive components found in milk are mostly decorated with glycans, which provide proper formation and modulate the biological functions of glycosylated compounds. The glycome of milk consists of free glycans, glycolipids, and N-and O- glycosylated proteins.
Recent studies have shown that both free glycans and glycan-containing molecules have antiviral characteristics based on different mechanisms such as signaling, microbiome modulation, natural decoy strategy, and immunomodulatory action. In this review, researchers discuss the recent clinical studies and potential mechanisms of free and conjugated glycans’ role in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of COVID-19.

Immunomodulatory action of Lactococcuslactis. Saleena LAK, Teo MYM, How YH, In LLA, Pui LP. J Biosci Bioeng. 2022 Nov 22:S1389-1723(22)00337-1.

Fermented foods are gaining popularity due to health-promoting properties with high levels of nutrients, phytochemicals, bioactive compounds, and probiotic microorganisms. Due to its unique fermentation process, Lactococcus lactis plays a key role in the food business, notably in the manufacturing of dairy products.
The superior biological activities of lactis in these functional foods include anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory capabilities. L. lactis boosted growth performance, controlled amino acid profiles, intestinal immunology, and microbiota. Besides that, the administration of L. lactis increased the rate of infection clearance. Innate and acquired immune responses would be upregulated in both local and systemic compartments, resulting in these consequences.
lactis is often employed in the food sector and is currently being exploited as a delivery vehicle for biological research. These bacteria are being eyed as potential candidates for biotechnological applications. With this in mind, we reviewed the immunomodulatory effects of different L. lactis strains.

Innovation, Economics, and Dairy Alternatives

Milk-Derived Antimicrobial Peptides: Overview, Applications, and Future Perspectives. Singh A, Duche RT, Wandhare AG, Sian JK, Singh BP, Sihag MK, Singh KS, Sangwan V, Talan S, Panwar H. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2022 Nov 11:1-19.

The growing consumer awareness towards healthy and safe food has reformed food processing strategies. Nowadays, food processors are aiming at natural, effective, safe, and low-cost substitutes for enhancing the shelf life of food products.
Milk, besides being a rich source of nutrition for infants and adults, serves as a readily available source of precious functional peptides. Due to the existence of high genetic variability in milk proteins, there is a great possibility to get bioactive peptides with varied properties.
Among other bioactive agents, milk-originated antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are gaining interest as attractive and safe additive conferring extended shelf life to minimally processed foods. These peptides display broad-spectrum antagonistic activity against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoans.
Microbial proteolytic activity, extracellular peptidases, food-grade enzymes, and recombinant DNA technology application are among few strategies to tailor specific peptides from milk and enhance their production. These bioprotective agents have a promising future in addressing the global concern of food safety along with the possibility to be incorporated into the food matrix without compromising overall consumer acceptance.
Additionally, in conformity to the current consumer demands, these AMPs also possess functional properties needed for value addition. This review attempts to present the basic properties, synthesis approaches, action mechanism, current status, and prospects of antimicrobial peptide application in food, dairy, and pharma industry along with their role in ensuring the safety and health of consumers.

Consumers Respond Positively to the Sensory, Health, and Sustainability Benefits of the Rare Sugar Allulose in Yogurt Formulations. Mora MR, Wang Z, Goddard JM, Dando R. Foods. 2022 Nov 19;11(22):3718.

Increased added sugar consumption is associated with type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Low and no-calorie alternative sweeteners have long been used as an aid in the reduction of added sugar. Unfortunately, these alternative sweeteners often have notable sensory deficits when compared to sucrose.
Furthermore, many alternative sweeteners have synthetic origins, while consumers are increasingly turning to foods from natural origins, and from more sustainable sources. Such sweeteners include the rare sugar allulose, which can be manufactured from common agricultural waste and dairy co-product streams, and is reported to have a sensory profile similar to sucrose.
This study aimed to determine the influence of the rare sugar allulose on consumer perception of sweetened vanilla yogurt.
Participants were recruited to evaluate 4 vanilla yogurts sweetened with either sucrose, allulose, stevia or sucralose, and to rate their liking of the samples overall, and for flavor, texture, and their purchase intent.
Statistical analysis of hedonic data from 100 consumers suggested that allulose performed similarly to sucrose in liking and purchase intent, and superior to other sweeteners tested in this study, with fewer off-flavors. Moreover, when consumers were queried on their purchase intent after learning details on the sweetener for each formulation, allulose scored significantly higher than all other formulations in purchase intent.
This study highlights the potential of the rare sugar allulose as a low calorie, zero glycemic index, natural and better tasting sugar replacement in sweetened yogurt.

Sustainable production of biosurfactants via valorisation of industrial wastes as alternate feedstocks. Carolin C F, Senthil Kumar P, Mohanakrishna G, Hemavathy RV, Rangasamy G, M Aminabhavi T. Chemosphere. 2022 Nov 18;312(Pt 1):137326.

Globally, the rapid increase in the human population has given rise to a variety of industries, which have produced a variety of wastes. Due to their detrimental effects on both human and environmental health, pollutants from industry have taken center stage among the various types of waste produced. The amount of waste produced has therefore increased the demand for effective waste management.
In order to create valuable chemicals for sustainable waste management, trash must be viewed as valuable addition. One of the most environmentally beneficial and sustainable choices is to use garbage to make biosurfactants. The utilization of waste in the production of biosurfactant provides lower processing costs, higher availability of feedstock and environmental friendly product along with its characteristics.
The current review focuses on the use of industrial wastes in the creation of sustainable biosurfactants and discusses how biosurfactants are categorized. Waste generation in the fruit industry, agro-based industries, as well as sugar-industry and dairy-based industries is documented. Each waste and wastewater are listed along with its benefits and drawbacks.
This review places a strong emphasis on waste management, which has important implications for the bioeconomy. It also offers the most recent scientific literature on industrial waste, including information on the role of renewable feedstock for the production of biosurfactants, as well as the difficulties and unmet research needs in this area.

Dairy and Wine Industry Effluents as Alternative Media for the Production of Bacillus-Based Biocontrol Agents. Dmitrović S, Pajčin I, Vlajkov V, Grahovac M, Jokić A, Grahovac J. Bioengineering (Basel). 2022 Nov 8;9(11):663.

Food industry effluents represent one of the major concerns when it comes to environmental impact; hence, their valorization through different chemical and biological routes has been suggested as a possible solution.
The vast amount of organic and inorganic nutrients present in food industry effluents makes them suitable substrates for microbial growth.
This study suggests two valorization routes for whey as dairy industry effluent and flotation wastewater from the wine industry through microbial conversion to biocontrol agents as value-added products.
Cultivations of the biocontrol strain Bacillus BioSol021 were performed in a 16 L bioreactor to monitor the bioprocess course and investigate bioprocess kinetics in terms of microbial growth, sugar substrate consumption and surfactin synthesis, as an antimicrobial lipopeptide.
The produced biocontrol agents showed high levels of biocontrol activity against mycotoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus, followed by a significant reduction of sugar load of the investigated effluents by the producing microorganisms.
With proven high potential of whey and winery flotation wastewater to be used as substrates for microbial growth, this study provides grounds for further optimization of the suggested valorization routes, mostly in terms of bioprocess conditions to achieve maximal techno-economical feasibility, energy saving and maximal reduction of effluents’ organic and inorganic burden.

The role of packaging on the flavor of fluid milk. Cadwallader DC, Gerard PD, Drake MA. J Dairy Sci. 2022 Nov 7:S0022-0302(22)00642-7.

Few studies have addressed the effects of package material in the absence of light on contributions to fluid milk flavor.
The objective of this study was to compare the sensory and chemical properties of fluid milk packaged in paperboard cartons, low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), and glass.
Pasteurized (high temperature short time, 77°C for 25 s) skim and whole milk were filled (280 mL ± 10 mL) into paperboard cartons, low-density polyethylene, HDPE, PET, LLDPE, and glass (control). Milks were stored at 4°C in the dark and sampled at days 0, 5, 10, and 15.
Both skim and whole milks packaged in cartons had noticeable paperboard flavor by day 5 and higher levels of hexanal than skim and whole milks in other package types at day 5.
Skim milks packaged in paperboard cartons and LLDPE had distinct refrigerator/stale flavor compared with milks in the other package types, concurrent with increased levels of refrigerator/package-related compounds including styrene, acetophenone and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol.
Milks packaged in glass, PET and HDPE were not distinguished by consumers at day 10 post-processing.
Package type influences fluid milk flavor, and these effects are greater in skim milk compared with whole milk. Paperboard cartons do not preserve milk freshness, as well as PET, HDPE, or glass, due to flavor migration and scalping. Glass remains an ideal barrier to preserve fluid milk flavor, but in the absence of light, HDPE and PET provide additional benefits while also maintaining fluid milk flavor.

Responsible antibiotic use labeling and consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for fluid milk. Schell RC, Bulut E, Padda H, Safi AG, Moroni P, Ivanek R. J Dairy Sci. 2022 Nov 1:S0022-0302(22)00624-5.

Concerns about antibiotic resistant infections in the United States have called for reduction of antibiotic use in livestock, including dairy cattle. Although effective in curbing antibiotic use, universal organic dairy farming would be impractical and unattainable due to its high land and premium demands.
The US Department of Agriculture’s organic certification, which completely eliminates antibiotic use in milk production, also raises animal welfare concerns, as it could discourage the use of antibiotics even to treat indicated diseases.
Therefore, a proposed alternative for US consumers is a label indicating the responsible antibiotic use (RAU) – not complete elimination – that would minimize antibiotics more than conventional (unlabeled) milk and maximize animal welfare more than organic milk.
The goal of this study was to determine consumers’ (1) self-reported preference and (2) willingness to pay for this hypothetical RAU label of milk relative to existing substitutes in organic and unlabeled fluid milk.
The researchers conducted (1) a nationally representative survey of US adults and (2) a randomized non-hypothetical experimental auction with real money and real milk.
Although almost half of the survey participants (48.5%) responded that they would buy a RAU-labeled milk, consumers in the experimental auction refused to pay a significant premium for the milk compared with unlabeled milk per half-gallon: $1.92 ($1.65-$2.19) for RAU-labeled milk versus $1.86 ($1.58-$2.13) for unlabeled milk).
These results suggest that consumers’ survey-identified preferences for RAU-labeled milk could reflect either social desirability bias or a genuine preference for which, however, consumers simply will not pay a significant premium.
The study provides preliminary data for future exploration of marketability of the proposed RAU label in the United States and demonstrates the benefits of using complementary survey and experimental auction approaches to understand the potential market for a new dairy product.

Food values drive Chinese consumers’ demand for meat and milk substitutes. Sun J, Ortega DL, Lin W. Appetite. 2022 Nov 27:106392.

Increasing consumption of alternatives to animal-based food products can have significant implications for the sustainability of global food systems.
In this study, researchers utilize consumers’ food values to identify the drivers of demand for alternative meat and milk products in China, the world’s largest consumer market.
Using data from 3015 Chinese consumers, the results showed that public food values, such as environmental impacts and animal welfare, drive consumers’ demand for alternative meat and milk.
It was estimated that approximately 35% of urban food shoppers constitute the potential market for these products.
Plant-based meat alternatives to products with strong consumption dependence, such as pork, must compete on price, while alternatives to products with weak consumption dependence, like milk, are likely to earn market premiums.
Estimates showed that modest consumption of alternative meat and milk products in these markets can improve food system sustainability by lowering China’s animal production greenhouse gas emissions by 3.4% in addition to reducing animal slaughtering and potentially decreasing health risks associated with the consumption of animal-based food products.