Abstract

To focus attention on milk and dairy products, we celebrate World Milk Day on the first day of June. Milk is a primary source of essential nutrients for newborn mammals, including humans. Milk and its by-products have been integral to human life since domestication of the dairy cow. Even though a large portion of the population is lactase impersistent, consumption of dairy products, including liquid milk, has been increasing over the last decade in Korea. Per capita annual consumption of dairy products in Korea increased to 61.3 kg in 2008, up from 49.4 kg in 1998. However, consumption of liquid milk has only increased marginally from 30.3 kg in 1998 to 35 kg in 2008. In 2007, the price of farm milk in Korea was the highest in the world. High dairy prices are forcing major manufacturers to find alternative, less expensive sources of milk, which has led to an increase in imported dairy products. Recently, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) published a special report containing the figures for world milk production, milk processing, and consumption. Understanding the current situation with regard to world diary production and the outlook for the industry could be useful during the present world economic crisis. The authors of this brief review summarize the status of dairy production in countries throughout the world, including Korea, along with some of the data published in the IDF annual report. The authors greatly appreciate the support of IDF Korea and the IDF for generously providing the data used in this paper.

Keywords

• milk;
• consumption;
• dairy;
• IDF