MILK, CHEESE AND BUTTER | Facts and Details

MILK COWS

Hindu cow The udder of a female cow is a milk-producing organ. Shortly before a cow is ready to give birth, hormones signal the body to send nutrient to the udder. Inside udder there are millions of tiny milk-producing bodies called “alveoli” . The milk passes from the alveoli into small tubes, then larger tubes, and finally into the four compartments of in the udder. Each compartments has its own teat and nipple.

Calves drink their mother's milk for about five days and then are taught to drink from a rubber nipple from a pale. They are weaned in about two month (under natural circumstances they drink their mother's milk for several months). Six or eight weeks before a cow is ready to give birth to another calf, she "dries off." When the new calf is born she begins producing milk again.

Cows can not release their own milk. Farmers, who milk by hand, and milking machines, duplicate the squeezing and sucking action of a nursing calf, which is what releases the milk from the udder. Cows must be milked two to three times a day. If they are not their udders become swollen and painful. The first time is usually around 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning.

In the old days most dairy cows produced about two or three gallons a day. These days genetically-engineered, carefully-bred Holstein-Friesian cattle can produce 10 gallons a day. Exceptional animals have produced up to 15 gallons a day. Milk cows can't be milked until they have given birth. On average cows give milk five or six years. When their milk runs out they are usually slaughtered.

Milk cows are repeatedly impregnated with artificial insemination, confined to milking stalls and milked to yield 15 times the amount of milk they would produce under normal conditions. Often they have to produce offspring to produce milk. When calves are removed at birth, the mothers let out “heart-rending moans” according to Texas State University professor James McWilliams.

Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) increases milk production in cows. Injections every 14 days increase milk production per animal by ten pounds. The hormone is used in the United States but is banned in many countries, including Canada.

Milk

Milk is 87 percent water, 3.5 percent protein, 4.8 percent carbohydrates, and 0.9 percent ash. It is about 3.6 percent fat, compared to 3.8 percent for goat milk. Milk is rich in calcium, Vitamin A, riboflavin, and thiamin, and is often artificially enriched with vitamin D.

The world consumes about 1.9 billion gallons of milk a day, enough to fill five supertankers. Milk is more expensive to trade in commodity markets than it otherwise might because of it liquid, quick-to-spoil form. Skim, milk powder is much cheaper and easier to store and transport.

The price of milk rose in 2007 and 2008 as a result of increasing demand in China and elsewhere in Asia, droughts in Australia and New Zealand, and the soaring price of feed.

In the developed world most milk is chilled after it is taken from the cow and trucked to a plant where it its pasteurized, chilled again, put in cartons or bottles and trucked to retailers.

Milk is pasteurized by heating it to kill most of the bacteria found in it. This makes it safer to drink and increases its shelf life. Some people complain that pasteurization strips away the ingredients that make milk nutritious to begin with. Pasteurization was introduced in the 1900s and named after the French scientist who developed the process: Louis Pasteur.

World’s Top Milk Producing and Exporting Countries

Halal Milk World’s Top Producers of Whole Fresh Cow Milk (2020): 1) United States: 101251009 tonnes; 2) India: 87822387 tonnes; 3) Brazil: 36508411 tonnes; 4) China: 34400000 tonnes; 5) Germany: 33164910 tonnes; 6) Russia: 31959801 tonnes; 7) France: 25147310 tonnes; 8) Pakistan: 22508000 tonnes; 9) New Zealand: 21871305 tonnes; 10) Turkey: 20000000 tonnes; 11) United Kingdom: 15558000 tonnes; 12) Poland: 14821820 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 14522000 tonnes; 14) Italy: 12712480 tonnes; 15) Mexico: 12563699 tonnes; 16) Argentina: 11113188 tonnes; 17) Uzbekistan: 10930078 tonnes; 18) Canada: 9331117 tonnes; 19) Ukraine: 9057970 tonnes; 20) Australia: 8797000 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org. A tonne (or metric ton) is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000 kilograms (kgs) or 2,204.6 pounds (lbs). A ton is an imperial unit of mass equivalent to 1,016.047 kg or 2,240 lbs.]

World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Whole Fresh Cow Milk (2019): 1) United States: Int.$41222526,000 ; 2) India: Int.$37453638,000 ; 3) Brazil: Int.$14935795,000 ; 4) Germany: Int.$13766368,000 ; 5) China: Int.$13322009,000 ; 6) Russia: Int.$12938632,000 ; 7) France: Int.$10374995,000 ; 8) New Zealand: Int.$9102066,000 ; 9) Colombia: Int.$9091698,000 ; 10) Turkey: Int.$8648617,000 ; 11) Pakistan: Int.$8575219,000 ; 12) United Kingdom: Int.$6471989,000 ; 13) Netherlands: Int.$6057086,000 ; 14) Poland: Int.$6035346,000 ; 15) Italy: Int.$5199564,000 ; 16) Mexico: Int.$5108620,000 ; 17) Uzbekistan: Int.$4437135,000 ; 18) Argentina: Int.$4302980,000 ; 19) Ukraine: Int.$4021356,000 ; 20) Canada: Int.$3832944,000 ; [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]

The top 5 milk producers (millions of tones per year) in the early 1990s were: 1) former USSR (96); 2) USA (67.4); 3) Germany (29.8); 4) India (27); 5) France (26.6). Leading milk-producing nations in the 1970s were : 1) Russia; 2) the United States; 3) France; 4) Germany; 5) the UK; 6) Canada; 7) the Netherlands; 8) Australia; 9) Denmark; 10) New Zealand.

World’s Top Exporters of Whole Fresh Cow Milk (2020): 1) Germany: 1565157 tonnes; 2) Czechia: 896483 tonnes; 3) United Kingdom: 751725 tonnes; 4) Poland: 733518 tonnes; 5) Belgium: 666445 tonnes; 6) France: 599534 tonnes; 7) Austria: 516087 tonnes; 8) Latvia: 343025 tonnes; 9) Slovenia: 302200 tonnes; 10) Netherlands: 278490 tonnes; 11) Hungary: 271946 tonnes; 12) Luxembourg: 266546 tonnes; 13) Australia: 236240 tonnes; 14) Denmark: 232210 tonnes; 15) New Zealand: 225101 tonnes; 16) Estonia: 224209 tonnes; 17) Belarus: 220251 tonnes; 18) Ireland: 144609 tonnes; 19) Slovakia: 130043 tonnes; 20) Spain: 116300 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Whole Fresh Cow Milk (2020): 1) Germany: US$773618,000; 2) Czechia: US$358125,000; 3) Poland: US$355011,000; 4) Belgium: US$345620,000; 5) France: US$328154,000; 6) Austria: US$295453,000; 7) United Kingdom: US$282394,000; 8) Australia: US$212177,000; 9) New Zealand: US$203670,000; 10) Netherlands: US$191904,000; 11) Belarus: US$177415,000; 12) Slovenia: US$130978,000; 13) Latvia: US$118643,000; 14) Denmark: US$114912,000; 15) Luxembourg: US$109231,000; 16) Hungary: US$107524,000; 17) Thailand: US$107274,000; 18) Spain: US$96407,000; 19) United States: US$94212,000; 20) Estonia: US$80756,000

World’s Top Exporters of Skimmed Cow Milk (2020): 1) Germany: 344186 tonnes; 2) Saudi Arabia: 183539 tonnes; 3) France: 164003 tonnes; 4) Netherlands: 150813 tonnes; 5) Austria: 115463 tonnes; 6) Poland: 43745 tonnes; 7) South Africa: 40866 tonnes; 8) Belgium: 37588 tonnes; 9) Latvia: 27418 tonnes; 10) Australia: 25493 tonnes; 11) Czechia: 22898 tonnes; 12) Egypt: 17882 tonnes; 13) New Zealand: 17435 tonnes; 14) United Kingdom: 16559 tonnes; 15) Slovakia: 16372 tonnes; 16) Hungary: 15808 tonnes; 17) Ireland: 14905 tonnes; 18) Luxembourg: 14717 tonnes; 19) Costa Rica: 12976 tonnes; 20) Spain: 12952 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Skimmed Cow Milk (2020): 1) Saudi Arabia: US$161603,000; 2) Germany: US$138369,000; 3) Netherlands: US$116821,000; 4) Belgium: US$59563,000; 5) France: US$51351,000; 6) Austria: US$34155,000; 7) Australia: US$24575,000; 8) South Africa: US$22262,000; 9) Poland: US$20612,000; 10) Egypt: US$17642,000; 11) Spain: US$12546,000; 12) Canada: US$11405,000; 13) New Zealand: US$10983,000; 14) United Kingdom: US$10747,000; 15) Costa Rica: US$10564,000; 16) Latvia: US$9190,000; 17) United States: US$8746,000; 18) Czechia: US$8386,000; 19) Ireland: US$6099,000; 20) Hungary: US$5872,000

Producers of Dried, Evaporated and Condensed Milk

World’s Top Producers of Whole Dried Milk (2019): 1) New Zealand: 1490000 tonnes; 2) Brazil: 598000 tonnes; 3) Argentina: 187705 tonnes; 4) Mexico: 153202 tonnes; 5) Uruguay: 146383 tonnes; 6) Denmark: 77100 tonnes; 7) Chile: 67422 tonnes; 8) United States: 64000 tonnes; 9) United Kingdom: 62569 tonnes; 10) Russia: 62240 tonnes; 11) Australia: 47534 tonnes; 12) Colombia: 43794 tonnes; 13) Japan: 40270 tonnes; 14) Sweden: 34570 tonnes; 15) Belarus: 31453 tonnes; 16) Kazakhstan: 26444 tonnes; 17) Switzerland: 22320 tonnes; 18) Costa Rica: 20094 tonnes; 19) Venezuela: 17850 tonnes; 20) Bolivia: 15335 tonnes

World’s Top Producers of Whole Evaporated Milk (2019): 1) Peru: 536172 tonnes; 2) United States: 189249 tonnes; 3) Russia: 175689 tonnes; 4) Singapore: 142000 tonnes; 5) Belarus: 141569 tonnes; 6) Mexico: 140170 tonnes; 7) China: 86123 tonnes; 8) Saudi Arabia: 41558 tonnes; 9) South Africa: 40000 tonnes; 10) Ukraine: 37240 tonnes; 11) Canada: 36773 tonnes; 12) Japan: 33855 tonnes; 13) Malaysia: 31615 tonnes; 14) Israel: 29461 tonnes; 15) United Kingdom: 29378 tonnes; 16) Thailand: 27007 tonnes; 17) Australia: 27000 tonnes; 18) Colombia: 20151 tonnes; 19) Panama: 17423 tonnes; 20) Kazakhstan: 15880 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers of Skimmed Condensed Milk (2019): 1) United States: 703568 tonnes; 2) United Kingdom: 118301 tonnes; 3) Indonesia: 23068 tonnes; 4) Japan: 3229 tonnes; 5) Ukraine: 3097 tonnes; 6) Canada: 1963 tonnes; 7) Mongolia: 1800 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers of Whole Condensed Milk (2019): 1) Malaysia: 302608 tonnes; 2) Saudi Arabia: 175731 tonnes; 3) United States: 99191 tonnes; 4) Brazil: 65175 tonnes; 5) Mexico: 62446 tonnes; 6) Singapore: 60000 tonnes; 7) Belarus: 57150 tonnes; 8) Kyrgyzstan: 40113 tonnes; 9) Chile: 38925 tonnes; 10) Republic of Moldova: 38296 tonnes; 11) Thailand: 24307 tonnes; 12) Vietnam: 24193 tonnes; 13) Australia: 21056 tonnes; 14) China: 14400 tonnes; 15) Ukraine: 11760 tonnes; 16) Canada: 10652 tonnes; 17) Sri Lanka: 8647 tonnes; 18) South Africa: 7052 tonnes; 19) Pakistan: 4637 tonnes; 20) Turkey: 4281 tonnes

Mongolian White Food: Cream, Yogurt, Skin, Tofu, Butter and Cheese

Milky food, which is called "Chagan Yide" in Mongol, is called of "white food" in Chinese. It is usually made of the pure milk of horse, cow, sheep or camel. It comes in a great variety and Mongolians regard it as very tasty and rich in nutrition at the same time, saying it has "good qualities of hundreds kinds of food". Regarded as the food of daily life, served at feasts to guests and made as a religious offering, Mongolian milky food and the ways of making it varies from region to region but mostly consists of milk skin, cream, cheese and milky bean curd. [Source: Liu Jun, Museum of Nationalities, Central University for Nationalities, Science of China, kepu.net.cn ~]

Milk skin, "Wu Rimo" in Mongol, is made of pure milk. To make it: 1) pour fresh milk into a pot and it boil with a slow fire. 2) Then, mix with a scoop, pouring fresh milk into the pot from time to time. 3) It is not until the coagulation appears and floats on the surface that the fire can be turn off. 4) Hours later, after alveolate milk skin has coagulated, pick up the milk skin slowly with chopsticks and dry the water embedded on it. 5) Fold it into two. 6) It can be offered as food after dried. Mongolians and many Chinese believe milk skin not only is rich in nutrition, it also possesses medical value as well. It is recorded In “Drinking and Dieting Zhengyao” written in the Yuan dynasty that "as the attribute of milk skin is cool and fresh, it is healthy for clearing lungs. Besides satisfying your thirst and keeping you from cough, it also assists to darken and brighten your hair's color and has the efficacy to cure hematemesis as well." ~

Cream and butter can be prepared and cooked in various ways and has many different names. Usually, it is fermented from fresh milk that kept in bucket, pot or other container. To make cream and butter: 1) Churn milk continuously with a stick after it has turned sour until milk and oil separates. 2) Then, remove the white fat floating on the top, which is cream. Mongolians say it tastes good if the cream is mixed with food, or stir-fried with rice or noodles. 3) If the cream is heated up in a boiler and churned slowly, yellow oil can be extracted. This is butter. The stuff under the butter is ghee dregs. Mongolians and Tibetans believe butter is the essence of milk for it contains multi notorious substance, which is helpful to relieve your mind as well as rest to attain mental tranquility. Moreover, butter can also moisten the lungs and relax the muscles and joints, brighten your eyes and increase life span. ~

Mongolian cheese more or less is the same as yogurt. To make it: 1) pour fresh milk in a container, such as jar, pot or basin. 2) After letting the milk gradually ferment and coagulate, the concretion separated from the whey is cheese. In the Chifeng area they make cheese by: 1) heating up fresh milk in a boiler; 2) then mix with a scoop while separating out the floating foam and placing it into another pot, becomes cheese (yogurt) after coagulation. Cheese can be either consumed alone, or mixed with rice or other food. Mongolian say it is tasty and delicious, plus it can also relieve summer heat as well as help one to refresh oneself. ~

Milky tofu is a way of making tofu from milk: To make it: 1) pour yogurt that has already been extracted from cream into a pot and boil it so that the moisture in it evaporates. 2) After the milk solidifies, place it into molds. It usually eaten after being dried in the sun or shade. Another way to make it is: 1) cool down the yogurt after heating it up, and 2) then put it into a piece of coarse cloth to filter and extrude. 3) Press into different shapes. Depending on the making process, milky tofu tastes sweet or sour— generally, sweet if sugar is added; and sour without sugar. Dried tofu can be stored for a long time. It can be stir-fried with rice, use to make milk tea and taken as solid food while out in the pastures or on a long journey.

World’s Top Cream Producers and Exporters

World’s Top Producers of Fresh Cream (2019): 1) Russia: 398483 tonnes; 2) Canada: 259755 tonnes; 3) New Zealand: 125500 tonnes; 4) Sweden: 96860 tonnes; 5) Saudi Arabia: 84426 tonnes; 6) Czechia: 59560 tonnes; 7) Denmark: 44100 tonnes; 8) Norway: 38157 tonnes; 9) Switzerland: 37731 tonnes; 10) Tunisia: 26913 tonnes; 11) United States: 26857 tonnes; 12) Iran: 25281 tonnes; 13) Portugal: 24810 tonnes; 14) Belarus: 24706 tonnes; 15) Kenya: 24397 tonnes; 16) Kazakhstan: 22720 tonnes; 17) United Kingdom: 10317 tonnes; 18) Indonesia: 10106 tonnes; 19) Turkey: 8782 tonnes; 20) Brazil: 7845 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters of Fresh Cream (2020): 1) Germany: 220727 tonnes; 2) France: 166017 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 158884 tonnes; 4) Belgium: 156529 tonnes; 5) New Zealand: 135550 tonnes; 6) Spain: 102589 tonnes; 7) Poland: 61079 tonnes; 8) Lithuania: 58949 tonnes; 9) Denmark: 33914 tonnes; 10) United States: 23959 tonnes; 11) United Kingdom: 23900 tonnes; 12) Italy: 21178 tonnes; 13) Ireland: 16654 tonnes; 14) United Arab Emirates: 13735 tonnes; 15) Austria: 11712 tonnes; 16) Czechia: 10549 tonnes; 17) Iran: 10000 tonnes; 18) Thailand: 8934 tonnes; 19) Luxembourg: 7878 tonnes; 20) Brazil: 7665 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Fresh Cream (2020): 1) Germany: US$454686,000; 2) New Zealand: US$419363,000; 3) Belgium: US$332431,000; 4) France: US$324324,000; 5) Netherlands: US$320767,000; 6) Spain: US$192738,000; 7) Lithuania: US$107733,000; 8) Poland: US$95009,000; 9) Denmark: US$85279,000; 10) United Kingdom: US$73985,000; 11) Ireland: US$55408,000; 12) Italy: US$51431,000; 13) Austria: US$28853,000; 14) Luxembourg: US$21807,000; 15) Czechia: US$20559,000; 16) Iran: US$20000,000; 17) United States: US$19425,000; 18) Finland: US$19318,000; 19) Brazil: US$16494,000; 20) Russia: US$13475,000

World’s Top Butter Producers and Exporters

World’s Top Producers of Butter (made of Cow Milk) (2019): 1) United States: 904521 tonnes; 2) New Zealand: 505000 tonnes; 3) Germany: 497109 tonnes; 4) France: 353500 tonnes; 5) Russia: 269216 tonnes; 6) Ireland: 250800 tonnes; 7) Turkey: 230560 tonnes; 8) United Kingdom: 194000 tonnes; 9) Iran: 178385 tonnes; 10) Belarus: 115840 tonnes; 11) Canada: 112374 tonnes; 12) Belgium: 112350 tonnes; 13) Brazil: 110800 tonnes; 14) Uzbekistan: 97909 tonnes; 15) Italy: 94030 tonnes; 16) China: 83130 tonnes; 17) Denmark: 75000 tonnes; 18) Australia: 73300 tonnes; 19) Ukraine: 69600 tonnes; 20) Japan: 62441 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters of Butter (2020): 1) New Zealand: 425320 tonnes; 2) Ireland: 292885 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 253556 tonnes; 4) Germany: 135004 tonnes; 5) Belgium: 127857 tonnes; 6) France: 74614 tonnes; 7) Belarus: 68264 tonnes; 8) United Kingdom: 61419 tonnes; 9) Poland: 55816 tonnes; 10) Denmark: 50491 tonnes; 11) Finland: 35335 tonnes; 12) United States: 21849 tonnes; 13) Argentina: 14127 tonnes; 14) Uruguay: 13341 tonnes; 15) Portugal: 13097 tonnes; 16) Italy: 12880 tonnes; 17) Australia: 11968 tonnes; 18) Ukraine: 11235 tonnes; 19) Spain: 8088 tonnes; 20) Saudi Arabia: 7315 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Butter (2020): 1) New Zealand: US$1891681,000; 2) Ireland: US$1125066,000; 3) Netherlands: US$1028834,000; 4) Germany: US$560440,000; 5) Belgium: US$552396,000; 6) France: US$439690,000; 7) Belarus: US$319227,000; 8) Denmark: US$268643,000; 9) United Kingdom: US$241550,000; 10) Poland: US$219063,000; 11) Finland: US$148110,000; 12) United States: US$86843,000; 13) Italy: US$68879,000; 14) Australia: US$55771,000; 15) Portugal: US$54797,000; 16) Argentina: US$52453,000; 17) Ukraine: US$48749,000; 18) Uruguay: US$43619,000; 19) Saudi Arabia: US$36072,000; 20) Spain: US$31455,000

The top five butter producers (thousands of tones per year) in the early 1990s were: 1) former USSR (1,570); 2) India (1,040) 3) Germany (653); 4) the USA (620); 5) France (500)

World’s Top Yogurt Producing and Exporting Countries

World’s Top Producers of Yogurt (2019): 1) Saudi Arabia: 193542 tonnes; 2) Mongolia: 39360 tonnes; 3) Thailand: 14507 tonnes; 4) Uruguay: 13196 tonnes; 5) Turkey: 10981 tonnes; 6) Indonesia: 6835 tonnes; 7) Syria: 4904 tonnes; 8) Vietnam: 3466 tonnes; 9) Togo: 2274 tonnes; 10) Israel: 1310 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters of Yogurt (2020): 1) Saudi Arabia: 87816 tonnes; 2) Ghana: 5451 tonnes; 3) United Arab Emirates: 5372 tonnes; 4) Indonesia: 5109 tonnes; 5) Costa Rica: 4615 tonnes; 6) Vietnam: 3725 tonnes; 7) Turkey: 2756 tonnes; 8) China: 2389 tonnes; 9) Nigeria: 1351 tonnes; 10) Azerbaijan: 463 tonnes; 12) Egypt: 460 tonnes; 13) Bahrain: 421 tonnes; 14) Cote d’Ivoire: 376 tonnes; 15) Iran: 113 tonnes; 16) Syria: 113 tonnes; 17) Israel: 20 tonnes; 18) India: 16 tonnes; 19) Myanmar: 16 tonnes; 20) Mozambique: 8 tonnes; Lithuania: 8 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Yogurt (2020): 1) Saudi Arabia: US$108693,000; 2) Vietnam: US$12438,000; 3) Costa Rica: US$7082,000; 4) United Arab Emirates: US$5856,000; 5) Indonesia: US$5522,000; 6) China: US$5457,000; 7) Ghana: US$2745,000; 8) Turkey: US$2096,000; 9) Nigeria: US$1185,000; 10) Azerbaijan: US$961,000; 11) Bahrain: US$524,000; 12) Egypt: US$520,000; 13) Syria: US$126,000; 14) Iran: US$82,000; 14) Israel: US$61,000; 15) Mozambique: US$36,000; 16) India: US$33,000; 17) Côte d'Ivoire: US$29,000; 18) Cyprus: US$16,000; 19) Lithuania: US$12,000

World’s Top Exporters of Yogurt, Concentrated or Not (2020): 1) Germany: 452376 tonnes; 2) France: 148839 tonnes; 3) Iran: 120000 tonnes; 4) Greece: 104088 tonnes; 5) Austria: 99420 tonnes; 6) Spain: 82154 tonnes; 7) Thailand: 68697 tonnes; 8) Belgium: 44883 tonnes; 9) Czechia: 37472 tonnes; 10) Poland: 36553 tonnes; 11) Finland: 30435 tonnes; 12) Romania: 28823 tonnes; 13) South Africa: 28276 tonnes; 14) United Kingdom: 26698 tonnes; 15) Netherlands: 26012 tonnes; 16) Portugal: 22995 tonnes; 17) Russia: 19348 tonnes; 18) Belarus: 18879 tonnes; 19) Luxembourg: 17164 tonnes; 20) Mexico: 15623 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Yogurt, Concentrated or Not (2020): 1) Germany: US$641047,000; 2) France: US$253586,000; 3) Greece: US$232854,000; 4) Austria: US$130192,000; 5) Iran: US$121000,000; 6) Spain: US$104342,000; 7) Thailand: US$78621,000; 8) United Kingdom: US$75847,000; 9) Czechia: US$55686,000; 10) Belgium: US$52168,000; 11) Poland: US$51378,000; 12) Canada: US$47038,000; 13) Netherlands: US$42849,000; 14) Romania: US$42457,000; 15) United States: US$39919,000; 16) Sweden: US$32710,000; 17) Belarus: US$32500,000; 18) Finland: US$31981,000; 19) Luxembourg: US$30437,000; 20) South Africa: US$30156,000

World’s Top Yogurt Importing Countries

World’s Top Importers of Yogurt (2020): 1) Kuwait: 35501 tonnes; 2) China: 28379 tonnes; 3) Oman: 25207 tonnes; 4) United Arab Emirates: 19172 tonnes; 5) Bahrain: 11862 tonnes; 6) Palestine: 9000 tonnes; 7) Myanmar: 5345 tonnes; 8) Togo: 4782 tonnes; 9) Georgia: 4407 tonnes; 10) Mozambique: 4406 tonnes; 11) Cambodia: 3972 tonnes; 12) Norway: 2622 tonnes; 13) Lesotho: 2307 tonnes; 14) Vietnam: 2292 tonnes; 15) Cyprus: 1934 tonnes; 16) Burkina Faso: 1540 tonnes; 17) Mongolia: 1500 tonnes; 18) Timor-Leste: 1437 tonnes; 19) Mali: 1328 tonnes; 20) Qatar: 984 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Yogurt (2020): 1) China: US$47483,000; 2) Kuwait: US$42471,000; 3) United Arab Emirates: US$39680,000; 4) Oman: US$32228,000; 5) Bahrain: US$15995,000; 6) Palestine: US$15000,000; 7) Cambodia: US$13887,000; 8) Mozambique: US$9510,000; 9) Vietnam: US$7929,000; 10) Myanmar: US$7332,000; 11) Norway: US$7279,000; 12) Georgia: US$5363,000; 13) Qatar: US$5004,000; 14) Cyprus: US$4286,000; 15) Mongolia: US$3000,000; 16) Lesotho: US$2915,000; 17) Togo: US$2708,000; 18) Israel: US$2464,000; 19) Timor-Leste: US$2077,000; 20) Costa Rica: US$1975,000

World’s Top Importers of Yogurt, Concentrated or Not (2020): 1) United Kingdom: 264200 tonnes; 2) Italy: 168269 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 115787 tonnes; 4) Spain: 114358 tonnes; 5) Iraq: 110000 tonnes; 6) Portugal: 108589 tonnes; 7) Germany: 104015 tonnes; 8) Belgium: 99784 tonnes; 9) Sweden: 76981 tonnes; 10) France: 48927 tonnes; 11) Hungary: 33981 tonnes; 12) Austria: 32580 tonnes; 13) Ireland: 32064 tonnes; 14) Finland: 28240 tonnes; 15) Poland: 25615 tonnes; 16) Russia: 23461 tonnes; 17) Denmark: 20842 tonnes; 18) Czechia: 19251 tonnes; 19) Romania: 18935 tonnes; 20) United States: 17052 tonnes

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Yogurt, Concentrated or Not (2020): 1) United Kingdom: US$432346,000; 2) Italy: US$265124,000; 3) Spain: US$164913,000; 4) Netherlands: US$162060,000; 5) Portugal: US$151170,000; 6) Belgium: US$151033,000; 7) Germany: US$144401,000; 8) Iraq: US$121000,000; 9) Sweden: US$100080,000; 10) France: US$78994,000; 11) United States: US$70803,000; 12) Ireland: US$57030,000; 13) Austria: US$49926,000; 14) Poland: US$41481,000; 15) Hungary: US$39838,000; 16) Singapore: US$39793,000; 17) Finland: US$39418,000; 18) Hong Kong: US$38991,000; 19) Russia: US$38101,000; 20) Denmark: US$29929,000

Cheese

Cheeses are usually made from cow's milk, goat milk or ewe’s (sheep’s) milk. Some places mix cow's and goat's milk although most are made from the milk of only one kind of animal. Cheeses are often artificially colors to give them a uniform, marketable look. Almost all the milk in the French Alps goes into the making of cheese.

Cheeses in the past were made when people realized that rennet from calf's stomachs turned milk into cheese. Nobody knew that an enzyme called chymosin produced the change. Today rennet has been replaced by an enzyme made through genetic engineering.

Cheese-making consists of three major steps: curdling, draining and ripening. Other important process include pressing the curds, chopping the curds, leaving them alone, cooking, salting the cheese, adding bread crumbs, spices or herbs, ageing it anywhere from a few days to a few years, and brushing it with wine, beer or oil. A large number of microorganism can be used for curdling and fermentation. Sometimes cheese is stored in caves. [Source: Rudolph Chelminski, Smithsonian magazine]

Pasteurized and Unpasteurized Cheeses

Many of France's best cheeses are made from non-pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is a process in which milk is heating to destroy potentially disease-causing pathogens such as listeria and salmonella but also wipes flavor-producing enzymes. While cheese ages it produce its disease-fighting acids and salts and cheesemakers say the risks are minimal. One cheese ripener told the New York Times, "Pasteurized cheese is not cheese. It's plastic. Its like the difference between a free-range chicken and one that is cages." Other say non-pasteurized tastes like chewing gum. [Source: Amanda Hesser, New York Times, May 20, 1998]

Unpasteurized cheeses in France include cylinders of fresh goat cheese, creamy brie de meux, and any young cheese marked "au lait" ("raw milk"). Amanda Hesser of the New York Times wrote: "A raw-milk cheese may be firm, nutty, tangy, creamy and grassy, and it may come in shapes raging from disks to pyramids...While connoisseurs complain that pasteurized cheeses largely taste alike, raw-milk cheeses ooze complexity and character. They taste of the terroir, which in cheese-making terms means the grasses and herbs in the pasture."

In the early 1990s, rumors began circulating hat European Union regulations were going to require French cheeses to use pasteurized milk. Cheese makers and cheese eaters were outraged. One maker told the New York Times "there would be a revolution" if the regulations were passed. In the end French resistance prevailed and the pasteurization laws were not enacted.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, which require cheese to be pasteurized, prohibits unpasteurized French cheeses from being sold in the United States. After comparing two cheeses, Hesser wrote, "The pasteurized was acidic and gooey, the raw milk an earthy, soft and creamy delight."

About 80 percent of the cheese sold in France is pasteurized. Pasteurized varieties are generally much cheaper than un pasteurized ones. Industrial versions of Camembert, Roquefort and Saint-nectair cost $2.25 a pound, $1.19 and $4.26 respectively in the late 1990s while their handmade versions cost $10, $8.43 and $16.80 respectively.

Pasteurized cheeses are good the year round. Unpasteurized cheeses produced using traditional methods are not. Blue cheese matures in the summer. Breis and Camemberts are usually not at their best in the simmer. Most cheeses ripen in the autumn and spring.

Types of Cheeses

France has a huge variety cheeses. the differences not only reflect different cheesemaking processes but also differences in habitats, animals, grass.

Cream cheeses are often served with sweets and fruits or used as a dip for vegetables or a dressing for baked potatoes. Many have a short shelf-lie. The one with a long shelf life tend to have a stronger taste and are often flavored with herbs and spices. Each region of France has its own variety of cream cheeses. Boursin from Normandy is the most well known.

Cooked varieties, pressed and hard cheese such as Gruyère, Comté and Beaufort are usually made from cow's milk and have rinds. They come primarily from eastern France. Uncooked varieties are usually made from cow's goat's or ewe's milk. Tommes from southern France and Cantal from Auvergene are the most well known kind of this cheese.

Soft cheeses are usually made from cow’s milk and they account for about a third of all the cheese made in France. Some have soft rinds produced by natural molds. Others are washed and have no rind. Brie from Ile-de-France, Camembert from Normandy and Carré de l'Este from Loraine are all varieties of soft cheese with rids. Muenster from Alsace, Marioles from Flanders and reblochon from Savory are example soft washed varieties. They are characterized by a strong smell and a mild taste.

There are also a variety of blue cheeses (made from the milk of cows, ewes and goats) and goat's milk cheeses (included the smooth Sainte-Maure from Touraine and the more mature and aromatic “crottin”). Other varieties include sweet cheeses made triple cream, pressed cheeses, those with crusts "flowered" by fermentation; oat cheeses; smelly cheeses.

World’s Top Cheese Producers, Exporters and Importers

World’s Top Producers of Whole Cow Milk Cheese (2019): 1) United States: 5959034 tonnes; 2) Italy: 1185970 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 953000 tonnes; 4) Canada: 557109 tonnes; 5) United Kingdom: 470000 tonnes; 6) Denmark: 457000 tonnes; 7) Argentina: 429411 tonnes; 8) Australia: 381000 tonnes; 9) New Zealand: 365000 tonnes; 10) Ireland: 278400 tonnes; 11) Russia: 269216 tonnes; 12) Belarus: 243883 tonnes; 13) Egypt: 231995 tonnes; 14) Venezuela: 224673 tonnes; 15) Austria: 203280 tonnes; 16) Switzerland: 195114 tonnes; 17) Uzbekistan: 187032 tonnes; 18) Spain: 185900 tonnes; 19) Mexico: 158391 tonnes; 20) Czechia: 134310 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Producers of Skimmed Cow Milk Cheese (2019): 1) Russia: 206011 tonnes; 2) United States: 200235 tonnes; 3) Iran: 180190 tonnes; 4) Myanmar: 144447 tonnes; 5) China: 106759 tonnes; 6) Japan: 97991 tonnes; 7) Egypt: 90158 tonnes; 8) Turkey: 65716 tonnes; 9) Uzbekistan: 39414 tonnes; 10) Canada: 35194 tonnes; 11) Israel: 29191 tonnes; 12) Costa Rica: 23769 tonnes; 13) Morocco: 20938 tonnes; 14) Switzerland: 19287 tonnes; 15) Brazil: 12066 tonnes; 16) Honduras: 11791 tonnes; 17) Uruguay: 11143 tonnes; 18) Azerbaijan: 9842 tonnes; 19) Nigeria: 9482 tonnes; 20) Mauritania: 6877 tonnes

World’s Top Exporters of Whole Cow Milk Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: 1207655 tonnes; 2) Netherlands: 908247 tonnes; 3) France: 594873 tonnes; 4) Italy: 459528 tonnes; 5) Denmark: 394051 tonnes; 6) United States: 331407 tonnes; 7) New Zealand: 296650 tonnes; 8) Belarus: 274003 tonnes; 9) Ireland: 271983 tonnes; 10) Poland: 216384 tonnes; 11) Belgium: 209564 tonnes; 12) United Kingdom: 178809 tonnes; 13) Australia: 137223 tonnes; 14) Austria: 109356 tonnes; 15) Spain: 103163 tonnes; 16) Greece: 100628 tonnes; 17) Switzerland: 71308 tonnes; 18) Egypt: 61860 tonnes; 19) Czechia: 59504 tonnes; 20) Argentina: 57393 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Whole Cow Milk Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: US$4381951,000; 2) Netherlands: US$4133821,000; 3) Italy: US$3532189,000; 4) France: US$3150066,000; 5) Denmark: US$1582024,000; 6) United States: US$1489119,000; 7) New Zealand: US$1185518,000; 8) Ireland: US$1091329,000; 9) Belarus: US$1062501,000; 10) Belgium: US$886950,000; 11) United Kingdom: US$779233,000; 12) Poland: US$760362,000; 13) Switzerland: US$700833,000; 14) Greece: US$600342,000; 15) Austria: US$572615,000; 16) Australia: US$559407,000; 17) Spain: US$558954,000; 18) Cyprus: US$306661,000; 19) Czechia: US$244097,000; 20) Argentina: US$219394,000

World’s Top Importers of Whole Cow Milk Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: 858805 tonnes; 2) Italy: 455704 tonnes; 3) United Kingdom: 452921 tonnes; 4) France: 364870 tonnes; 5) Netherlands: 364258 tonnes; 6) Belgium: 332399 tonnes; 7) Russia: 311044 tonnes; 8) Japan: 284449 tonnes; 9) Spain: 275021 tonnes; 10) South Korea: 141603 tonnes; 11) Sweden: 128992 tonnes; 12) Saudi Arabia: 123979 tonnes; 13) Austria: 123624 tonnes; 14) Greece: 123018 tonnes; 15) China: 110249 tonnes; 16) United States: 107748 tonnes; 17) Czechia: 97125 tonnes; 18) Denmark: 96796 tonnes; 19) Mexico: 94652 tonnes; 20) Poland: 93728 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Whole Cow Milk Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: US$4584582,000; 2) France: US$1937528,000; 3) United Kingdom: US$1919713,000; 4) Italy: US$1749487,000; 5) Belgium: US$1509520,000; 6) Netherlands: US$1332063,000; 7) Japan: US$1237834,000; 8) Russia: US$1222225,000; 9) United States: US$1199463,000; 10) Spain: US$1120295,000; 11) Sweden: US$639306,000; 12) South Korea: US$591263,000; 13) Austria: US$548348,000; 14) China: US$487940,000; 15) Greece: US$476611,000; 16) Switzerland: US$458781,000; 17) Mexico: US$452293,000; 18) Saudi Arabia: US$429455,000; 19) Australia: US$427610,000; 20) Poland: US$407954,000

Also See Goats and Sheep

World’s Top Processed Cheese Exporters and Importers

World’s Top Exporters of Processed Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: 104331 tonnes; 2) France: 61595 tonnes; 3) Saudi Arabia: 52217 tonnes; 4) Belgium: 48527 tonnes; 5) Poland: 46518 tonnes; 6) Austria: 40468 tonnes; 7) New Zealand: 30317 tonnes; 8) United States: 27137 tonnes; 9) Egypt: 21193 tonnes; 10) Nicaragua: 20217 tonnes; 11) Turkey: 18666 tonnes; 12) Australia: 16166 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 15762 tonnes; 14) United Kingdom: 14261 tonnes; 15) Bahrain: 13827 tonnes; 16) Ireland: 10131 tonnes; 17) Uruguay: 8400 tonnes; 18) Hungary: 7263 tonnes; 19) Spain: 7129 tonnes; 20) Denmark: 5564 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Processed Cheese (2020): 1) Germany: US$401267,000; 2) France: US$341577,000; 3) Belgium: US$192375,000; 4) Saudi Arabia: US$189169,000; 5) Austria: US$171045,000; 6) Poland: US$166289,000; 7) New Zealand: US$131012,000; 8) United States: US$122446,000; 9) Bahrain: US$88242,000; 10) Ireland: US$87619,000; 11) Netherlands: US$81380,000; 12) Australia: US$80835,000; 13) Egypt: US$79533,000; 14) United Kingdom: US$63395,000; 15) Turkey: US$55192,000; 16) Nicaragua: US$49935,000; 17) Hungary: US$32776,000; 18) Spain: US$32640,000; 19) Uruguay: US$29533,000; 20) Morocco: US$28829,000. [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers of Processed Cheese (2020): 1) Saudi Arabia: 57134 tonnes; 2) United Kingdom: 46518 tonnes; 3) France: 35636 tonnes; 4) Italy: 33154 tonnes; 5) Germany: 32096 tonnes; 6) Iraq: 26707 tonnes; 7) El Salvador: 24714 tonnes; 8) Australia: 23712 tonnes; 9) United Arab Emirates: 21100 tonnes; 10) Belgium: 20485 tonnes; 11) China: 18980 tonnes; 12) Yemen: 17774 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 17150 tonnes; 14) Kuwait: 14703 tonnes; 15) Malaysia: 14138 tonnes; 16) Oman: 12886 tonnes; 17) Taiwan: 12796 tonnes; 18) Libya: 12091 tonnes; 19) Spain: 12085 tonnes; 20) Singapore: 9827 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Processed Cheese (2020): 1) United Kingdom: US$284264,000; 2) Saudi Arabia: US$253829,000; 3) France: US$136727,000; 4) Germany: US$136110,000; 5) Italy: US$122398,000; 6) United Arab Emirates: US$108116,000; 7) Australia: US$105905,000; 8) China: US$102402,000; 9) Belgium: US$98917,000; 10) Iraq: US$94698,000; 11) Kuwait: US$87374,000; 12) Netherlands: US$77317,000; 13) Malaysia: US$70297,000; 14) Singapore: US$61374,000; 15) El Salvador: US$61326,000; 16) Taiwan: US$61197,000; 17) Oman: US$59937,000; 18) Yemen: US$58920,000; 19) Spain: US$51195,000; 20) Libya: US$50682,000. [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Yomiuri Shimbun, The Guardian, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated April 2022