In recent years, with the rise of the "new concept" of health, niche milk products such as buffalo milk, yak milk, camel milk, goat milk have become a new consumer fashion, which has been sought after by many consumers, and merchants claim that they are "better nutrition" and "lower fat content", is this really the case?
Recently, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission conducted a comparative test on 32 niche milks. The results showed that buffalo milk and milk had the highest protein and calcium content, and the most cost-effective; Camel milk has the highest calcium content; Goat's milk has the lowest fat content. In addition, there were problems with the labels and claims of some samples, such as inconsistent labels on the inner and outer packaging of samples such as Ma Mu Yak Pure Milk; Products such as Shepherd's Pure Goat's Milk are suspected of false or exaggerated claims.
A total of 32 niche milks were purchased in this comparative experiment, including 6 types of buffalo milk, 7 types of yak milk, 6 types of camel milk, 6 types of goat milk and 7 types of milk (most of which are medium and high-end products), with prices ranging from 1.5 yuan to 25.4 yuan/100mL. The protein, calcium, fat, sugar, carbohydrate and other nutrients of the samples were tested, and different milk-source samples were classified and compared.
Buffalo milk and milk are the best value for money
Camel milk and goat milk are characterized by high calcium content and low fat content, respectively
Protein and calcium are the most important nutrients in dairy products. The results showed that the protein content of the 32 samples ranged from 3.0g/100mL to 4.3g/100mL. The protein content of buffalo milk and milk was high, with the mean values of 4.2g/100mL and 4.0g/100mL, respectively, while goat's milk had the lowest protein content, with an average of 3.2g/100mL.
The calcium content of the 32 samples ranged from 116mg/100mL to 181mg/100mL, among which camel milk had the highest calcium content, with an average value of 164.0mg/100mL. followed by buffalo milk, with an average value of 152.3mg/100mL; Goat's milk had the lowest calcium content, with an average value of 123.3mg/100mL.
Combined with the price, buffalo milk and milk are the most cost-effective.
Experiments found differences in fat and sugar content between different milk-source samples. Goat milk had the lowest fat content, with an average value of 3.4g/100mL, and milk had the highest fat content, with an average value of 4.6g/100mL; The main sugar sources of the five types of samples were lactose (accounting for more than 99% of the total carbohydrates), among which the lactose content of buffalo milk was high, with an average value of 5.5g/100mL, and the lactose content of camel milk was low, with an average value of 4.4 g/100mL. Fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose were not detected in all samples.
The inside and outside labels of the Ma Mu and Desert God samples were inconsistent
An Mu and Shepherd's Goat Milk are suspected of false or exaggerated propaganda
Product labels and web pages claim to be an important window for consumers to understand a product. In this comparative test, it was found that the outer box packaging and the inner box packaging of the two samples had some inconsistent label contents, involving the ingredient list and nutrition facts list.
For example, the nominal Ma Mu yak pure milk produced by Qinghai Ma Mu Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the nominal specification model is 200mL×16, and the order of the ingredient list is inconsistent. The ingredient list of the outer box shows "raw yak milk (≥20%), raw milk", and the ingredient list of the inner box is "raw milk, raw yak milk (≥20%)".
The nominal desert god pure camel milk produced by Inner Mongolia Desert God Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the nominal specification model is 180mL×10, and the NRV value of the nutrition facts table is inconsistent. The outer carton label shows "Carbohydrate NRV 1%" and the inner can label says "Carbohydrate NRV 2%".
In addition, the test also found that the webpages of some samples claimed that the display content on different online shopping platforms was inconsistent, and the self-operated or third-party flagship stores of mainstream platforms such as JD.com and Taobao were relatively standardized, while the third-party stores of the same product on some platforms were suspected of false or exaggerated publicity.
Anmu goat milk purchased at Youma No. 1 store on the fast group platform, with a nominal specification model of 200mL×10, claims to "control diabetes", "beauty and beauty", "help brain development" and "improve osteoporosis" and other effects. Shepherd's pure goat milk purchased at the online store Youzhong Food franchise store on the e-commerce platform has a nominal specification model of 250mL×12, claiming "high calcium" and "high protein".
It is understood that according to the GB28050 "National Food Safety Standard General Principles for Prepackaged Food Nutrition Labeling" and the nutrient reference value of Chinese food labels, 6.0g ≥of protein per 100mL of liquid milk can be declared as "high protein", and calcium content in ≥120mg per 100mL of liquid milk can be declared "high calcium". The measured calcium and protein content of shepherd's pure goat's milk did not meet the above declared requirements.
This comparative test also found that some samples are mixed milk sources from the ingredient list (such as ingredient list: raw cow's milk, raw buffalo milk or raw milk, raw yak milk) and from the order of the ingredient list, it can be explained that more than half of the raw materials are raw milk, but its trade name is "buffalo pure milk" or "yak pure milk", and its trade name is easily confused with pure milk from a single milk source.
There were 3 mixed milk source samples of raw cow's milk at the top of the ingredient list, including Murphy buffalo pure milk produced by Yunnan Huangshi Lycel Dairy Co., Ltd., with a nominal specification model of 206g×10, and the nominal ingredient list was raw cow's milk and raw buffalo milk; The nominal Ma Mu yak pure milk produced by Qinghai Ma Mu Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the nominal specification model is 200mL×16, and the inner box ingredient list is raw cow's milk and raw yak milk (≥20%); The nominal Qilian Mountain yak pure milk produced by Qinghai Jinqilian Dairy Co., Ltd., the nominal specification model is 200mL×10, and the nominal ingredient list is raw cow's milk, raw yak milk, etc.
Consumption Tips:
Put page nutrition claims in perspective
The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission recommends that consumers not only look at the product name but also pay attention to the ingredient list when purchasing pure milk. In the ingredient list, only 1 milk source is single milk source pure milk, and 2 or more milk sources are mixed milk.
The main role of drinking milk is to supplement protein and calcium, and these are the indicators to be marked in the nutrition content table, it is recommended to pay attention to the nutrition facts table when purchasing, and buy products with protein above 3.8g/100mL and calcium content above 120mg/100mL.
Looking at the page nutrition claim correctly, the nutrients in raw milk are not equal to the nutrients of processed sterilized milk (room temperature milk), and if there are active factors of raw milk mentioned in the sales page, they tend to produce a large amount of loss in the process of heating and sterilization, and the content in the actual sterilized milk is very small.
In addition, consumers are advised to purchase products from offline supermarkets or online flagship stores. In terms of types, whether it is milk, buffalo milk, yak milk, camel milk, goat milk, can provide high-quality protein and calcium for the human body, usually without special selection. If you have special requirements for high calcium or low fat, you can consider camel milk or goat milk.
Written by: Nanduwan Finance Agency reporter Wang Rena