Many good cheeses have a high fat content. So, how does milk from different animals stack up...I willc heck on porky later.


Consider how humans stack up against these animals (values are given in percentage weight—all data from Jenness 1974).

• Human: 3.8% fat; 1% protein; 7% lactose*

• Cow: 3.7% fat; 3.4% protein; 4.8% lactose

• Rat: 10.3% fat; 8.4% protein; 2.6% lactose

• Dog: 12.9% fat; 7.9% protein; 3.1% lactose

• Rabbit: 18.3% fat; 13.9% protein; 2.6% lactose

- Some species of seals and large whales have milk fat content over 50%; the highest percentage of fat recorded in marine mammals is 65% in the hooded seal.


*(To some degree, milk composition varies by diet as well. The numbers above reflect the average milk composition of British women. For instance, an analysis conducted in India produced an estimate of 3.4 g fat per 100mL -Gopalan et al 2000).


Nutrients and calories in breast milk
© 2008 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved