Before antique milk equipment came, people had to discover milk. When did humans start drinking milk?
Human beings have drunk milk for about 10,000 years since the domestication of animals. There is no other mammal that continues to take milk after weaning; it is only human beings that take milk (from domestic mammals) after weaning. When human beings started taking milk, they only used it as a source of kefir, cheese, yogurt, and other edible products of milk. Later on, humans became tolerant of lactose and now we can take milk.
Before the industrial revolution, most people would rear dairy cows and goats and produce their milk at home. After the nineteenth century, the mass production of milk and urbanization made milk safety an issue. Milk-borne illnesses and death became common. It is during this period that the pasteurization of milk began. This period also saw the rise of antique milk equipment that we collect today. Since then, milk is used as a test case in pressing issues in good including animal rights, GMO foods, industrial farming, raw milk, and much more.
No Other Mammals Drink Milk
Babies of all other mammals stop nursing immediately they can eat food. When the digestive system of these animals can digest milk, they produce a gene that makes them unable to digest milk. Human beings, however, drink milk long after weaning. The first human beings to drink milk lived in the Sumerian culture, where Iraq sits today. This was long before there were tools with enough power to cut through metal or to create other powerful tools that can be collected as antiques.
Milk is safe to drink. However, Scientist Robert Koch noted that a certain type of tuberculosis germ could be spread through milk. It was afterward that the pasteurization of milk started to make it safe for drinking. Unless you drink milk raw, you will not get the germ and hence no tuberculosis. After the claim, milk became the first food to be tested in the lab.
Other Types of Milk
Animal milk is not the only type of milk that humans can take. So many tools have come up that have helped in the creation of more milk equipment and so many milk alternatives have come up. Almond milk is one of the alternatives to animal milk. In the sixteenth century, so many recipes with almond milk started showing up and the product became popular. Besides almond milk, human beings can also take soya, coconut, and hemp as alternatives.
The Cheese-Making Process
Originally, Cheddar was the name of a town. Later on, the term came to mean the cheese-making process. The term Cheddar refers to slicing strained curd, stacking it, and then turning and re stacking it during the process.
It was not until the eighteenth century that scientists started to analyze the contents of milk. From the analysis, they found out that donkey milk was closest to human milk. Goat’s milk was the second closest. Babies of most animals are tolerant of their mother’s milk but they can take donkey’s milk with no problem.
Milk from domesticated animals was made popular in the cities before it was used in rural areas. In cities, most people would use milk as a substitute for breastfeeding. It became the most popular food choice for weaned toddlers and children.
Conclusion
Approximately 60 percent of all humans on earth are lactose-intolerant. With the rise of machines, these people can now access lactose-free milk as the contents can be separated. Antique machines could not separate the contents of milk but modern machines can even reduce the cholesterol level in cow milk. There is also a rise in milk alternatives as more people turn to vegan diets.