Milk quality - a future approach from a researcher's point of view

The approach to the term "milk quality" varies among consumers, dairies and researchers and is therefore very difficult to define. Three main elements of the term are however dealt with in this paper. An increased understanding of the nutritional value of various milk components is necessary. How breeding and feeding can influence the nutritional quality of the milk or whether the processing properties of the milk are changed needs further investigation. A need for documentation of various quality aspects of milk produced in different regions will appear. Further research on the functional effect of genetic variants of proteins on dairy products is necessary if this factor is going to be an element in the breeding programmes.