A2 Milk.

[Onthebit]

Does anyone know what lab does the testing for A2 protien in cows?
http://link.brightcove.com/services/lin ... 1770660975

 

[Onthebit]

It is my understanding that the test can't be done in the US. So, where does the A2 milk (sold in the US) come from? And why? If I am mistaken then please let me know what lab to query.

 

[Jay]

Do a google search. You'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about A2 milk.

 

[rather b home]

I've been trying to find out something about this also but so far have come up empty. Googled it to death but no luck finding a lab that did the test. Saw something somewhere about A2 Corporation having a patent on the test but could get no further.

 

[Onthebit]

A2 Corp. is Aussie or NZ. So if there isn't a test in the US then they are importing milk from there. Or the A2 corp is testing herds in the US and if so I would like to know. Googling doesn't answer the question. Was hoping someone who has dairy would know about it.

 

[brandonm_13]

Is there any list of breeds that are more prone to A2 milk than others?

 

[regolith]

Is there any list of breeds that are more prone to A2 milk than others?

Jersey.

All the bulls marketed by LIC in New Zealand are gene tested and Jersey bulls are usually (not always) A2A2. It follows that most Jersey herds produce predominantly A2 milk.
The US will have a different genetic pool, but I suspect the same holds.

A few of the Friesan bulls are A2A2, and some are mixed A1A2. I don't know about other breeds - I think I read somewhere that Brown Swiss is also mostly A2 which is bonus for me because I'm doing a bit of cross-breeding to BS. A2 corp (or someone with the same agenda) has been trying to convince farmers to select bulls that are A2A2, regardless of breed, as it's evidently the way of the future...
I can't see it happening. The breeding industry just isn't set up that way - I purchase and use individual bulls according to their proofs ( http://www.lic.co.nz/lic_Alpha.cfm ), but most dairy farmers use the LIC team, so their genetic progress is dictated by the breeding company.

At this stage only the bulls are tested, I don't think there's any move to test individual dairy cows (there must be a bulk milk test to identify A2 herds?). I also have no idea *who* is selling A2 milk (if I went and looked in the supermarket I might figure it out) because most of the milk goes straight to the factory without splitting off herds that might be sole-ly A2.

Is the milk you're seeing in the US fresh or UHT? NZ can't sell fresh milk there, and although I've been told that they're not into UHT I've heard different from other sources - I think they do export some UHT liquid milk.

 

[regolith]

Urk.

Friesan meant to read 'Friesian' != Holstein (not in my book anyway). But it's properly called the Holstein-Friesian (HF).