Aussies are ditching low-fat or skim milk varieties and going back to good old full cream milk instead.
According to Dairy Australia, consumers are switching back to full-cream milk and ditching the low-fat and skim milk options.
In 2006-07, full cream milk made up 60 per cent of all dairy milk sales in Australia.
According to supermarket sales data, that has risen to 71 per cent by 2021-22.
People’s perception of what is “healthy” is the cause of the change, according to Dairy Australia’s marketing strategy manager and dietitian Glenys Zucco.
A decade ago, full-fat dairy was associated with cholesterol and heart disease,” she told the ABC.
“The saturated fats in regular fat dairy products don’t have the same negative effect on heart disease risk as saturated fats found in other foods such as fatty meats, packaged sweets, pastries, and takeaway foods.”
In 2021–22, Australian per capita consumption of milk stood at 93 litres per person for the year, which equals just over 250 millilitres per day.
Consumption of cheese has also grown in the past 12 months from to 13.4 kilograms to 15 kilograms per capita.
Cheddar is still the most popular cheese in Australia, but non-cheddar varieties like mozzarella and specialist cheeses had grown as well.
