Organic milk tastes bad

Heh!

Panelists in taste tests rated organic milk lower than milk from conventional or pasture-fed cows, according to University of Missouri food science research. "Clearly, organic milk was the least liked among the samples, whereas conventional milk and milk from pasture-fed cows were rated similarly," said Laura Valverde, a food science master's student.

One hundred panelists sampled the three kinds of milk, which were purchased directly from Missouri on-farm dairy operations. Organic milk scored the lowest in taste tests that rated flavor, liking and mouth feel.

"Panelists could not discriminate between conventional milk and milk from pasture-fed cows, other than a distinction of overall appearance," she said.

Cows' feed could make the difference. One reason for organic milk's low scores could be the cows' feed. The organic cows were fed with clover, hay, grass and barley. While hay was part of the feed of all cows, clover gives milk a rather strong flavor and barley can be a source of off-flavors, she said. "We could not determine if the difference in liking was because panelists were unfamiliar with organic milk or if there was anything objectionable in the organic milk," said Ingolf Gruen, food science researcher and Valverde's graduate adviser.

Public concerns about the use of rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) have helped boost sales of organic milk. "The widespread belief among organic milk consumers is that organic milk is superior to conventional milk. However, organic milk superiority has not been scientifically proven," Valverde said.

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Surprise! Depression and anxiety is genetically heritable!

Just like most personality characteristics. Even attitudes have a surprisingly high degree of genetic heritability

Almost 15 per cent of preschoolers have abnormally high levels of depression and anxiety, and a difficult temperament at five months of age is the most important early warning sign, a study has found.

Highly strung or tense four and five-year-olds are also more likely to have mothers with a history of depression than children who are not anxious or depressed.

The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, was based on annual interviews with 1759 mothers about their children's behaviour from five months to five years of age. The team of Canadian, French, US and British researchers from the International Laboratory for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Development said depression and anxiety symptoms could be identified in infants who were fearful or anxious, worried, not as happy as other children or who had difficulty having fun.

Difficulties in sleep, changes in appetite or concentration, lack of interest in things they used to find pleasurable and suddenly aggressive behaviour are also early warning signs.

The lead author, Sylvana Cote, a professor at the University of Montreal's department of social and preventive medicine, said: ''As early as the first year of life, there are indications that some children have more risks than others to develop high levels of depression and anxiety.''

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