Nonfat Milk

The fat content of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk" title="Milk" >milk</a> is the proportion of milk, by weight,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_content_of_milk#cite_note-ADA_Food_Guide-0" >[1]</a>:266 made up by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfat" title="Butterfat" >butterfat</a>. The fat content, particularly of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow" title="Cow" class="mw-redirect" >cow</a>'s milk, is modified to make a variety of products. The fat content of milk is usually stated on the container, and the colour of the label or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_bottle_top" title="Milk bottle top" >milk bottle top</a> varied to enable quick recognition.

To reduce the fat content of milk, e.g. for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, all of the fat is removed and then the required quantity returned.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

The fat content of the milk produced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow" title="Cow" class="mw-redirect" >cows</a> can also be altered, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_breeding" title="Selective breeding" >selective breeding</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_modification" title="Genetic modification" class="mw-redirect" >genetic modification</a>. For example, scientists in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand" >New Zealand</a> have bred cows that produce skimmed milk (less than 1% fat content).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_content_of_milk#cite_note-skimmedcows-3" >[4]</a>

In the USA, skim milk is also known as "nonfat" milk, due to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture" title="United States Department of Agriculture" >USDA</a> regulations stating that any food with less than ½ gram of fat per serving can be labelled "fat free".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_content_of_milk#cite_note-FDA-8" >[9]</a>