A2 milk

"a2" branded milk on sale

A2 milk is a variety of cows' milk that mostly lacks a form of β-casein proteins called A1, and instead has mostly the A2 form.[1] Cows' milk like this was brought to market by The a2 Milk Company and is sold mostly in Australia, New Zealand, China, and the United States. It was sold in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2019.[2][3] Non-cow milk, including that of humans, sheep, goats, donkeys, yaks, camels, buffalo, and others, also contain mostly A2 β-casein, and so the term "A2 milk" is also used in that context.[4][5]

The a2 Milk Company and some companies producing goat's milk products claim that milk containing A1 proteins is harmful,[6] but there has been no widely accepted scientific work identifying a direct link between A1 protein and any adverse effect on health.

A1 and A2 beta-casein are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein that differ by one amino acid. A genetic test, developed by the a2 Milk Company, determines whether a cow produces A2 or A1 type protein in its milk.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NZreg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "A2 Milk exits UK market". 6 November 2019.
  3. ^ European Food Safety Authority (3 February 2009). "Review of the potential health impact of β-casomorphins and related peptides". EFSA Journal. 7 (2): 231r. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.231r.
  4. ^ Jung, Tae-Hwan; Hwang, Hyo-Jeong; Yun, Sung-Seob; Lee, Won-Jae; Kim, Jin-Wook; Ahn, Ji-Yun; Jeon, Woo-Min; Han, Kyoung-Sik (31 December 2017). "Hypoallergenic and Physicochemical Properties of the A2 β-Casein Fractionof Goat Milk". Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources. 37 (6): 940–947. doi:10.5851/kosfa.2017.37.6.940. ISSN 1225-8563. PMC 5932946. PMID 29725217.
  5. ^ Pasin, PhD, Gonca (9 February 2017). "A2 Milk Facts - California Dairy Research Foundation". cdrf.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Why the A2 Protein Makes Goat Milk Such a Game Changer". The Good Goat Milk Company. 15 August 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  7. ^ Woodford, Keith (2010). Devil in the milk – Illness, health and politics A1 and A2 milk (Updated ed.). Craig Potton Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-877333-70-5.