The "Dunkin' Cookies With My Boys" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Think I may have found something that my two sons might benefit from since they are both lactose intolerant.  For years they haven't been able to dunk cookies with me since every time they would drink milk they would feel nauseous and get abdominal cramps, gas and diarrhea.  Not sure how many years it has been since they discovered they can't drink regular milk, but its been quite a while.  Lactose consists of two sugar molecules that are bound together, glucose and galactose.  Lactose intolerant means their body doesn't have the ability to break down naturally-occurring milk sugar (lactose) into its component parts to be absorbed.  They don't have sufficient production of lactase enzyme whose job it is to split apart these two component sugars of lactose so they can be absorbed in the small intestine.  I was recently reading about a new type of milk that is being produced and sold in Lancaster County stores called A2 milk.  Our local supermarkets are now stocking the milk on its shelves.  The new milk only has one of the two proteins, or sugar, molecules found in regular milk.  It seems that the A1 protein is the cause of indigestion from milk in 25% of the American population.  The A2 milk, which tastes the same, named after the remaining protein, landed on the store shelves a few months ago.  

Jersey cows are light brown in color.

A young Mennonite couple living in nearby Leola, PA sold a Jersey cow to a family in western Pennsyl- vania a couple of years ago.  The couple later were asked if they could buy a second cow from their farm.  A few months after that the Leola family received a call asking if the first cow they sold produced only A2 milk since their family's children could drink the milk from the first cow, but not milk from the second cow, since it gave them upset stomachs.  The Leola farmer didn't know what he was talking about, but after having a DNA test done of the hair of the two cows, it was found they did have different types of milk production.  The Leola family did some research and decided to begin producing their own A2 milk.  It took some time to accumulate cows with just the one protein, but since Jersey cows tend to have just the A2 protein, they built their herd in a few months.  They now have 40 A2 cows and sell 1,100 to 1,200 gallons of the raw or pasteurized A2 milk a week.  People from as far away as Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey have been visiting their farm to purchase the milk.  

A2 milk is on sale today!

A2 milk is found not only in our local grocery stores now, but at Central Market in downtown Lancaster.  The milk sold at market comes from another Lancaster Amish farm near Terre Hill, Pennsylvania.  The A2 milk is more expensive selling for close to $4.50 a gallon which is slightly more than a dollar more than regular milk.  As I read more about the milk I found that A2 milk is actually the original milk found in cows in Africa and Asia.  Human breast milk contains only A2 milk.  Thousands of years ago a natural mutation occurred in European dairy herds and spread to breeds there and thus the United States.  Now there seems to be a small war occurring in the dairy industry.  Claims have been made that the A2 milk doesn't help lactose intolerant people, but many claim it does help.  Can you see what's going to happen here?  The government will get involved and one group will pay them more than the other group and there will be a bill introduced banning one or the other.  Always happens that way.  As for me, I'm going to grab a few containers and give them to my sons to see what they think.  Maybe they'll be dunking cookies with me before Carol bakes her Christmas cookies at the end of the year.  Here's hoping!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.