Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,16 Jan 2015,26 mins

Man v Milk

The Food Chain

Available for over a year

The relationship between humans and milk is a long and complicated one. We were never supposed to drink it past infancy yet we can’t seem to leave it alone. This week, we hear how an ability to drink milk forged the course of our evolution. Plus, milk is big business. We hear how Dutch farmers are bracing themselves for the potential impact of EU milk quotas being lifted this year. And, why Coca-Cola has its eyes set on entering the milk market with a high-protein version. We find out about the unique social and economic factors that lead to the widespread pasteurisation of milk in the early 20th Century. And, Angela Saini talks to a farmer about the controversial trend of going back to drinking raw milk. (Photo: Dairy cows in New Zealand. Credit: William West/AFP/Getty Images)

Programme Website
More episodes