Dairy Research Bulletin: Selected Articles From August 2026

[Kevin Comerford]

Kevin Comerford, Ph.D​

Dairy Research Bulletin​

Chief Science Officer, California Dairy Research Foundation​

Dairy Research Bulletin
Selected Articles from AUGUST 2026 ​

Environmental Management and Sustainability ​

Economic competitiveness of separated dairy manure solids as a phosphorus fertilizer substitute. Keshavarz Afshar R (U.S. Dairy Research Institute)., Kishore J, Sadeghpour A. J Environ Manage. 2026 Aug 22;416:130698.

• Manure solid-liquid separation offers a potential pathway for redistributing nutrients from livestock-intensive, nutrient-surplus regions to cropland with fertilizer demand, but the competitiveness of separated manure products with synthetic phosphorus fertilizer depends on manure quality, acquisition price, and hauling distance.
• Researchers developed a probabilistic techno-economic framework to evaluate separated dairy manure solids (SDMS) relative to synthetic phosphorus fertilizer under representative market and agronomic conditions and to identify transaction-level thresholds for competitive viability.
• The analysis combined Sobol global sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation, deterministic scenario surfaces, and leverage analysis.
• SDMS acquisition price was the dominant driver of variance in net savings, followed by P2O5concentration and hauling distance. Competitiveness declined sharply with transport distance, with the 50% probability crossover occurring between 161 and 201 km and the most decision-sensitive range concentrated around 121-201 km under the modeled conditions.
• Scenario analysis showed that lower acquisition price and higher P2O5concentration substantially expanded the viable hauling radius, while moisture reduction also improved competitiveness but with different marginal returns across the quality surface.
• The leverage surface showed that the relative benefit of dewatering versus P2O5enrichment depends on the current product state; across much of the evaluated commercial range, a 1 percentage point reduction in moisture produced a greater gain in breakeven hauling distance than a 0.1 percentage point increase in P2O5 concentration, although the reverse held at low P2O5 concentrations combined with low moisture.
• The results also identified an acquisition-price ceiling beyond which additional processing no longer preserved competitiveness. These findings provide transaction-level economic criteria for manure redistribution and are implemented in NutrientChoice (https://www.dairyconservation.org/NutrientChoice), an open-source decision-support tool.

Material Flow Cost Accounting: A decision-support framework for integrating economic and environmental dimensions in livestock manure management. Keshavarz Afshar R, Dekamin M. J Environ Qual. 2026 Jul-Aug;55(4):e70237.

• Livestock manure presents a paradox: It is simultaneously a valuable nutrient and energy resource and if managed improperly, it will also become a source of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. Current farm-level assessment tools typically operate in silos.
• Lifecycle assessments evaluate environmental impacts, nutrient budgets track material flows, and farm economics assess costs, but no single tool integrates all three dimensions simultaneously. This fragmentation leaves hidden inefficiencies off the balance sheet and hinders decision-making by farmers and advisors.
• Therefore, researchers propose Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA), standardized under ISO 14051, as an integrative framework for livestock manure management that couples physical accounting (material flows and losses) with financial accounting (direct and indirect costs). By monetizing environmental losses (e.g., ammonia volatilization as lost fertilizer value) as "negative products," MFCA reframes these losses as explicit economic costs, revealing win-win opportunities where emissions reductions and cost savings align.
• Researchers outline MFCA's principles, present a structured operational framework adapted to livestock manure, and discuss implications for farm-level decision-making and management optimization. They conclude that MFCA can integrate with existing or new models to organize physical and financial data into a unified, economically transparent decision-support structure.
• When validated on commercial farms, integrated with dynamic process models, and implemented via accessible digital tools, MFCA has potential to reframe manure from a compliance burden into a quantifiable asset within a circular bioeconomy.

How agricultural field management modulates downstream transport of antibiotics, bacteria and nutrients in runoff water using edge-of-field monitoring. Mehla MK, Jeong J, Cho G, Wolfe JE, Kan E. Water Res. 2026 Aug 12;307:126704.

• Agricultural land application of dairy manure supplies essential nutrients but may simultaneously introduce bacteria, residual antibiotics, and excess nutrients into water bodies through runoff, posing significant risks to water quality and public health.
• Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced by pyrolysis, has emerged as a promising soil amendment for mitigating contamination due to its large surface-area sorption capacity. Still, significant uncertainty persists due to the high variability of soil properties and the complex dynamics of soil under various management practices.
• A three-year (2022-2024) edge-of-field monitoring study was conducted across two contrasting soil types (clay loam and sandy loam) in Texas, USA, evaluating four management treatments: inorganic fertilizer with tillage (F-T), manure with no-till (M-NT), manure with tillage (M-T), and manure plus biochar amendment under no-till management (MB-NT).
• Runoff transport of Escherichia colibacteria, sulfamethoxazole (SMX), tetracycline (TC), and nutrients (ammonium, nitrate, and soluble reactive phosphorus) were quantified using generalized linear mixed models and regression analysis. Robust machine learning approach using a random forest model, coupled with SHAP (Shapley Additive exPlanations) interpretability analysis, was used to make predictions and identify dominant transport drivers.
• Rainfall intensity was the primary driver of contaminant export at both sites, while soil type substantially modulated responses to management practices. Clay soils exhibited strong intrinsic buffering with minimal treatment differentiation, whereas in sandy loam, MB-NT suppressed E. colitransport relative to M-T management treatment.
• RF models demonstrated strong predictive performance for soluble reactive phosphorus (R² = 0.82), TC (R² = 0.77), and nitrate (R² = 0.69), while SHAP analysis identified rainfall and soil moisture as dominant predictors for nutrients. Ancillary climatic variables (temperature, day length) were more critical for bacterial and antibiotic dynamics.
• Findings demonstrate that biochar amendment under no-till management offers an effective, soil-specific remediation strategy for mitigating agricultural nonpoint source pollution, particularly on coarse-textured soils. Further research across different management and environmental conditions is needed to optimize biochar management strategies for sustained mitigation of agricultural contaminants.

Composting dairy cattle manure significantly reduces antibiotic-resistant bacteria with no biochar impact. Agga GE, Netthisinghe A, Sistani KR, et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2026 Aug 13:e0125826.

• Composting is a microbially mediated decomposition of organic matter into a nutrient-rich product for use as fertilizer. Biochar, obtained from the pyrolysis of biomass including animal manure, has been used for soil amendment. Beyond its nutrient stabilizing potential, composting has been shown to reduce bacterial load in animal manure
• In two randomized controlled field studies, researchers investigated the effect of biochar-amended dairy manure composting on the concentrations and prevalence of generic and antibiotic-resistant coliand enterococci.
• Fresh dairy manure mixed with sawdust and biochar was randomly distributed into plastic reactors and composted for 6 months. Pre-compost (biochar, sawdust, fresh dairy manure), manure mixture, and final compost samples were cultured for enumeration and prevalence.
• While biochar and sawdust were not significant sources, fresh dairy manure was the major contributor of bacteria to the initial manure mixture. Biochar amendment did not significantly reduce bacterial load beyond that could be achieved by composting alone.
• Spring-summer composting was more effective than fall-winter composting. While coliwas more prone, enterococci were more likely to survive composting. Dairy manure composting eliminated bacteria (3rd generation cephalosporin-resistant [3GCr] and extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing [ESBL]-E. coli) resistant to critically important and highest priority antibiotics for human health and significantly reduced the prevalence and concentrations of other investigated bacteria.
• 3GCr- and ESBL- colifrom fresh dairy manure were multidrug resistant and carried blaCTX-M genes, a widely distributed ESBL gene type. By whole-genome sequencing, ESBL-E. coli from experiment 1 (fall-winter) had diverse resistance profiles, sequence types, plasmid profiles, virulence factor genes, and more blaCTX-M genes (CTX-M-1, CTX-M-32, and CTX-M-55). However, those from experiment 2 (spring-summer) were clonal and carried blaCTX-M-55 only.
• In conclusion, composting during spring/summer is more effective than fall/winter. Furthermore, it is more effective against gram-negatives than gram-positive bacteria. Importantly, composting effectively eliminated multidrug-resistant bacteria of critical importance to public health for safer use of dairy manure.

A novel life cycle assessment demonstrates that targeted genetic improvement can reduce the environmental impact of beef from beef dairy production systems in the US and the UK. Lai E, Cleveland MA. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Aug 7:S0022-0302(26)03174-7.

• Genetic improvement has been identified as a key practice for reducing the environmental impact of livestock systems through improved production efficiency. Beef-on-dairy (BxD) production comprises an increasingly large portion of beef supply chains and provides data collection opportunities for understanding the environmental impact of genetic improvement.
• Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the gold standard for measuring product-level environmental footprints and, to date, has not been applied to assess the mitigation potential of targeted genetic improvement in BxD production.
• The objectives of this study were to provide a framework for incorporating genetic improvement into an LCA, quantify the role of targeted genetic improvement in BxD production systems in the US and UK, and demonstrate the value of targeted genetic improvement as a key intervention for reducing the environmental impact of beef production.
• Life cycle assessments were completed for three BxD populations, a typical US feedlot system (US) and a premium (UK-HQ) and commodity (UK-HY) system in the UK. Each population was comprised of animals from two different genetic backgrounds: benchmark animals sired by industry average genetics, and genetically targeted animals (GT) sired by bulls from a breeding program targeting selection of traits that optimize BxD production.
• Within the benchmark and GT populations, animals were assigned to one of five genetic tiers, with five being the highest merit level, based on their sire's value for a BxD genetic index. Individual-level data were available for each of the growing phases, defined as weaning, rearing-milk, rearing-fed, grazing (UK-HQ only), and finishing. Average phenotypic performance in each sire tier was determined for average daily gain (ADG), days at the growing phase, feed dry matter intake (DMI) in finishing (US and UK-HY), and carcass weight.
• Using these performance averages, LCA runs evaluated each combination of genetic background (benchmark and GT), population (US, UK-HQ and UK-HY), sire genetic tier (Tier 1-Tier 5) and marketing year (2024 and 2029).
• The life cycle impact assessment characterized sixteen environmental impact categories covering water use and quality, land use, air quality, resource use, and climate change.
• Across all populations and sire genetic tiers, the main processes contributing to the relevant impact categories were feed production, manure management, and, for climate change only, enteric fermentation. The finishing phase had the largest impact among all growing phases, ranging from 50-89% of impact across the relevant impact categories. Higher genetic merit (i.e., higher sire tiers) consistently led to concurrent reductions across damage categories that aggregated to lower overall environmental impact.
• Comparisons of benchmark Tier 3 to GT Tier 5, representing the effect of genetic improvement, resulted in reductions in overall environmental footprint of -8.7% for the US, -9.6% for the UK-HY, and -4.2% for the UK-HQ populations in the 2024 marketing year, driven in part by climate change reductions of -4.7%, -8.8%, and -4.7%, respectively.
• This study demonstrates that genetic improvement in commercial systems for improved production efficiency confers systemic environmental benefits that accumulate over time, underscoring the value of targeted genetic improvement as a foundational practice for improving the sustainability of livestock production.

High vs. low human edible input diets: Effects on meat quality and sustainability in dairy beef. Lilli E, Bolletta V, Pauselli M, et al. Meat Sci. 2026;241:110187.

• The dairy sector is constantly evolving toward greater efficiency and sustainability, with increasing attention to optimizing the use of all farm outputs. Beyond milk, the valorization of animals not intended for herd replacement represents an important opportunity to improve the overall economic and environmental performance of dairy systems.
• Since the early 2000s, the implementation of sexed semen has allowed farmers to allocate an increasing portion of cows to insemination with semen from beef breed sires to produce animals with greater muscularity, carcass yield, and market value than pure Holsteins, thus improving the profitability and sustainability of dairy enterprises.
• However, the diet of these animals often relies on cereal grains and legumes suitable for human consumption as sources of starch and protein, together with low-quality forages (i.e., straw) to support rumination. Although this type of diet ensures good performance, it raises serious concerns, including competition for human-edible resources and dependence on imported feed materials.
• To this purpose, the incorporation of feed materials fully- or partially unsuitable for humans, including waste biomasses, forage and legume grain, into ruminant diet would improve the human-edible feed efficiency as ruminants may convert these materials into high-quality proteins such as milk and meat.
• Twenty-four Belgian Blue × Holstein heifers (205 kg ± 34) were equally subdivided into two dietary treatments for 8 months: a conventional cereals-based diet (CTRL), and a low human edible input diet (EXP) composed of hay and a concentrate including agri-food by-products (hazelnut peel, spelt bran, corn germ, and wheat middlings) and faba bean. The effects on animal performance, meat quality, economic and sustainability indicators were evaluated.
• Both diets provided similar energy and crude protein, but the EXP diet was lower in starch and greater in fiber and lipids than the CTRL diet. The EXP diet reduced human-edible feed intake and input per kg of carcass gain without detriments of animal performance and carcass traits. Similarly, the EXP diet reduced feeding costs and improved the material circularity index.
• EXP meat showed higher proportions of trans-18:1 fatty acids and PUFA n-3 as well as lower 18:1 t10/t11 and PUFA n-6/n-3 ratios, suggesting a modulation of biohydrogenation, reliably driven by the greater intake of fiber and phenols. Moreover, meat from the EXP group exhibited greater antioxidant capacity than the CTRL meat.
• This study indicates that the inclusion of agri-food by-products and forages in place of conventional ingredients, such as cereals and soybean meal, in the diet for dairy-beef allows to reduce feeding cost, feed-to-food competition while maintaining animal performance and partially improving meat quality.
• Overall, the results support the use of alternative feed resources as reliable strategy to enhance the quality and the sustainability of beef meat from dairy systems.

Concentration of volatile organic compounds within indoor dairy facilities. Jannat A, Campion R, Manriquez D, et al. J Environ Qual. 2026 Jul-Aug;55(4):e70245.

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important components of indoor air quality in dairy production systems, yet information on their spatial distribution and dominant compounds within enclosed barns and milking parlors remains limited.
• This study aimed to characterize VOC profiles and quantify concentrations across indoor locations in commercial dairy facilities operating under different housing and ventilation configurations.
• Air samples were collected from cow housing barns and milking parlors at two commercial dairies in Weld County, Colorado, including a mechanically tunnel-ventilated barn with a rotary milking parlor (Farm A) and a naturally ventilated barn with an automated milking system (Farm B).
• Weekly integrated air samples were obtained using evacuated 6-L stainless steel canisters deployed for a 7-day sampling period. Canisters were positioned at three locations within each barn and at the center of each milking parlor, while temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were recorded simultaneously.
• A total of 52 VOC species were consistently detected across both dairies. Gas measurements in the barns were averaged by location and ranked by concentration to represent overall conditions. Methane, ethane, and propane were the most abundant compounds in both farms' barns and milking parlors. Hydrocarbons, including n-butane, n-pentane, and i-butane, as well as acetonitrile, were consistently detected but varied in relative ranking across locations.
• Spatial variability within barns revealed distinct concentration patterns associated with sampling position. These findings provide characterization of VOC composition in indoor dairy environments and highlight the importance of spatial sampling for identifying dominant compounds, which might help to improve air quality.

Microbial DNA methylation links rumen transcriptional activity to methane emission divergence in dairy cows. Zhang X, Xu G, Wang W, et al. Imeta. 2026;5(4):e70153.

• Methane (CH4) produced during ruminal fermentation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions from dairy production and represents an energetic loss to the host animal. Considerable inter‐individual variation in methane emission exists among dairy cows, even under comparable feeding and management conditions. Understanding the biological basis of this variation is important for developing targeted methane‐mitigation strategies.
• Previous studies have linked enteric methane emission to rumen microbial composition and hydrogen metabolism. However, differences in microbial taxonomic abundance inconsistently explain variation in methane output across animals, highlighting a potential role for microbial functional regulation beyond community structure alone.
• To investigate the microbial mechanisms underlying methane emission divergence, enteric methane production from 264 Holstein dairy cows was continuously monitored using the GreenFeed system.
• Based on individual methane production intensity (CH4/energy corrected milk, g/kg ECM), cows were stratified into high‐emission (Hem group; n = 15; milk yield: 45.26 ± 6) and low‐emission (Lem group; n = 15; milk yield: 46.73 ± 2.7) groups. Rumen fluid samples were subjected to volatile fatty acid (VFA) quantification and multi‐omics analyses, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and epigenetic profiling
• The results showed that differential methylation is linked to transcriptional variation in genes involved in carbon metabolism, hydrogen utilization, and methanogenesis. And that microbial DNA methylation profiles diverge between low- and high- methane-emitting dairy cows despite limited taxonomic differences.
• These observations indicate that microbial DNA methylation may provide additional insights into transcriptional regulation and metabolic differences within the rumen microbiome that are not readily captured by community composition alone, ultimately influencing host methane emission and energy utilization efficiency.

Microbiome Engineering in Dairy Cattle: A Critical Review of Strategies for Disease Resistance, Productivity, and Sustainable Farming. Ashfaq MS, Tharwat M, Alshanbari FA, et al. Vet Sci. 2026. 31;13(8):766.

• Dairy production currently faces three converging challenges: the escalation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), rising global food demand, and stricter regulatory requirements for reducing enteric methane emissions.
• This review evaluates probiotics, prebiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), metagenomic tools, and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based synthetic biology for dairy cow microbiome engineering, applying a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1-9 framework to assess the translational maturity of each strategy.
• A systematic literature search was conducted across five major databases for the period 2020-2026. The quantitative ranges below are from individual controlled or field studies unless indicated otherwise, and they represent the variation from study to study in different breeds, feeds, and stages of lactation, as well as in management systems.
• Applying the TRL framework revealed that conventional probiotics have reached field-ready maturity (TRL 7-8), boosting milk yield by 0.5-1.5 kg/d and lowering somatic cell counts by 20-40%. Calf gut maturation was found to be two to three weeks faster when FMT was used (TRL 5-6). Controlled conditions (TRL 2-3) showed a 10-20% reduction in methane emissions using engineered rumen bacteria (CRISPR).
• Intervention failures primarily stem from host-microbiome misalignment rather than microbial product design. The key translational gap is shifting from uniform herd-level to precision-guided individualized dosing.
• Standardized data infrastructure, regulatory frameworks for engineered biologics, and integration with precision livestock farming platforms are required to reduce antibiotic use and lower methane emissions within a One Health framework.

Animal Health and Food Safety​

Bacteriophage cocktails for combating multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in animals: A comprehensive review across pets, livestock, and wildlife. Muneeb M, Khan AY, Shaukat A, Qu Y. Microb Pathog. 2026 Aug 13;219:108774.

• Multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA) pose an increasing risk to animal health and are a known zoonotic risk in the One Health paradigm. The use of bacteriophage cocktails (combinations of two or more lytic phages) have gained interest for expanding host range, inhibiting phage-resistant mutants, and disrupting biofilms, a growing challenge in conventional antibiotic therapy.
• This review aims to summarise the existing literature on phage cocktails against MDR S. aureus in three different animal populations: pets, livestock and wild animals.
• For livestock, particularly dairy cattle, a number of cocktails have advanced from in vitro characterization and murine mastitis models to pilot field trials, with one randomized study showing an 81.3% bacteriological cure rate for naturally occurring S. aureus mastitis.
• Companion animal research is in the intermediate phase, and polyvalent phages against both S. pseudintermedius and S. aureus have been shown to be effective in canine pyoderma and otitis, with a recent study of a canine fracture-related infection showing efficacy comparable to prolonged antibiotic treatment.
• However, there are no specific studies on wild animals and this is a gap in knowledge.
• Some of the ongoing problems are the development of phage resistance, the instability of biological matrices like milk and serum, anti-phage immune responses, and the lack of harmonized regulatory guidelines for veterinary phage products.
• New technologies such as liposomal encapsulation, hydrogel delivery, and phage-antibiotic synergy are promising. A recent EU approval of a phage feed additive for poultry is a regulatory milestone.
• Although they show promise, phage cocktails are still in the investigational stages. They have a significant clinical and public health potential that must be confirmed by increasing multicenter field trials in livestock, well-controlled studies in companion animals, systematic investigations of wildlife reservoirs, standardized dosing, extensive safety testing and regulatory harmonization prior to recommending their routine use in veterinary medicine.

Comparative effects of intramammary dry-cow antimicrobials and internal teat sealant on postpartum somatic cell count dynamics. Assari H, Habibian Dehkordi S, Abass KS, et al. Vet J. 2026 Aug 5;319:106812.

• Optimizing dry-cow therapy is essential for maintaining a favorable early-lactation somatic cell count (SCC). However, comparative field data on different classes of intramammary antimicrobials (IMAs) remain limited.
• This randomized 3 × 2 factorial field trial compared the effects of three IMA formulations, administered with or without an internal teat sealant (ITS), on postpartum SCC dynamics and milk characteristics in a single well-managed herd.
• Cows (n = 263), stratified by parity and pre-dry-off SCC (<200,000 or ≥200,000 cells/mL), were randomly assigned to treatment groups. Composite milk samples were collected at dry-off and at 10-30 days in milk (DIM). Mammary inflammatory status was classified according to SCC transition categories (Low-Low, Low-High, High-Low, High-High).
• Overall, 84.0% of cows had low postpartum SCC (<200,000 cells/mL). Neither IMA formulation nor ITS significantly affected postpartum SCC or transition patterns (P > 0.05). Most cows (71.1%) remained in the Low-Low category.
• Pre-dry-off SCC was significantly correlated with postpartum SCC (Spearman's ρ = 0.28, P < 0.0001). Small but significant differences in milk yield and protein percentage were observed among treatment groups (P < 0.05).
• In this well-managed herd, individual cow factors, particularly pre-dry-off SCC, were more strongly associated with early-lactation SCC status than either IMA formulation or ITS use. Because these findings are based on a single herd without bacteriological culture data, they should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed in adequately powered multi-herd studies.

Evaluation of acoustic pulse and cold laser therapies for the treatment of dairy cows with subclinical mastitis under organic management conditions. Shrestha B, Jones BW, Paudyal S, et al. Front Vet Sci. 2026 Jul 24;13:1856042.

• Mastitis remains a significant issue in dairy herds, yet antibiotic use is restricted under organic management conditions. There is a need to evaluate commercially available non-antibiotic mastitis treatment strategies.
• This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of two currently available mastitis treatment strategies: acoustic pulse therapy (APT) and cold laser therapy (CLT) on organic dairy farms.
• A total of 129 multiparous lactating crossbred cows with somatic cell counts (SCCs) >200,000 cells/mL were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: APT, CLT, and control (CON) at a commercial dairy farm under certified organic management.
• Cow-level milk samples were collected before milking and evaluated for SCC, fat%, protein%, lactose%, solids-not-fat%, and bacterial identification.
• Results from the dairy herd improvement association (DHIA) test were used to obtain individual milk production and cow removal information. The bacteriological cure rate, recovery rate, and cow survival were compared among treatment groups.
• The CLT group had a higher bacteriological cure rate than the CON group, but only in cows with acute, contagious mastitis. Cows in the APT group tended to have lower bacterial counts than those in the CON group, regardless of inflammation status or chronic mastitis history. There was no statistically significant effect of treatment on cow recovery or survival.
• In conclusion, while there were some effects on bacteriological cure rate and bacterial counts in specific groups of cows, researchers were unable to demonstrate long-term benefits in terms of recovery rate, milk yield, or survival among cows affected by subclinical mastitis in organic settings.

Inflammation-Associated Changes in Bioactive Proteins and Peptides of Bovine Milk: Evidence from Mastitis, Lameness, and Metabolic Disorders-A Review. Kovács L, Sándorová L, Pajor F. Molecules. 2026;31(15):2570.

• Bovine milk contains bioactive proteins and encrypted peptide sequences whose abundance and availability may change during mammary or systemic inflammation.
• This narrative review critically evaluates evidence associated with subclinical mastitis, lameness-causing claw disorders, and periparturient metabolic disorders.
• Direct milk-level evidence is strongest for mastitis: increased somatic cell count and intramammary inflammation are generally associated with higher concentrations of milk haptoglobin, milk serum amyloid A (including mammary-associated serum amyloid A3, when isoform-resolved), lactoferrin, cathelicidins, and immunoglobulins, together with accelerated casein proteolysis.
• For lameness and metabolic disorders, evidence is substantially weaker and derives mainly from systemic acute-phase responses, broad milk metabolomic or compositional changes, and mechanistic hypotheses involving blood-milk barrier permeability and protease regulation.
• The review explicitly separates direct disease-defined milk evidence from systemic, broad omics, and mechanistic evidence. These alterations may influence biomarker performance, whereas processing consequences are best-established for mastitic milk.
• Their persistence after processing and digestion, and their biological effects in human consumers, remain largely unresolved. Future studies should combine diagnosis-specific cow health monitoring with milk proteomics and peptidomics. They should also assess the stability, bioaccessibility, and functionality of altered proteins and peptides during processing and digestion.

The Effect of Using Different Probiotics on the Performance, Digestibility of Nutrients, Feces Score, Blood Parameters and Skeletal Indices of Suckling Holstein's Calves. Hosseinabadi M, Amozadeh Araee K, Dosti H, et al. Vet Med Sci. 2026;12(5):e71136.

• Rearing suckling calves is critical for dairy herd productivity, but this period often involves digestive disorders, poor nutrient digestibility and loose feces, which impair growth. Probiotics are promising, yet their comprehensive effects on blood parameters and skeletal development in suckling Holstein calves remain unclear.
• This study aimed to evaluate the effects of single and multi-strain probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii, Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus) on growth performance, fecal score, nutrient digestibility, blood metabolites and skeletal development in suckling Holstein calves.
• In this study, 36 Holstein female calves aged 7 ± 3 days with an initial body weight of 44.7 ± 2 kg were assigned to six treatments with six replicates in a completely randomized design for 45 days. Experimental treatments were as follows:
  1. Control diet without probiotics;
  2. Diet containing S. boulardii (BS);
  3. Diet containing B. subtilis (B);
  4. Diet containing Lactobacillus (L);
  5. Diet containing S. boulardii + Lactobacillus;
  6. Diet containing S. boulardii + Lactobacillus + B. subtilis.
• Probiotics were mixed with milk and administered once daily at a rate of 5 g per calf.
• Probiotic supplementation significantly affected 28-day body weight, weight gain from Days 1-28, final body weight, and overall daily weight gain. Body weight change, total dry matter intake, daily starter intake, feed conversion ratio and dry matter intake were also improved by probiotic supplementation. Final body weight in the control group was lower than in all probiotic-treated groups.
• Probiotic supplementation significantly improved fecal consistency score, with the lowest score observed in calves receiving B. subtilis. Digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat and neutral detergent fiber increased with probiotic supplementation.
• Blood biochemical parameters were not significantly affected by probiotic treatments. Skeletal indices were improved in probiotic-treated calves compared to the control group.
• In conclusion, probiotic supplementation improved growth performance, fecal score, nutrient digestibility and skeletal development of suckling calves. Among the evaluated treatments, B. subtilis showed the most consistent positive response under the conditions of this study, although combined probiotic treatments also improved several parameters compared to the control.

Environmental enrichment reduces displacements and reorganizes circadian patterns: a putative indicator of positive welfare in dairy calves. Thomas M, Occhiuto F, Vázquez-Diosdado JA, Kaler J. Front Vet Sci. 2026 Aug 5;13:1842779.

• Measuring positive welfare in farm animals at scale remains one of the greatest unsolved challenges in animal welfare.
• Here researchers demonstrate for the first time that environmental enrichment alters the diurnal activity patterns and aggressive behavior of pre-weaned dairy calves, suggesting that both could function as automated indicators of an improved welfare state.
• In this quasi-experimental study, ultra-wideband location collar-mounted sensors and automatic milk feeders were used to monitor the behavior of 300 dairy calves across 21 cohorts, five of which received stationary brushes as environmental enrichment.
• The diurnality index, defined as the proportion of total activity occurring during daylight hours, was derived from location data, and aggressive interactions were quantified as feeder displacements using a validated algorithm based on visit timing to the feeder.
• Enriched calves showed higher diurnality and performed fewer feeder displacements, indicating reduced feeder-directed competition and potentially improved access to milk replacer. Crucially, within the same analytical framework, diurnality decreased during sickness and increased with enrichment.
• This work provides the first evidence that biological rhythms function as a candidate bidirectional indicator of welfare state, contracting under negative experiences and expanding under positive ones.
• Alongside this, the reduction in feeder displacements demonstrates that social aggression could also be responsive to positive welfare interventions, together establishing that precision livestock technologies can detect not only welfare deterioration but also its improvement, opening a new frontier in automated welfare monitoring for farm animals.

Dairy Spoilage Bacteria and Their Lipases: Prevalence Patterns and Molecular Traits. Lu Y, Wu Q, Wang D, et al. Foods. 2026 Aug 5;15(15):2750.

• Dairy product spoilage is primarily caused by microbial contamination and lipase activity. Systematically assessing contamination risks and elucidating the structural and functional characteristics of key lipases form a crucial foundation for achieving precise prevention and control.
• This article integrated 79 studies (2003-2025) to preliminarily explore the geographical distribution characteristics of spoilage bacterial contamination.
• The combined contamination rates were relatively high in South America (89.5%), North America (88.3%) and Asia (87.3%), followed by Europe (86.0%) and Oceania (82.2%), while Africa showed a lower rate (57.6%) based on limited data.
• Product-level risk differences were also identified. Considering data robustness, in addition to raw milk (92.6%), milk powder also showed a high contamination rate (86.8%). The spoilage bacterial community was highly concentrated, with Bacillus(40.7%) and Pseudomonas (20.3%) as the dominant genera, and Pseudomonas fluorescens (21.1%) and Bacillus licheniformis (20.1%) as the core spoilage species.
• Furthermore, structural analysis of 37 key lipases demonstrated that these enzymes universally possess a hydrophobic surface, high lipid affinity, and a conserved α/β hydrolase folding conformation.
• Based on these predictions, researchers propose a structural hypothesis: these characteristics may be related to their retained activity after thermal processing. Unlike traditional meta-analyses that merely report pollution rates, and unlike independent bioinformatics studies that analyze lipases from arbitrary strains, this study ensures that the lipases analyzed have epidemiological relevance.
• This work provides scientific grounds for monitoring, early warning, and risk assessment of dairy spoilage. It also lays a theoretical foundation for developing novel inhibitors targeting thermostable lipases.

Advancements in Electrolyzed Water as a Novel Sanitizer for Sustainable Food Safety: Current Trends and Future Perspectives. Singh D. J Food Prot. 2026 Aug 17:100893.

• Electrolyzed water (EW) has emerged as an effective, eco-friendly alternative to traditional chemical disinfectants in the food industry, offering low toxicity, adaptability across commodities, and strong antimicrobial properties while preserving food quality.
• This review explores various types of EW, including slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (ALEW), and their application in food safety, particularly for fresh produce, meat, poultry, and seafood.
• SAEW's ability to reduce microbial contamination, delay food spoilage, and preserve sensory qualities like texture and color is highlighted, along with its synergistic effects when combined with non-thermal technologies such as ultrasound. Its compatibility with hurdle technologies enhances efficiency.
• The review also delves into the mechanisms behind EW's antimicrobial activity, focusing on its ability to disrupt cell membranes and effectively eradicate biofilms of foodborne pathogens like E. coli, Listeria, and Vibrio, offering sustainable solutions for microbial control in food processing.
• EW effectively removes residues and reduces microbial contamination on surfaces and in dairy products, achieving significant reductions in pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms while supporting low-chemical sanitation practices.
• Challenges such as organic matter interference, optimal treatment conditions, and scalability are discussed. This review highlighted intelligent CIP systems integrating EW with AI-driven digital technologies for adaptive, efficient sanitation. It also examined EW applications in biofilm control, pathogen inactivation, and shelf-life extension.
• The paper concludes by outlining future research directions, particularly for large-scale industrial implementation and improving the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of EW technologies across the food industry. Overall, EW represents a promising strategy for improving food safety and sustainability in food production systems.

Nutrition and Health​

The Impact of Milk-Derived Bioactives and Fortified or Fermented Milk Products on Sleep Quality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Yu L, Li S, Kim JE. Nutr Rev. 2026 Aug 28:nuag118.

• Milk-derived bioactives and fortified or fermented milk products may have sleep-promoting effects, but evidence remains inconsistent.
• In this analysis, the effects of milk-derived bioactives and fortified or fermented milk products on sleep-related outcomes in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were evaluated and associations between milk/dairy consumption and sleep quality in cross-sectional studies are summarized.
• Twenty-five studies were included in the systematic reviews, of which 11 RCTs were eligible for meta-analysis.
• The results showed that milk-derived bioactive and fortified or fermented milk-product interventions significantly improved sleep efficiency (SEff) and the percentage of time spent asleep in bed. Post hoc subgroup analyses further demonstrated that milk supplementation induces greater improvements in SEff; wake after sleep onset (WASO), the minutes awake after initial sleep onset among individuals with sleep or health disturbances; and reduced sleep latency (i.e., time from lights off to sleep onset) in generally healthy participants.
• Among intervention types, only milk protein and peptides significantly improved SEff. Interventions lasting longer than 4 weeks enhanced SEff and WASO.
• In conclusion, evidence from RCTs suggests that milk-derived bioactives and fortified or fermented milk products may improve sleep, particularly in individuals with impaired sleep or underlying health conditions. Cross-sectional studies suggest generally positive but heterogeneous associations between milk/dairy consumption and sleep quality.
• These findings highlight the importance of considering supplementation type and duration when designing or interpreting studies on diet-sleep relationships.

Acute Effects of Greek Yogurt Consumption on Bone Status Indices Following High-Intensity Interval Exercise in Premenopausal Females with Obesity: A Secondary Analysis from a Randomized Crossover Trial. Gagnon S, Govette A, Josse AR, et al. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2026 Aug 6.

• Chronic inflammation associated with excess adiposity can compromise bone microstructure, increasing fragility and fracture risk. Thus, developing strategies to improve bone health in adults with obesity is critical, particularly in premenopausal females, to protect bone before menopause.
• While acute exercise transiently increases bone turnover, beginning with resorption, dairy products containing bone-supporting nutrients may attenuate the bone resorption phase.
• This analysis assessed the effects of post-exercise Greek yogurt (GY) consumption versus a carbohydrate pudding (CP) on bone status indicator responses in premenopausal females with OB.
• Using a randomized crossover design, 20 participants (age: 36±5years; BMI: 38.7±7.6kg/m2) completed high-intensity interval exercise (10x1-min cycling intervals at ≥90%HRmax) followed by consumption of GY (247kcal, 14g carbohydrate, 32g protein, 350mg calcium) or isoenergetic CP (247 kcal, 62g carbohydrate, 0g protein, 0mg calcium).
• Trials were separated by 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected pre-exercise (fasted), immediately post-exercise, 1h and 3h postprandially, and 24h post-exercise.
• Significant time x trial interactions were observed whereby osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteocalcin (OC) were higher at 1h and 3h postprandially, respectively, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) was lower at both 1h and 3h postprandially in GY versus CP. Net incremental area under the curve analysis also revealed a significant elevation in PTH across the CP trial compared to GY.
• Therefore, GY consumption following high-intensity interval exercise may support a more favorable bone turnover response by attenuating resorption, maintaining bone formation, and supporting anti-resorptive responses compared with CP during the 1-3h postprandial period in premenopausal females with obesity.

Fermented dairy intake and symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis risk in middle-aged and older adults: An 11-year cohort study. Bulycheva I, Watanabe Y, Nakamura K, et al. Clin Nutr. 2026 Aug 6;65:106756.

• Dairy products are considered beneficial for musculoskeletal health, but limited evidence supports their benefits on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) prevention.
• This study aimed to examine associations between total and specific dairy product intake and the risk of KOA in East Asian adults.
• This 11-year cohort study included 10,411 community-dwelling Japanese individuals aged 40-74 years. Demographic data, body size, information on lifestyle factors, and medical history were collected using a self-administered questionnaire at the baseline survey conducted in 2011-2013.
• Incident symptomatic radiographic KOA, defined as Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥2 among individuals presenting with knee symptoms, was ascertained by participating medical institutions.
• Mean age of participants was 57.9 years. Median intakes (g/day) of milk, cheese, yogurt, and total dairy products were 27, 1, 8, and 118, respectively.
• Higher quartiles of total dairy intake were associated with lower hazards of KOA, with the third (HR = 0.81) and fourth (HR = 0.79) quartiles having lower hazards than the first quartile. Similarly, higher levels of fermented dairy intake were associated with lower hazards of KOA, with the third (HR = 0.81) and fourth (HR = 0.72) intake groups having lower hazards than the zero-intake group.
• Similar trends were observed in sex-stratified analyses. Whereas no association was observed for milk intake, the frequencies of cheese and yogurt intake were independently associated with KOA hazards.
• In conclusion, higher dairy intake is associated with a reduced risk of KOA among middle-aged and older individuals with relatively low dairy intake. The observed association appears to be largely driven by the intake of fermented dairy products rather than milk.

Association between habitual intake of fermented milk products containing lactic acid bacteria and all-cause mortality: a community-based cohort prospective study. Aoyagi Y, Amamoto R, Matsubara S, et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2026 Aug 18;30(10):100956.

• Dairy product consumption is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. However, the evidence regarding probiotic-fermented milk products remains unclear.
• This study examined the association between the intake of fermented milk products containing lactic acid bacteria, including Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strain Shirota (LcS), and all-cause mortality.
• A total of 1,280 community-dwelling Japanese aged ≥65 years (519 men, 761 women; mean age 73.5 years) were included in the analyses. Participants were categorized in two groups based on the retrospectively recalled intake frequency of fermented milk products (<3 or ≥3 days/week) over 5- and 10-year periods.
• All-cause mortality risk was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses in the full sample and propensity score-matched subsamples.
• During the 9.3-year follow-up period (112.05 months), deaths occurred in 147 men (28.3%) and 114 women (15.0%). Among men, consumption of fermented milk products containing LcS for ≥3 days/week over five years was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in both full sample analysis (hazard ratio

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  0.648) and matched analysis (HR 0.640), compared with those consuming <3 days/week.
  [*]Similar associations were observed for overall fermented milk products, including the LcS products. No associations were found among women for either LcS or overall fermented milk products.
  [*]In conclusion, habitual intake of fermented milk products containing LcS was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in older Japanese men.

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Fermented milk intervention enhances breast milk lipid composition and content in pregnant women. Jia L, Zhao J, Chen L, et al. Food Chem. 2026 Aug 7;527:150680.

• The lipid composition and content of breast milk are influenced by the lactation stage and maternal diet. While dairy products are recommended during pregnancy, the effects of fermented milk on breast milk lipids remain unclear.
• In this study, researchers investigated the impact of fermented milk intake on the glyceride and phospholipid composition of breast milk.
• Pregnant women consumed fermented milk containing glycerides and phospholipids from early pregnancy until the end of lactation.
• Fermented milk intake significantly increased the number and content of triacylglycerols, including glycerides with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, palmitic, oleic, linoleic acids, and docosahexaenoic acid. It also enhanced the number and content of phospholipids in colostrum and transitional milk.
• These findings indicate that maternal fermented milk consumption enriches breast milk with glycerides and phospholipids, particularly unsaturated fatty acylglycerol, potentially supporting the early growth and development of infants.

Beyond Saturated Fat: A Four-Dimensional Framework for Understanding Milk Fat in Human Health. Liu N, Duan S, Li J, et al. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2026;25(5):e70595.

• For a long time, milk fat has been recognized as a potential risk factor in the diet for cardiovascular disease because of its high saturated fatty acid content. However, mounting evidence may call into question this narrow-minded view, as it does not account for the complex and at times paradoxical relationship between dairy consumption and health.
• This review suggests that an integrative approach should be adopted to re-evaluate the health benefits of milk fat.
• The researchers suggest that milk fat should not be viewed from a solely "saturated fat" perspective and should be considered a four-dimensional system:
  1. functional lipid diversity
  2. food matrix structure
  3. dose-response relationship
  4. individual metabolic characteristics
• The researchers first call attention to the fact that milk fat is not simplified in its fatty acid classifications and thus is molecularly heterogeneous. Second, the researchers discuss the modulation of lipid digestion kinetics and metabolic fate by the food matrix. Third, they combine epidemiological evidence, which shows the different kinds of nonlinear dose-response relationships between dairy consumption and health outcomes. Fourth, the researchers discuss the contribution of genetic background, gut microbiota, and metabolic status to interindividual variability in response to milk fat.
• Finally, the researchers discuss the implications of this framework for dietary guidelines, clinical practice, and innovation of dairy products. The change in paradigm from a single "saturated fat" to a multidimensional approach resolves inconsistencies that plagued the single "saturated fat" paradigm and offers a scientific playing field for personalized nutrition and precision dietary recommendations.

Planetary health diet index and low muscle mass in adults aged 20-60 years: exploratory evaluation of a dairy-upweighted outcome-specific adaptation. He JJ, Chen XL, Ning C, Wei QJ. Front Nutr. 2026;13:1782327.

• Increasing evidence indicates that the Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), proposed within the EAT-Lancet framework, not only supports environmental sustainability but also contributes to the prevention of various diseases. However, the rigorous restriction of animal-sourced proteins in the standard PHDI may overlook the heightened anabolic needs of aging populations.
• This study primarily aimed to evaluate the association between PHDI-US adherence and low muscle mass (LMM) and to compare this association with other commonly used dietary indices. As a secondary exploratory step, researchers examined whether an exploratory dairy-upweighted score, derived by multiplying the original PHDI-US total score by the observed dairy intake amount, might show a stronger association with LMM.
• Multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to evaluate the association between the Planetary Health Diet Index for the United States (PHDI-US) and low muscle mass (LMM).
• In fully adjusted models, higher PHDI-US and Alternative Healthy Eating Index scores were associated with lower odds of LMM, whereas a higher Dietary Inflammatory Index score was associated with higher odds of LMM. Healthy Eating Index and Mediterranean Diet Index scores were not statistically significant in fully adjusted quartile analyses.
• In exploratory analyses, a dairy-upweighted score (PHDI-Dairy) showed a stronger inverse association with LMM than the original PHDI-US. In a separate hospital-based Southern Chinese cohort, higher dairy intake was associated with lower odds of LMM, providing supportive evidence for the dairy-related finding.
• In conclusion, PHDI-US was modestly associated with lower odds of LMM, and the exploratory dairy-upweighted score, PHDI-Dairy, showed a stronger inverse association with LMM.

Innovation, Social Science, and Dairy Alternatives​

Dairy Council of California - Reimagining School Meals From a Systems Thinking Perspective: A Case Study of School Meal Supply Chain Collaboration in California. DeLisio A, Young S, McClelland A.J Hum Nutr Diet. 2026 Aug;39(4):e70332.

• Introduction: Food policies and standards regulate school meal equity and quality, yet there is a complex system involved in translating and implementing these standards.
• To catalyze systems-level thinking in school meals, stakeholders across the supply chain were asked to collaborate in examining the role of dairy as representative of broader food system opportunities and challenges in California school meals.
• This descriptive case study applied the What, So What, Now What reflective framework, 19 phone interviews of school nutrition directors and dairy processors, conducted from August to September 2024, logged current practices, infrastructures, supports and insights.
• Results informed an in-person convening of 40 supply chain stakeholders in January 2025. At the convening, three presentations, four themed small-group dialogues and a strategic planning session sought options for improving student wellness by modifying the school meal system.
• Interviews focused on the "what," gathering facts about procurement, nutrition and policy compliance challenges. Convening dialogues focused on the "so what," making meaning of the challenges and expanding knowledge on dairy innovation and the future of school meals from different perspectives across the supply chain.
• The strategic planning session (the "now what") revealed opportunities that were shaped into actionable next steps emphasizing farm-to-cafeteria nutrition education, incorporating a wider cultural variety of dairy foods and activating local food system partnerships and professional development across the food supply chain.
• Collaboration and structured systems thinking identified next steps for dairy that support the supply chain from processors to foodservice professionals to student consumers. Using a systems thinking framework allowed stakeholders to understand the issues more objectively, consider different perspectives and identify actionable solutions. Outcomes also suggest supply chain collaboration can be a replicable blueprint for troubleshooting other institutional food systems.

Effect of a web-based nutrition intervention among families to increase regular-fat and low-fat dairy products: a randomized controlled trial. Lemay J, Provencher V, Drapeau V, et al. Nutrition. 2026;152:113249.

• This study evaluated the effect of a family- and web-based nutrition intervention, "Dairyathlon," promoting regular- or low-fat dairy consumption on dairy and calcium intakes, diet quality, and weight outcomes.
• Fifty-seven families, 108 parents and 109 children participated in an 8-week web-based nutrition intervention. They were randomly assigned to either Control, Low-fat dairy, or Regular-fat dairy group. All groups received education based on the 2019 Canada's Food Guide.
• Intervention groups were asked to include four daily servings of dairy (milk, cheese, and two yogurt servings). Three assessments were completed at baseline (T0), postintervention (T1), and 4-6 months follow-up (T2) for dietary intake via three 24-hour web-based dietary recalls and anthropometric.
• In parents, a significant effect of the intervention was observed, indicating differential changes over time across groups. Post hoc analyses showed that both intervention groups increased dairy consumption and calcium intake at T1.
• Specifically, Low-fat group increased dairy intake from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 3.1 ± 0.3 servings/day and calcium intake, while dairy intake in Regular-fat group increased from 2.3 ± 0.2 to 3.5 ± 0.3 servings/day and calcium intake. Only dairy consumption remained elevated at follow-up in the Low-fat group, which was significantly higher than in the Control group (2.7 ± 0.2 versus 1.6 ± 0.2 servings/day).
• A significant interaction was also observed for diet quality; C-HEI was significantly higher at follow-up compared to baseline among parents in the Low-fat group. No significant changes were observed in children.
• In conclusion, dairy and calcium intake improved among parents in the intervention groups during the program's active phase; however, sustained effects were limited. A significant effect at follow-up was observed only for the low-fat dairy intake group among parents. Web-based, family-centered approaches may facilitate targeted dietary changes, but additional strategies are necessary to achieve lasting, clinically meaningful impacts.

From dairy by-product to high-performance material: Casein as a sustainable platform for functional textile technologies. Flores-Nieves MM, Sánchez-Gutiérrez AE, España-Sánchez BL, et al. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Aug 3:S0022-0302(26)03173-5.

• Casein, a major dairy protein and an abundant by-product of milk processing, is being studied as a sustainable material platform for developing high-performance functional fiber and biomaterial systems. However, the successful implementation of casein-based fibers depends on an understanding of their compositional variability, colloidal behavior, and processing response.
• Casein availability and functionality depend strongly on milk composition, processing conditions, and breed-related differences, while comparisons across studies remain challenging due to non-standardized reporting metrics.
• Acid precipitation represents a critical extraction step, as processing conditions influence yield, molecular organization, and downstream material performance. At the molecular level, casein exhibits inherent heterogeneity (αs1, αs2, β, and κ fractions), polydispersity, and a tendency to aggregate, which directly affect solution stability and fiber spinnability.
• Conventional wet spinning remains the primary route for casein fiber production, whereas electrospinning enables the fabrication of nanostructured fibers with enhanced functional properties, although formulation optimization is required. Emerging green crosslinking strategies are being developed to improve water resistance, mechanical stability, and durability under use conditions.
• This review examines current advances, processing challenges, and future opportunities for positioning casein as a dairy-derived material, with an emphasis on structure-processing-function relationships and sustainable routes toward functional applications.

Recent and Promising Strategies for Robust, Sustainable, and Cost-Friendly Production of Yogurt With Superior Quality. Zhao S, Tadesse BT, Solem C.Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2026;25(5):e70587.

• Yogurt is one of the most technologically mature fermented dairy products on the market, traditionally prepared using the two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Global demand for yogurt continues to rise, driven by consumer interest in healthy, high-protein diets with as few additives as possible.
• New lactose-free variants and sugar-reduced yogurts appeal to large consumer segments that either have poor lactose tolerance or focus on a healthy lifestyle. Despite developments in yogurt manufacturing technologies and yogurt starter cultures, some persistent challenges associated with yogurt remain, for example, post-acidification problems, texture instability, and microbial spoilage, all of which shorten shelf life and contribute to food waste.
• Lactose-free products, which often have reduced sugar content, are still considered niche and, as such, are sold at a premium, which deters many consumers from buying them and likely compels them to choose plant-based yogurt analogs, which are often marketed as more sustainable. The current trend toward increased use of direct-vat-set (DVS) cultures, which increases production costs and thus prices at the retailer, could likewise have this effect.
• In this review, researchers provide a comprehensive and industry-oriented analysis of existing and emerging strategies for achieving robust, sustainable, and cost-effective production of yogurt. We address industrial applicability, limitations, regulatory considerations, and future development potential. The researchers argue that there is a current trend toward the use of more natural, bio-driven solutions for improving the properties of yogurt.

Toward Rational Design of Precision-Fermented Milk Proteins: Integrating Cross-Species Selection, Post-Translational Modification, and AI Optimization. Guo Z, Ye K, Liu F, et al. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. 2026;25(5):e70618.

• Milk proteins deliver nutritional, functional, and bioactive properties that alternative protein sources cannot adequately replicate, yet conventional livestock-based production faces compounding constraints of scalability, resource intensity, and sustainability.
• Precision fermentation offers a structurally distinct solution, but existing reviews have addressed neither a systematic cross-species framework for target selection nor a treatment of post-translational modifications (PTMs) gap-bridging, leaving critical gaps in rational pipeline design.
• This review integrates four analyses:
  1. a cross-species comparison of sequence, structural, and PTMs characteristics across human, bovine, goat, and camel milk proteins to inform target prioritization
  2. a consolidation of advances in host engineering, fermentation scale-up, and downstream purification
  3. a structural-functional comparison of precision-fermented and native milk proteins encompassing phosphorylation, disulfide bond pairing, and glycosylation fidelity, alongside strategies for bridging identified PTMs gaps
  4. and an evaluation of AI-driven optimization strategies for heterologous milk protein expression.
• Cross-species analysis favors human-derived sequences for infant nutrition and immunity, while ruminant proteins excel in expression compatibility and scalability.
• α-Lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin are the most tractable targets given minimal PTM dependency; caseins and lactoferrin require intracellular phosphorylation and glycosylation unavailable in microbial hosts.
• AI accelerates process optimization but cannot yet co-optimize yield, folding fidelity, and PTM accuracy, a key frontier for next-generation engineering.
• Scale-up robustness, glycoengineering consistency, and regulatory definition remain underexplored.

Precision-fermented milk proteins as a model for industrial food biotechnology. Pinon M, Falholt P, Schmidt TG, Arnau J. Trends Biotechnol. 2026 Aug 13:S0167-7799(26)00322-7.

• Dairy proteins are among the most nutritionally and functionally valuable proteins used in food, clinical nutrition, and infant nutrition, yet their supply remains structurally linked to livestock production and dairy processing streams.
• Precision fermentation offers, based on proven technology, a route to produce individual milk proteins independently of animal agriculture while preserving their molecular identity and application potential.
• Recent advances in host engineering, secretion capacity, and bioprocess optimization have moved recombinant milk proteins from proof-of-concept toward industrial relevance. However, not all milk proteins are equally tractable fermentation targets. In this opinion article, the researchers examine β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, and caseins through the lens of nutritional value, functionality, manufacturing complexity, and commercial readiness.
• The researchers argue that future success will depend less on sequence expression alone than on scalable biomanufacturing technology and know-how, post-translational fidelity, and application-driven target prioritization.

Graduate Student Literature Review: Methodologies and tools for synthetic biology for the production of next-generation dairy foods. Madler A, Kennedy K, Lei XG, et al. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Aug 3:S0022-0302(26)03167-X.

• Synthetic biology has played a foundational role in the dairy industry for decades, with continued advancements improving the efficiency, precision, and scalability of producing recombinant dairy foods and additives.
• As global demand shifts, the industry faces growing pressure to deliver products that are nutritionally optimized, sustainable, cost-effective, and broadly accessible. At the same time, numerous value-added dairy components, such as bioactive proteins and functional metabolites, remain underleveraged despite their biological and commercial potential.
• Synthetic biology offers a platform to industrialize these products. This review examines approaches in protein engineering, genetic modification, and heterologous expression of high-value dairy products in non-native organisms.
• Overall, this work provides researchers and industry stakeholders with a technological framework to accelerate the integration of synthetic biology into next-generation dairy food development.