Dairy Research Bulletin: Selected Articles From September 2026

[Kevin Comerford]

Kevin Comerford, Ph.D​

Dairy Research Bulletin​

Chief Science Officer, California Dairy Research Foundation​

Dairy Research Bulletin
Selected Articles from September 2026 ​

Agricultural Resilience​

Climate-smart dairy practices and perceptions across 2 global dairy producing countries. Niles MT, Mitchell RC, Hunt L, McPherson L, Stahlmann-Brown P. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep:S0022-0302(26)03289-3.

• Both in the United States and internationally, the dairy sector has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement climate-smart agriculture practices. Despite this, little research has explored dairy producer perceptions or adoption of climate-smart practices, especially across contexts.
• This study presents the first comparison study of dairy producer adoption and perceptions around climate-smart practices across 2 major dairy-producing countries, New Zealand and the United States.
• Data were collected through 2 online surveys (deployed in 2023 US and 2025 in New Zealand), which were developed to reflect contextual differences for each respective country and included current and anticipated adoption of climate adaptation and mitigation practices, beliefs around climate change and anticipated climate impacts on the dairy industry, herd information, and producer demographics.
• The researchers found that while dairy producers are adopting climate-smart practices relevant to the production systems in both countries, NZ producers (n = 306) displayed higher likelihood of adoption of emerging enteric mitigation strategies such as feed additives, selective breeding, and methane-inhibiting vaccines, as well as a higher proportion of anthropogenic climate change belief, compared with US producers (n = 920, approximately 700 full responses).
• Across both countries, cow welfare, farm profitability, and ensuring a viable farming operation for future generations were the top considerations when adopting new practices, suggesting these are critical to support farmers' climate-related strategy adoption.
• Despite having greater policy support and incentive programs for climate-smart practices, US producers were more likely to perceive initial cost and equipment barriers, to adopting climate-smart practices, while NZ producers were more likely to perceive information and technical assistance barriers.
• Finally, producers in both countries had high levels of uncertainty about how climate change may impact their operations, indicating that local and regionally appropriate climate risk extension and outreach engagement is important. These results provide key insights for stakeholders who seek to increase adoption of climate-smart dairy practices to meet industry and government expectations.

Challenges and future perspectives in forage production and silage making for climate-resilient systems in a global context. Vyas D, Adesogan AT, Wallau M. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 17.

• Silage remains a fundamental component of ruminant nutrition globally. Although substantial advances have been made in silage fermentation, preservation, and nutritive value over recent decades, future developments are expected to further transform silage production, storage, and feeding systems.
• This review highlights emerging innovations likely to shape silage systems by 2050, with emphasis on precision technologies, alternative forage resources, novel additives, and sustainable management practices.
• Expanding the use of tropical grasses and legumes, cool-season forages, agro-industrial byproducts, and other non-conventional silage crops will require forage/byproduct -specific ensiling guidelines and targeted additive application types and strategies to improve fermentation, aerobic stability, protein preservation, and food safety.
• Precision monitoring tools, including hand-held, satellite and drone-mounted near-infrared and hyperspectral sensors will provide early warnings about pests and diseases, toxins etc.
• In the field, real-time assessment of the best time to harvest, forage yield, moisture, and nutritive value information will be generated to optimize harvest and storage decisions.
• Future storage systems incorporating vacuum-assisted compaction to optimize packing density, wireless sensor networks, and thermal imaging will enable continuous monitoring of silo conditions, microbial dynamics, antinutrients, toxins, and spoilage risk.
• Novel inoculants, enzymes, bacteriocins, tannins, and other biologically derived additives will further improve nutrient preservation and feed safety. In parallel, innovations in silage-based feeding systems, precision nutritional characterization, and automated feeding management are expected to improve feed efficiency, animal performance, and health, as well as to ensure food safety.
• Achieving these goals will require interdisciplinary collaboration among agronomists, microbiologists, animal scientists, engineers, and data scientists to develop scalable, resilient, and sustainable silage technologies for future livestock production systems.

Nutrient data from US manure systems from 2012 to 2022: Spatial and temporal trends. Bohl Bormann NL, Wilson ML, Pagliari PH, et al. J Environ Qual. 2026 Sep-Oct;55(5):e70268.

• Most published manure nutrient concentration approximations (book values) used today were derived from manure data prior to 2003 and do not reflect potential differences across US regions.
• Using ManureDB data, the University of Minnesota database with manure total nitrogen (N), ammonium-N (NH4-N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O) data spanning from 1998 to 2023 from 15 laboratories across the United States, researchers analyzed nutrient data from 2012 to 2022.
• Eight common US poultry and livestock manure types were used in this analysis, which showed that 91% of the slurry/liquid and 66% of the semisolid/solid manure nutrient categories had significant regional differences. Liquid swine and liquid dairy manure in the Southeast (SE) region had significantly lower nutrient data than the Northeast (NE) and US Midwest (MW) regions every year for swine and 10 out of 11 years for dairy.
• Nutrient concentrations in the solid chicken manures were the most temporally volatile across the decade with 38% of the region-analyte combinations having significant trends. This was followed by liquid dairy (33%), solid dairy (25%), solid turkey (25%), solid beef (8%), liquid swine (8.3%), and liquid beef (no trends).
• The frequency of significant manure nutrient trends in the NE and SE regions was triple that of the MW region. Decreasing manure nutrient concentrations were four times more prevalent than increasing nutrient concentrations across 2012-2022, perhaps displaying the impact of precision animal nutrition on manure nutrient content.
• Updated US manure nutrient characteristics provide a revised baseline for farmers, consultants, and researchers, while simultaneously highlighting manure nutrient variability.

Effects of screen size and aeration on volatile fatty acids and Escherichia coli during storage of dairy manure slurry. Hanajima D, Okamoto E, et al. J Environ Qual. 2026 Sep-Oct;55(5):e70262.

• Owing to intensive dairy farming, large amounts of animal waste accumulate in small areas, leading to various environmental problems. Solid separation technology and subsequent treatment of animal manure can facilitate manure handling, including composting of the solid fraction and land application of the liquid fraction. Removal of solids from manure slurry is expected to reduce the source of odorants; however, the specific compounds effectively mitigated remain unclear.
• In this study, researchers evaluated the effects of separation using screens with three different mesh sizes (10, 2, and 0.5 mm) on the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), representative odorants of dairy manure slurry, and on the persistence of Escherichia coli in raw and aerated liquid fractions stored for 45 days.
• The researchers found that separation effectively reduced VFAs, particularly low-odor-threshold compounds (n-butyric and n-valeric acids). However, separation was not effective in reducing branched fatty acids (i-butyric and i-valeric acids), probably because these compounds originate from fine particles (<0.5 mm) containing protein.
• Separation significantly reduced E. coli counts during storage. The liquid fraction obtained using a 0.5 mm screen exhibited E. coli counts below detection limit in both raw and aerated treatments.
• Overall, the research found that filtering reduced many substances that cause bad smells, especially ones that people can smell very easily. This study provides evidence supporting the use of fine screen sizes to significantly reduce VFAs, which impact the olfactory sense and prevent spreading E. coli into the wider environment through slurry application. When the finest screen (0.5 mm) was used, E. coli could not be found. These results show that using fine screens can reduce bad smells and help protect the environment from harmful bacteria.

Enteric Methane Emission and Milk Component Profiles of Holstein and Jersey Cows: A Respiration Chamber Study. Park J, Eom JS, Lim DH, et al. Animals (Basel). 2026 Sep 15;16(18):2898.

• Holstein and Jersey dairy cows differ in body size, feed intake, milk production, and milk composition, which may influence the interpretation of enteric methane (CH4) emissions.
• This study compared production traits, milk composition, and respiration chamber-measured CH4 emissions between 10 Holstein and 10 Jersey cows.
• Holstein cows had greater body weight, dry matter intake, milk yield, fat- and protein-corrected milk, and daily CH4 production than Jersey cows. Jersey cows had higher milk fat and protein concentrations, whereas daily milk fat yield did not differ significantly between breeds.
• No significant breed differences were detected in CH4 production per unit of dry matter intake, milk yield, or fat- and protein-corrected milk. In the unadjusted analysis, Jersey cows had lower CH4 production per unit of milk fat yield, but the breed difference was inconclusive after adjustment for age and days in milk.
• Methane production per unit of milk protein or lactose yield did not differ significantly between breeds. These findings indicate that breed comparisons of enteric CH4 depend on the basis used to express emissions, while the component-specific ratios should be interpreted as exploratory animal-level measures.

Olive mill wastewater as a sustainable feed supplement in dairy cows: effects on milk composition and the occurrence of bioactive compounds. Khaled M, Arhab R. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2026 Sep 16;58(8):537.

• The use of agro-industrial by-products as feed supplements represents a promising approach to improve sustainability in dairy production systems. Olive mill wastewater (OMWW), a by-product of olive oil processing, is rich in phenolic compounds and natural antioxidants, which may contribute to an amelioration of the nutritional quality of animal-derived products.
• This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating OMWW into dairy cow diets and to assess its effects on milk production performance, chemical composition, and the presence of bioactive compounds.
• Twelve multiparous Holstein dairy cows were assigned to two groups and fed either a control diet or a diet supplemented with OMWW. Milk samples were analyzed for chemical composition and bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, carotenoids, and fat-soluble vitamins, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
• Dietary supplementation with OMWW had no adverse effects on feed intake, milk yield, or major milk components. Although no significant differences were observed between dietary groups, milk from OMWW-supplemented cows exhibited a slight increase in fat-soluble vitamins A and E over the experimental period. In addition, carotenoid compounds were detected and quantified in milk from both dietary groups, indicating that OMWW supplementation did not alter the natural bioactive profile of milk.
• Overall, these findings demonstrate the feasibility of using OMWW as a dietary supplement in dairy cows without compromising production performance or the natural bioactive profile of milk, thereby contributing to the sustainable valorization of olive oil by-products.

From farm to gut: ecological filtering and risk interpretation of antimicrobial resistance in dairy products. Li X, Yang Y, e t al. Food Res Int. 2026;243(Pt 2):120415.

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly recognized as a food safety and public health challenge that extends beyond clinical settings to animal production, food processing, and host-associated microbial ecosystems. Dairy products represent an important interface linking farm environments, processing systems, and the human gastrointestinal tract. However, current evidence on AMR in dairy products remains fragmented.
• Most studies have focused on detecting antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antimicrobial resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements, whereas less attention has been given to whether these determinants remain viable or functionally relevant after processing and gastrointestinal exposure.
• This review examines AMR determinants in dairy products from a farm-to-gut perspective. Researchers summarize major upstream reservoirs and entry routes of resistance determinants along the dairy chain and evaluate their distribution across raw milk and processed dairy products.
• A central argument of this review is that dairy processing should be interpreted as an ecological filter rather than a simple decontamination step, because it can reduce viable microorganisms while reshaping the persistence, localization, and transfer potential of resistance-related signals.
• Researchers further discuss the ecological barriers that dairy-associated AMR determinants must overcome before becoming biologically meaningful host risks, including gastrointestinal survival, microbial competition, horizontal gene transfer, colonization, persistence, and functional expression.
• Detection alone should not be equated with public health risk. Instead, AMR assessment in dairy systems should move beyond descriptive surveillance toward multilayered interpretation of viability, mobility, persistence, functional activity, and host relevance.
• This risk-oriented framework provides a basis for distinguishing molecular presence from functional transmission relevance, identifying critical control points across the dairy chain, supporting AMR management in dairy products.

Animal Health and Food Safety​

H5N1 epidemiology and production impact in eight California dairy herds at the outbreak epicenter.

Corrales NU, Anderson R, Elramady M, Karle BM, Aly S. Prev Vet Med. 2026 Sep 24;257:107022.

• The 2024 emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1, clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13, in U.S. dairy cattle was a novel disease event affecting animal health, production, and public health.
• Researchers conducted structured interviews with managers of eight H5N1-positive dairies in Tulare County, California, the epicenter of the 2024 outbreak, covering a 30-day reference period, the first quarantine, the 30 days following quarantine release, and, for two dairies, a second quarantine.
• Given the small sample, the researchers used descriptive statistics with Multiple Factor Analysis and hierarchical clustering to explore herd heterogeneity.
• Mean milk yield declined modestly (2.6%) during early quarantine but recovered above baseline by release; somatic cell count rose 21% and remained elevated. Three-quarters of dairies reported abnormal milk appearance, all experienced reduced feed intake (~8%) and pregnancy losses, and mortality in lactating cows averaged 1.5%.
• Biosecurity improvements were largely reactive rather than preventive. Exploratory multivariate analyses identified two underlying dimensions and three distinct herd profiles differing in production, clinical course, and biosecurity intensity.
• In this work, H5N1 infection was associated with variable but measurable impacts on production, mammary health, and reproduction; findings are consistent with reports from other states but warrant confirmation in larger, more diverse studies.

Susceptibility of calves fed unpasteurized milk from cows infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. Sarlo Davila KM, Baker AL, Arruda B, et al. Nat Commun. 2026 Aug 21;17(1):10036.

• Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in a dairy cows in Texas March 2024 and milk was identified as a critical source of virus spread within and between dairy herds.
• This study demonstrates that calves fed infected unpasteurized milk from infected cows became infected, showed clinical signs including nasal discharge and increased respiratory effort, and seroconverted. Live virus was persistently detected in nasal swabs, even after calves were transitioned to milk from non-infected cows.
• This study also demonstrates the presence of neutralizing antibodies in milk provides from protection from infection as an additional group of calves fed milk from infected cows also shedding neutralizing antibodies did not become infected, show clinical signs, or seroconvert.
• These data demonstrate that milk diverted from the human food supply in H5N1 positive dairy herds or suspect cows should not be fed to calves without pasteurization, as H5N1 may further adapt to the bovine respiratory tract and the risk of calves as a source of farm to farm transmission has not yet been evaluated.
• As characterization of HPAI in the dairy community continues the determination of routes of transmission is an essential step to inform subsequent research on intervention and vaccination strategies.

Long-term effects of dairy calf social housing on first lactation survival and milk yield. Lindner EE, Miller-Cushon EK, et al. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 9:S0022-0302(26)03242-X.

• Given advantages of preweaning social housing for dairy calf performance and behavioral development, the objective of this study was to characterize long-term effects of social housing on survival and milk yield during first lactation.
• Holstein heifers were previously raised in individual housing (IH; n = 90), pair housing (PH; n = 60 pens, 120 heifers), or in groups of 10 (GH; n = 12 pens, 80 heifers) for the first 2 months of life, then commingled among housing treatments and raised in groups on pasture where they underwent standard rearing and breeding practices.
• At 30 days before expected calving, heifers were moved to a free stall barn. Following calving, heifers entered the lactating herd where they were milked twice daily and followed until the completion of their first lactation.
• The researchers found no effect of social housing on pre-calving culling risk, but socially housed heifers were less likely to be culled during lactation (PH: hazard ratio = 0.35, and GH: hazard ratio = 0.48).
• In cows that completed a 305 day lactation, social housing also resulted in greater first lactation milk yield, with greatest effects in the first 100 days post-calving. Effects of treatment on milk yield were predominantly direct, with pre-weaning ADG having a partial mediating effect explaining 15% of the total treatment effect.
• Early lactation milk yield, estimated in week 2 to 8 for all cows regardless of culling events in lactation, predicted lower culling risk in PH and GH, compared with IH, suggesting that reduced milk yield over the full lactation in IH animals was exacerbated due to involuntary culling.
• These results support long-term production advantages attributed to social housing and provide some evidence to suggest that long-term effects of social housing may be attributed to behavioral mechanisms resulting in increased resilience rather than differences in biological potential arising from pre-weaning growth.

Stakeholder perspectives on dairy calf management challenges in North America. Cantor MC, Perttu RK, Spindler M, Mansfield H. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 21:S0022-0302(26)03294-7.

• Calf morbidity is common on dairies, yet stakeholders who troubleshoot these challenges possess critical experiential knowledge regarding which practices to prioritize during outbreaks.
• This study evaluated calf experts' perceptions of management practices most critical to address when dairies experience a high prevalence of diarrhea (>25%), bovine respiratory disease (BRD; > 15%), and umbilical infections (>5%) in calves up to 90 d of age.
• An online survey used a snowball sampling strategy to recruit North American calf experts (n = 70; veterinarians, extension professionals, nutritionists, and consultants) who had no financial stake in a dairy and had troubleshot calf health on ≥3 commercial farms within the past year. Respondents scored the relevance of 8 management domains from 0 to 100.
• Overall, 51% (36/70) of experts reported working with farms experiencing high BRD, followed by diarrhea (47%; 33/70) and umbilical infection (13%; 9/70). For BRD, calf housing/environment had the greatest mean relevancy, followed by colostrum management and nutrition.
• Strong consensus emerged that restricted nutrition, specifically feeding a low quantity of milk solids is a pivotal management failure to address during BRD outbreaks. Other critical BRD contributors included inadequate colostrum volume (≤2 L), large social groups (>10 calves), and poor winter ventilation (<4 air exchanges/h).
• For diarrhea, sanitation had the highest perceived relevancy, followed by colostrum, housing, and nutrition. Experts demonstrated near-consensus that large social groups and low milk solids exacerbate diarrhea challenges, alongside a lack of sanitation standard operating procedures and low colostrum volume. For umbilical infections, clear consensus linked outbreaks to a lack of umbilical cord dipping with poor maternity pen hygiene as another contributor.
• These findings uniquely highlight that experts view nutritional restriction and protocol gaps as central drivers of disease severity. This study identified that dairy stakeholders such as veterinarians, extension/academics, consultants, and nutritionists believe that calf disease challenges on farm are linked to a lack of standard operating procedures for sanitation, colostrum and umbilical cord care.
• Moreover, underfeeding calves at ≤4 L/d milk, and housing more than 10 calves in a pen was perceived as being related to high disease pressure herds struggling with neonatal calf diarrhea and bovine respiratory disease.
• This suggests that future North American research should move beyond isolated risk factors to investigate how group-housing dynamics and formalization of management (such as SOP implementation) interact to influence calf disease resilience.

Dynamics of the probability of survival of cows in dairy herds in the United States. Silva LH, Gong Y, Cabrera VE. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 17:S0022-0302(26)03269-8.

• Cow longevity directly affects the economic efficiency of dairy herds, as modern systems exhibit low survival and involuntary losses that compromise genetic and financial progress.
• Researchers aimed to characterize the culling process in US dairy herds, including the main reasons for animal removal.
• Data from the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) included 5.6 million records from average 2,630 herds (2006-2017), containing productive, reproductive, and culling information. Total longevity indicators were defined, and cows were stratified by pregnancy status, parity, production level, lactation stage, and region.
• Herds with fewer than 100 records and fewer than 5 culling codes were excluded. Animal destination was classified into 8 categories, allowing estimation of overall and cause-specific culling frequencies. A Cumulative Incidence Function (CIF) analysis was performed to compare the different reasons for culling.
• Mean longevity was 4.2 years and the overall culling rate was 31.03%, with "other or injury" (24.52%) as the most frequent reason, followed by "reproductive problems" (16.73%) and "died" (15.82%). However, this dynamic varies over the years; for younger animals, the primary reason for removal of herd was "dairy purposes," whereas reproductive problems had the least impact on the culling rate.
• Non-pregnant cows showed much higher culling rates than pregnant cows (54.88% vs. 12.19%), and dynamics varied across lactation stages. Multiparous cows were more affected by "died," "mastitis," and "feet and legs," whereas primiparous cows were more frequently removed of herd for "dairy purposes."
• Across regions and breeds, overall culling rates were similar, although culling profiles differed. Lower-producing animals exhibited higher culling rates, mainly due to involuntary causes, whereas more productive herds recorded more economically driven removals.
• The primary reasons for removed of herd also differed over the years; Sold for "dairy purposes" was more significant initially, whereas "other or injury" and "reproductive problems" became more important as the animals remained in the herd.

From Genome to Phenome: Genotype Environment Interactions in Organic and Conventional Dairy Systems and the Emergence of Genomically Optimized Organic Dairy (GOOD).

Bhowmik P, Jiang Z, et al. Genes (Basel). 2026 Aug 24;17(9):990.

• Organic dairy farming has expanded rapidly over the past three decades, driven by regulatory reforms, consumer demand, and growing recognition of its environmental, animal welfare, and potential human health benefits. Despite this growth, evidence comparing organic and conventional dairy systems remains fragmented across genetics, phenomics, animal health, and human health outcomes.
• This review synthesizes current knowledge through the lens of genotype × environment interactions, integrating evidence from four complementary domains: (1) genomic architecture and breeding strategies; (2) phenotypic performance, including milk production and composition, meat quality, nutrition, and reproductive traits; (3) animal health, disease resistance, antimicrobial use, and welfare; and (4) implications for human health.
• Holstein-Friesian cattle remain the predominant breed in both systems; however, organic production favors animals with greater robustness, longevity, grazing efficiency, and disease resilience. Genetic studies further demonstrate that highly heritable production traits share similar genetic architecture across production systems, whereas health, fertility, longevity, and other low-heritability functional traits exhibit stronger genotype × environment interactions and more system-specific genomic signatures.
• These findings suggest that breeding strategies developed for high-input conventional systems are unlikely to maximize performance under organic management. Collectively, the evidence supports a shift from selection focused primarily on milk yield toward genomic improvement of robustness, disease resistance, reproductive resilience, grazing adaptation, and lifetime productivity.
• Therefore, researchers propose Genomically Optimized Organic Dairy (GOOD) as an emerging framework that integrates genomic selection, precision phenotyping, health monitoring, and environmental adaptation to develop dairy cattle better suited to organic production.

Biocontrol of Staphylococcus aureus in dairy products using lytic bacteriophage UHP46: efficacy in milk, cheese, and yogurt. Najeeb S, Khan I, Miskeen S, et al. Braz J Microbiol. 2026 Sep 24;57(1):278.

• Staphylococcus aureus is a major public health concern in the dairy industry. It is a well-recognized pathogen responsible for bovine mastitis and raw milk contamination; certain strains produce heat-stable enterotoxin capable of causing staphylococcal food poisoning in humans. The emergence of multiple drug-resistant strains of S. aureus has rendered ineffective the use of antibiotics for control purposes.
• This study determined the antibacterial activity of lytic bacteriophage UHP46 against a single, previously characterized multidrug-resistant mastitis isolate, S. aureus S46, in three dairy matrices - milk, cheese and yogurt - under storage conditions representing refrigerated storage (4 °C), ambient conditions (25 °C) and a 37 °C mechanistic reference condition.
• UHP46 significantly reduced S. aureus S46 counts in milk, achieving reductions of 3.2 and 3.7 log₁₀ CFU/mL after 4 and 24 h at 4 °C, 2.1 and 3.1 log₁₀ CFU/mL after 4 and 24 h at 25 °C, and 1.8 log₁₀ CFU/mL after 3 h at 37 °C.
• The reduction at 37 °C was accompanied by an increase in phage titer from 7.2 to 8.8 log₁₀ PFU/mL. Application of UHP46 to cheese resulted in an immediate reduction of 0.6 log₁₀ CFU/g after 5 min of treatment at room temperature.
• The maximum reduction observed was 2.0 log₁₀ CFU/g at 24 h, with a sustained reduction of 1.9 log₁₀ CFU/g maintained through 96 h of refrigerated storage at 4 °C. In yogurt, net reductions on day 6 were 2.8, 2.7

Nutrition and Health​

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effects of Full-Fat and Low-Fat Fermented Dairy Foods on Markers of Cardiometabolic Health in Adults with Overweight or Obesity and Elevated Fasting Triglycerides. Maki KC, Gletsu-Miller N, Burton-Freeman B. Curr Dev Nutr. 2026;10(9):109516.

• Consumption of fermented dairy has been associated with favorable cardiometabolic outcomes, but limited data from clinical trials have been available regarding the effects of fermented dairy products at differing levels of dairy fat on biomarkers of cardiometabolic health.
• This randomized, controlled, parallel-arm, 12-wk trial evaluated the effect of replacing nondairy foods with 2 servings/d of either full-fat or low-fat fermented dairy foods on cardiometabolic health biomarkers in adults at risk of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes.
• Adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 to 39.9 kg/m2 and elevated fasting triglycerides (≥120 mg/dL) were randomly assigned to consume study foods provided as either 2 servings/d of full-fat fermented dairy foods, 2 servings/d of low-fat fermented dairy foods, or 2 servings/d of nondairy control foods, for 12 wk.
• Biomarkers of glucose homeostasis, lipid metabolism, inflammation, as well as anthropometrics and vital signs were assessed.
• Full-fat fermented dairy showed a difference for change in least squares geometric mean waist circumference compared with control (-1.62% compared with 2.21%, respectively) with an effect estimate of -4.13%. No other statistically significant differences were observed, including the primary outcome of Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity [effect estimates of 5.24% for low-fat fermented dairy and -3.11% for full-fat fermented dairy, respectively, compared with control for difference in percent change in least squares geometric mean].
• In conclusion, consumption of full-fat fermented dairy foods for 12 weeks was associated with a small reduction in waist circumference compared with nondairy foods. No other statistically significant effects of 2 servings daily of low-fat or full-fat dairy were observed for other biomarkers of cardiometabolic health.

Fermented dairy consumption and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in US adults. Zhang F, Wenjian, L. Nature Scientific Reports. 2026.

• Fermented dairy foods are widely consumed, contribute important bioactive compounds and microbial metabolites to the diet, and play an important role in human health.
• The objective of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between the consumption of fermented dairy products and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
• The analysis was conducted using data from the NHANES database, which spans from 1999 to 2018 and includes a total of 37,366 participants. The consumption of fermented dairy products was evaluated through the use of 24-hour dietary recall, and Cox proportional risk regression models were employed to quantify the impact on mortality risk
• Among the study’s participants, those who consumed fermented dairy products demonstrated a 18% decrease in all-cause mortality and a 20% decrease in cardiovascular mortality in comparison to non-consumers.
• Analysis revealed a J-shaped nonlinear relationship with a turning point at 150 g/d, and segmented regression confirmed significantly reduced mortality risk below this threshold but neutral effects above it.
• These findings suggest that moderate consumption of fermented dairy products is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, indicating a potential beneficial role of moderate fermented dairy intake.

Associations of different cheese types with type 2 diabetes and glycemic biomarkers: A cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2003–2006 data. Nakano A, Ueno HM, Araki M. Nutr Health. 2026 Sep 7:2601060261478966.

• Despite potential effects of cheese and low-fat dairy products, including cottage cheese, on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), evidence on high- and low-fat cheese consumption by fat content and type and its association with T2DM remains limited.
• In this study, researchers explored associations between low- and high-fat fresh cheese consumption, including cottage and cream cheese, with T2DM and related biomarkers.
• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2331 participants from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and examined cheese intake (assessed via a food frequency questionnaire) in relation to T2DM status and biomarkers (hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c], fasting glucose, insulin, and vitamin D) using multivariate regression models adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and dietary covariates.
• Although associations between cheese consumption and T2DM prevalence were attenuated after adjustment for dietary variables, cream cheese consumption showed a nonlinear association with outcomes, whereas low-fat cheese, including cottage cheese, was not significantly associated with T2DM.
• Cheese consumption was associated with favorable glycemic biomarker profiles and higher vitamin D levels in the multivariate models. Low-fat cheese consumption, including cottage cheese, inversely correlated with HbA1c and directly with vitamin D levels, whereas cream cheese showed a nonlinear pattern across intake frequencies.
• These findings suggest that associations with glycemic outcomes may differ by cheese type rather than fat content alone. However, due to the cross-sectional design and qualitative dietary assessment, causality cannot be inferred. Further studies are needed to clarify these relationships.

Functional mechanisms, current applications, and future perspectives of dairy products in oral health. Wang M, Liu J, et al. Front Public Health. 2026 Sept;14:1898007.

• Oral diseases affect over 3.5 billion people globally, with dental caries and periodontitis being the most common. Previous studies suggest that dairy products may protect against these conditions through enamel remineralization and antimicrobial effects, but a comprehensive synthesis integrating component profiles, molecular mechanisms, and translational applications has been lacking.
• This systematic review synthesizes evidence on dairy products and their bioactive components in oral health, clarifies functional mechanisms, current applications, and future directions.
• Studies linking dairy products to oral health were included. A narrative synthesis covered dairy product categories, bioactive components (proteins and peptides, minerals, probiotics), mechanisms (microecological regulation, caries prevention, periodontal management, antifungal effects, mucosal protection), current applications, and future challenges.
• Processing characteristics and compositional differences of liquid milk, fermented dairy products, and cheese determine their distinct roles in oral care. Dairy-derived proteins, minerals, and probiotics act synergistically through multiple mechanisms: maintenance of oral microbial homeostasis; enamel remineralization, inhibition of cariogenic bacterial adhesion and acid production (caries prevention); attenuation of inflammatory responses (periodontal support); inhibition of Candida albicans (opportunistic infection control); and protection of mucosal barrier integrity.
• A three-tiered application model-natural dietary intervention, oral care product development, and clinical adjunctive therapy-has emerged. This review adds an integrated "components-mechanisms-effects" framework demonstrating how casein phosphopeptides, lactoferrin, probiotics, calcium, and phosphorus synergistically maintain oral microbiota homeostasis, promote remineralization, reduce inflammation, inhibit opportunistic infections, and protect the mucosal barrier.
• In conclusion, dairy products can preserve oral health via multiple pathways and have clear public health value. Future research should focus on probiotic strain specificity, synergistic mechanisms of active ingredients, and long-term clinical effects to promote an integrated "nutrition + oral care" health management strategy.

Late-Life Dietary Patterns and Subsequent Survival Among Adults Aged 90 Years or Older in the Sardinian Blue Zone. Errigo A, Gómez G, Vindas-Meza L, Pes GM. Nutrients. 2026 Sep 20;18(18):3072.

• Dietary habits in long-lived populations are often interpreted as determinants of exceptional longevity, although most evidence is based on ecological or cross-sectional studies.
• In this study researchers examined whether diet measured after extreme old age was reached was associated with subsequent survival among Sardinian Blue Zone residents aged 90 years or older.
• The cohort included 200 participants aged 90-106 years who completed a qualitative food-frequency questionnaire covering 17 foods or food groups and were followed for up to seven years.
• Four patterns were identified: dairy-traditional fat, red-meat, chicken-carbohydrate, and plant-starchy food. Greater conformity to the dairy-traditional-fat pattern was associated with lower mortality (HR per 1-SD increase, 0.839), although this pattern-level association did not meet the 5% false-discovery-rate (FDR) threshold.
• The highest versus lowest tertile showed a similar association (HR, 0.682). No other pattern was significantly associated with mortality.
• In secondary food-specific analyses, higher frequencies of milk, cheese, and chicken consumption were inversely associated with mortality, whereas wine consumption was positively associated with mortality; these four associations remained significant after FDR correction across the 17 foods examined.
• In conclusion, in adults aged 90 years or older, greater conformity to a dairy-based late-life dietary pattern was associated with longer subsequent survival, although the pattern-level association did not remain significant after FDR correction. These findings concern diet in extreme old age and should not be extrapolated to lifelong dietary factors influencing exceptional longevity.

Whey protein phospholipid concentrate at the interface of function and health: Heat-induced protein interactions, bioactivity, and choline delivery. Rugji J, Goodman RJ, Ozturk G, et al. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 9:S0022-0302(26)03261-3.

• Milk is a nutrient-packed biological fluid essential for early development, with the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) playing a fundamental role in cognitive, bone, immune, and gastrointestinal health. Driven by increasing demand for high-protein and sustainable ingredients, the dairy industry has focused on coproducts such as whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC), a microfiltration-derived fraction enriched in MFGM proteins and polar lipids.
• WPPC contains elevated levels of caseins and whey proteins and is notably enriched in membrane-bound glycoproteins and phospholipids that contribute to its functional and nutritional value.
• Thermal processing, while critical for safety and shelf-life, induces remodeling of both protein and lipid components of the MFGM. Heat treatment promotes whey protein unfolding and aggregation, driving their association with the MFGM through covalent and noncovalent interactions, while concurrently remodeling MFGM lipid microdomains, altering phospholipid distribution, and increasing susceptibility to lipid and protein oxidation.
• These interfacial changes can modify MFGM protein accessibility, enzymatic activity, oxidative stability, and digestion-derived peptide release, ultimately influencing downstream isolation of native MFGM bioactives from WPPC and the performance of membrane- and solvent-based fractionation strategies.
• Emerging opportunities for WPPC as a functional delivery matrix for phospholipid-bound nutrients, including choline, are also discussed in the context of translational nutrition and next-generation dairy ingredient development.

Peptidome and Metabolome Profiling of Fermented Milk Products Reveal Accumulation of Bioactive Compounds During Cold Storage. Sheludchenko MS, Volokh OI, et al. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2026 Sep 19;48(9):955.

• Fermentation is an ancient way of preserving food and improving its shelf life. In recent decades, fermented milk products have garnered considerable research attention owing to their numerous health benefits, such as the improved digestion and bioavailability of milk constituents, the inhibition of harmful gastrointestinal bacteria, the alleviation of lactose intolerance, and the effects of fermented milk products and the gut microbiome on brain activity; therefore, they are considered functional foods. Metabolites reflect the quality of milk and dairy products in terms of their nutritional value and safety.
• This study assessed the metabolome and peptidome profiles of cow's milk and four traditional fermented milk products produced using standard sets of starter cultures. Many of these microbe-generated molecules exhibit biological activities that can affect human health.
• Researchers used non-targeted metabolomic methods to assess semi-quantified concentrations of four types of molecules in the final products: peptides; amino acids; long-, medium-, and short-chain fatty acids; and mono- and disaccharides and their derivatives.
• The metabolome and peptidome of 15 dairy milk products, including yogurt (Y), fermented milk (FM), kefir made with commercial cultures (K) and kefir made with grains (KG), were analyzed on days 7 and 14 of shelf life at +4 °C, and milk (M) samples with various fat content were used as a reference.
• A total of 348 peptides, 37 amino acids, 30 fatty acids, and 23 mono- and disaccharides were identified in the products. Among them, 41 putative bioactive peptides were annotated via in silico database mining, and together with branch-chained amino acids (BCAAs), orotic acid (vitamin B13), d-phenyllactic acid, 5-phenylvaleric acid and myo-inositol (vitamin B8), accumulated in fermented products during storage. Bioactivities were not experimentally validated in this study.

Innovation, Social Science, and Dairy Alternatives​

Assessing the potential of UV-C as a nonthermal alternative to pasteurization in milk powder processing at pilot-scale for the retention of nutrients. Alonso-Miravalles L, Widmer C, Gianfrancesco A, Johnson NB, Du Le H. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 21:S0022-0302(26)03293-5.

• Milk is a source of high-quality proteins, vitamins, and minerals that contribute to human health across all life stages. Ensuring microbiological safety traditionally relies on thermal processes such as pasteurization and ultra-high-temperature (UHT) treatments, which remain the industry standard for pathogen control.
• This study evaluated UV-C (UV-C) treatment as a non-thermal alternative to pasteurization for cow's milk, with a focus on the retention of nutritionally relevant components during liquid and powder processing.
• The milk was thermized and subsequently processed either by conventional pasteurization (72°C, 15 s) or UV-C irradiation (3,900 J/m2 at 4°C), followed by evaporation and spray drying. Microbial inactivation, lipase activity, protein denaturation, amino acid profile, in vitro protein digestibility, immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG), and vitamin stability were assessed.
• UV-treated milk showed no significant changes in protein denaturation, amino acid profile and in vitro digestibility compared with raw milk. In contrast to pasteurization, UV-C treatment preserved lipase activity in liquid milk, although no residual activity was detected after evaporation and spray drying.
• Retention of IgA and IgG was significantly higher in UV-treated liquid milk and milk powder than in pasteurized counterparts. UV-C treatment increased vitamin D3 concentration in milk preserving its bio-accessibility.
• Overall, UV-C processing preserved key nutritional and bioactive milk components supporting its potential application in dairy processing.

Microwave vacuum drying of fermented dairy products: Effect of processing on drying kinetics and powder quality. Chen H, Moraru CI.J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 17:

• Fermented dairy products have gained widespread popularity globally due to their bioactive compounds and nutritional value. While these dairy products are typically consumed fresh, their preservation as shelf stable powders can bring utilization, transportation, and supply chain advantages.
• This research investigates the use of microwave vacuum drying (MVD) as an effective technology to produce shelf-stable dehydrated fermented dairy products of high quality and viable lactic acid bacteria.
• The microwave vacuum drying kinetics for commercial plain yogurt, Greek style yogurt, and kefir were evaluated and successfully modeled using the Page model (0.93 < R2 < 0.96).
• Greek yogurt and kefir dried faster than plain yogurt, likely due to differences in matrix structure and EPS-associated water binding by the plain yogurt matrix. MVD processing reduced viable LAB counts by approximately 1.5 log.
• All 3 products achieved shelf stability (aw < 0.4) within 120 min of MVD, corresponding to 113.6 W/g cumulative energy input, and 2 kPa pressure. Selected reconstitution conditions include mixing with water at 4°C for 2 min and 12,000 rpm. Reconstitution delivered reconstituted products with similar viscosity and density as the original products, for all tested products.
• The dried and reconstituted products showed minimal quality differences compared with fresh samples, which was possible since the product temperature was <50°C at all times during MVD. A good retention of viable lactic acid bacteria was achieved, as indicated by the <2 log reduction in the concentration of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus in the reconstituted MVD products.
• These findings lay the groundwork for the manufacture of high-quality, shelf-stable fermented dairy powders, which positions MVD technology as an important innovation driver in the dairy industry.

Restoration of lactose metabolism in Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG for dairy fermentation applications. Xie Z, Oh H, Jin YS, Miller MJ. J Dairy Sci. 2026 Sep 28:S0022-0302(26)03325-4.

• Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) is a widely used probiotic but has limited applications in dairy fermentation because of its poor lactose utilization.
• Here, researchers generated a lactose-positive LGG derivative using the LGG endogenous CRISPR-Cas system achieving a marker-free, scarless 20-bp deletion to disrupt the t1 transcriptional terminator upstream of the lactose operon.
• Using lactose-based selection, lactose-positive derivatives were then isolated and confirmed a restored functional lacG allele by sequencing. After curing the editing plasmid, the final strain, MJM570, was obtained.
• Whole-genome sequencing verified the intended terminator deletion and lacG reversion. MJM570 grew robustly on lactose, supported growth and acidification in milk, and showed improved proliferation and viability in yogurt fermentation and refrigerated storage compared with the wild-type LGG.
• This marker-free strategy leaves no foreign DNA in the final strain and provides a practical platform for developing dairy-compatible probiotic cultures with improved performance in fermented dairy applications.
• Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of endogenous CRISPR-Cas systems for food-relevant genome editing for developing dairy-compatible probiotic cultures.

Microbial community dynamics in a traditional Swiss mountain cheese over 142 years of cheesemaking. Somerville V, Meola M, Shani N, et al. Curr Biol. 2026 Sep 24:S0960-9822(26)01071-7.

• The history of cheesemaking is deeply intertwined with the evolution of microbial communities, from spontaneous fermentation to modern, standardized practices. The rapid technological changes of the last century likely induced profound alterations in cheese microbial communities, yet this remains largely underexplored.
• Using shotgun metagenomics and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we examined microbial community changes in Raclette du Valais, a traditional Swiss cheese, using preserved wheels from 1875 to 2017 from the same Alpine dairy.
• The results reveal that significant differences in microbial community composition coincide with changes in production practices. The oldest cheese harbored a distinct bacterial community, dominated by Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum, Streptococcus thermophilus, Pseudolactococcus laudensis, and gut-associated taxa.
• Antibiotic-resistance genes mirrored historical antibiotic use, lactic acid bacteria domestication predated the studied period, and bacteriophage genera from 1875 were already comparable to those of modern cheese factories.
• These findings highlight how human practices have shaped cheese microbiomes over time.

Raw milk and the rejection of food safety. Feng Y. J Sci Food Agric. 2026 Sep 3.

• Raw milk remains popular among consumers despite recent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and public health warnings. Raw milk consumption is not simply consumer rejection of food safety, but a reflection of how consumers interpret food safety.
• In this paper, researchers examine how trust, beliefs, and values affect consumers' decisions about raw milk consumption and how to build trust with consumers through greater transparency and engagement.

The Power of Information: How Labeling Alters Young Consumer Acceptance and Purchase Intention of Plant-Based Yogurt Alternatives. Klimczak I, Chudy S, et al. Foods. 2026 Sep 21;15(18):3350.

• The growth of the plant-based dairy alternatives market and consumers' diverse preferences and expectations prompted an evaluation of plant-based yogurt alternatives based on coconut, oat, soy, and cashew nut compared with dairy yogurt.
• Consumers' responses were assessed under blind, expected, and informed conditions using hedonic evaluation, the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) questionnaire, and purchase intention measurement. The type of raw material significantly influenced the physicochemical properties, sensory profile, and consumer perception of fermented products.
• Dairy yogurt achieved the highest overall liking, while the coconut-based yogurt alternative was the most preferred plant-based product and showed sensory characteristics closest to dairy yogurt. Taste was identified as the main driver of overall liking, followed by creaminess, thickness, and light color.
• Conversely, artificial flavor notes, blandness, gray appearance, and thin texture were the main negative drivers of overall liking. The integration of physicochemical, sensory, and hedonic data confirmed that consumer responses are shaped through sensory perception rather than direct evaluation of instrumental quality parameters. Product information positively influenced consumer expectations, but its effect on final acceptance depended on whether sensory quality met those expectations.
• Higher overall liking consistently predicted higher purchase intention, indicating that sensory acceptance remained the primary determinant of consumers' willingness to buy plant-based yogurt alternatives.