Fat And Cream

Milk fat is mainly formed of glycerides of palmitic and oleic acid (Warington), the latter constituting about 50 per cent (Ruppel), with five or six other fatty acids, such as myristic and stearic, represented in minute quantity.

While the percentage of fat in milk, as shown by chemical analysis in the above tables, is about 4 per cent, that of cream itself is considerably higher, but cream is not pure fat. It is simply an aggregation of the oil globules in the top portion of the milk with a little proteid and carbohydrate. Average milk contains 8 to 10 per cent of cream. Alderney milk may have as high as 20 or even 30 per cent. Good milk should form a layer of cream about two inches and a half thick as it stands in a quart bottle.

The globules of milk fat vary in size between 0.0605 and 0.00005 inch in diameter, and the smallest do not rise to the surface as cream, for their albuminous coverings are proportionately heavier (Warington). "The fuel value of a pint of cream is not far from 1,425 calories, or about the same as one and one eighth pounds of bread, or one and one half dozen bananas, or four and one half pounds of potatoes" (A. C. True).

The following table is from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 74, 1898;

Amounts Of Nutrients In A Pound (Pint) Of Milk As Compared With A Pound Of Meat, Bread, And Other Food Products