Milk
white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals
Milk is usually a white liquid food (but can be shades of yellow, cream, pink, or brown) produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, as well as lactose and saturated fat; the enzyme lactase is needed to break down lactose. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. The first milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies and immune-modulating components that strengthen the immune system against many diseases.
As an agricultural product, milk is collected from farm animals, mostly cattle, on a dairy. It is used by humans as a drink and as the base ingredient for dairy products. The US CDC recommends that children over the age of 12 months (the minimum age to stop giving breast milk or formula) should have two servings of milk products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products. The ability for adult humans to digest milk relies on lactase persistence, so lactose intolerant individuals have trouble digesting lactose.
In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows.
“Milk” enters the record as white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Milk, white and liquid can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Milk” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Milk, white and liquid provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8495. The first chronological checks are 2011.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Milk”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Milk primary sources, Milk archive and Milk research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Milk”?
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Milk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.