I never could get used to regular Taiwan milk…I’m not sure what it is, but someone told that US milk is pasturized and homogonized and that Taiwan milk is only pasturized (or somthin’). Anyone know what makes it taste different…or is it US milk that’s different?
Speaking of milk…I can’t get enough ‘fruit milk’ or ‘malt milk’
Chocolate milk goes down even faster than Belgian beer. glug glug glug…
Milk from Taiwan tastes great in my opinion but it gives me the horrible runs. No, I’m not lactose intolerant either…I drink milk quite often in the USA. It’s just the Taiwanese milk that gives me this problem.
Ever have that atomic milk from Australia that doesn’t require refrigeration? Now that’s scary…
CrazyBoy
I was told during foreign student orientation that milk in Taiwan was a 50-50 mix of fresh and powder. That was 1988. Maybe powdered milk is still being used but to a lesser degree.
Any road, I’d rather have a beer
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Originally posted by Geng: Anyone know what makes it taste different...or is it US milk that's different? [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
The milk here seem to taste sweeter. I thought it was because they made they all lactose free since a large population here cannot handle lactose. Also, it tastes similar to the lactose free milk in the US (which btw has a longer shelf life).
However, what ABCguy24 said would refute this theory. What is the shelf life of milk here?
My mother never boobfed me and raised me on skim; therefore, I never liked Taiwan milk–it seemed too thick or vitamin D-like.
However, I could’ve been poster-girl for President’s milk tea…
I think the difference between Taiwan milk and Western milk is because since land is in such short supply here, Taiwan cows only eat “feed”, but in Western countries, there’s so much land that cows eat grass during the spring, summer, and fall, and they eat hay (made from dried grass) during the winter.
I don’t know what the “feed” in Taiwan is made from, but I guess it’s probably made from rice, since rice is the cheapest grain here.
The difference also might have something to do with the fact that a high percentage of Asian people are lactose-intolerant, as Urbanjet (above) mentioned. In the States, the milk that’s made for lactose-intolerant people contains “acidophilus” bacteria, which is a naturally-occuring bacteria which is in the intestines of lactose-tolerant people. Acidophilus bacteria produces an enzyme called “lactase”, which breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose.
Lactose and galactose are hardly sweet at all, but glucose is almost as sweet as sucrose (table sugar). So if the lactose in the milk has been converted into glucose and galactose, then the milk would be much sweeter than it was originally. Maybe this is why Taiwan milk is much sweeter than milk in Western countries.
A lot of US cattle were grain-fed.
As for taste, NZ milk tastes shitloads better. There was a thing in the paper recently about how it should be here soon (due to the WTO) and because of relative dairying costs, air-freighted NZ milk would be CHEAPER than Taiwanese milk. Anyone seen it yet?
Bri
Bri, the only thing better than Kiwi milk is Aussie milk. Jeez I’d love a Big M too.
You guys are wrong! Milk from Senegal is the best. Mmmm…
So is it true that people who drink milk with lactose stink to people who are never around any one who drinks milk with lactose?
No ! Milk from ladies’ bosoms is best.
The milk in Oz tastes much better and it’s a lot cheaper too. I figure that just as the Taiwanese don’t know how to make proper bread they can’t make milk properly either. So in Taiwan it’s best to eat rice and drink soy milk!!!
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Originally posted by Ryan P.: You guys are wrong! Milk from Senegal is the best. Mmmm...
Don’t know about Senegalese milk but Liberian Guinness is the best I have ever had.
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Originally posted by Mark Nagel: [QB]The difference also might have something to do with the fact that a high percentage of Asian people are lactose-intolerant, as Urbanjet (above) mentioned. In the States, the milk that's made for lactose-intolerant people contains "acidophilus" bacteria, which is a naturally-occuring bacteria which is in the intestines of lactose-[b]tolerant[/b] people. Acidophilus bacteria produces an enzyme called "lactase", which breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose.
You sound like you’re in the medical field. Is it true that a type of enzyme which breaks down alcohol is missing from many of Asians. The result being that some Asians cannot take alcohol as well as an Irish or German. Also, how does that relate to redness in the skin?
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Originally posted by Urbanjet:Is it true that a type of enzyme which breaks down alcohol is missing from many of Asians. The result being that some Asians cannot take alcohol as well as an Irish or German. Also, how does that relate to redness in the skin?
In brief, the answers are 1) well, not really; and 2) yes.
That is, the enzyme you’re talking about is aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which breaks down acetaldehyde (a byproduct of alcohol), not the alcohol itself. The enzyme’s still there, it’s just a bit different and not as good at getting rid of alcohol byproducts.
Briefly, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) converts alcohol (ethanol) to acetaldehyde, which ALDH then converts to acetate. In people with ALDH deficiency, acetaldehyde builds up quickly and causes the “Asian flushing” you mentioned along with others symptoms such as low blood pressure, headache, etc.
Not all Asians have this enzyme “deficiency”, but it’s much more common in Asian than in non-Asian people. People with this defiency are also less likely to become alcoholic, although other factors are obviously involved.
Variations in ADH may also play a role in responses to alcohol, even in non-Asians.
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV. The information presented here was gathered from various sources of uncertain reliability. That is, I scanned a few abstracts on MEDLINE.