Color of butterfat determined by breed, not always vitamin content

[Guest guest]

According to this research, some breeds of dairy cow were bred to have high

carotene milk with a yellow color and others have more white milk, but both

kinds have similar vitamin A values when fed the same.

I had an inkling of this when my friend who does sheep dairy said sheep have

white milk because they don't have beta carotene in it, just vitamin A.

It makes me wonder if the whiter milks are actually better for you as your body

doesn't have to convert it to vitamin A. Could the yellowness of Jersey and

Guernsey milk have been breed in response to market preference during the

transition from pasture to feedlots?

http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/16/2/153.pdf