Browsing by Subject "milk"

This study aims to find out if differentiation of the features of the 4P of the product milk can create value to customers in a particular customer segment. Creating value is in the core in every company´s actions. Customers buy products and services that create value to them and are willing to pay from the value they get. The more the product creates value, the more the customers are willing to pay. This study focused on the customer segment of young women with academic background who live in the capital region. Milk is a bulk product consumed widely in Finland. The product also has significant role in the nutritional history of the country and has a big role in Finnish nutritional recommendations. However the consumption of milk has decreased over the years. The theoretical background of this study is based on the following theories: marketing strategy and the 4P, customer value and differentiation. These theories formed the theoretical framework which gave the focus to the empirical experiment. The approach of the study was qualitative because qualitative research aims to understand the phenomenon it studies and the approach is more suitable for analysing verbal data. Qualitative research wants to get a deeper understanding and it gives room for individual´s thoughts and experience. The study was executed and a group interview using theme interview methods. For the study chosen features of the 4P of the product milk were differentiated and group interview focused on them. The differentiated features were the following. For product organic milk and milk with added protein, for price milk with a lower price, for place online shopping and for promotion advertising milk on social media. The findings of this study were that in some cases differentiation of the features if the 4P of the product milk can create value for customers but in most cases it does not. The focus group felt that the most valuable differentiated feature of the 4P was organically produced milk and other factors that supported the well-being of the production animals and the environment. If a company selling or producing milk tries to create value to its customers through differentiation of the features of the 4P, it needs to consider carefully which features to focus on.

It is necessary actively seek effective ways to reduce agricultural emissions so that the proportion of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in total national emissions does not increase. The aim of this study was to evaluate with carbon footprint calculators different options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of dairy production and the carbon footprint of energy-corrected milk. The scenarios included the changes in the dietary concentrate proportion, the proportion of grass in cultivation, the digestibility of roughage and the level of milk production. In addition, the effect of temperature on methane emissions from manure was examined. Data of a dairy farm located in Central Ostrobothnia from year 2020 were utilized in the study. The assessment was carried out by using the carbon footprint calculator developed by the European Commission and the Valio Carbo® environmental calculator. According to the results of both calculators, the effect of the changes in the concentrate proportion in the diet on the carbon footprint of milk was very small. Reducing the proportion of concentrate in the diet reduced total emissions. Reducing the proportion of rapeseed meal in feeding reduced total emissions more than reducing the proportion of barley. Increasing the proportion of grass in cultivation reduced the carbon footprint of milk and the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions with both calculators. According to the European Commission carbon calculator, increasing grass yield and also increasing the proportion of grain in cultivation reduced the carbon footprint of milk and the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions. With Valio Carbo® environmental calculator, increasing the proportion of grain in cultivation increased the carbon footprint of milk and the total emissions. According to European Commission calculator, the total emissions and the carbon footprint of milk decreased when the digestibility of roughage decreased. The increase of milk production level also clearly reduced the carbon footprint of milk with both calculators. However, the change in the milk production level had only a small effect on the amount of emissions produced. Reducing the conversion factor describing the effect of temperature on methane formation from slurry reduced the carbon footprint of milk. The decrease in the conversion factor reduced the emissions from the manure system by 51.3 percentage and reduced the milk carbon footprint from 1.21 to 1.15 kg CO2e/kg ECM. In conclusion, there are many feasible opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint. The most effective ways to reduce total emissions at farm level are to increase the proportion of grass in cultivation and to increase the yield of grass. Raising the milk production level effectively reduces the carbon footprint, but in the future the calculations must take into account that the dry matter intake is higher as the milk yield increases. The main differences between the calculators are currently in the coefficients they use. When comparing the results given by the calculators, it is important to note that the calculation principles cannot fully take into account the possible opposite effects of different factors. The results should be looked critically with a caution that the results given by different calculators are not directly comparable.

Tiedekunta: Lääketieteellinen tiedekunta Koulutusohjelma: Lääketieteen koulutusohjelma Opintosuunta: Lääketieteen lisensiaatti Tekijä: Otso Nieminen Työn nimi: Molecular allergy diagnostics in predicting oral cow’s milk challenge outcome in Finnish children Työn laji: Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli Kuukausi ja vuosi: Tammikuu 2023 Sivumäärä: Seitsemän Avainsanat: Cow’s milk allergy, milk, IgE, molecular allergy diagnostics, oral food challenge Säilytyspaikka: TUHAT ja IngentaConnect Muita tietoja: - Tiivistelmä: Tutkimuksen tausta Maitoallergian diagnosoimiseen tarvitaan ruoka-ainealtistuksia, joiden toteuttaminen vaatii paljon resursseja. Altistustarpeen vähentämiseksi tässä työssä määritettiin altistustulosta ennustavat viitearvot maidon ja sen pääallergeenien spesifiselle IgE:lle. Tutkimuksessa käytetyt menetelmät Yhteensä 135 maitoallergiseksi epäiltyä lasta altistettiin avoimesti kuumentamattomalla lehmänmaidolla (mediaani-ikä 1,8 vuotta). Altistustuloksia verrattiin mitattuihin maidon ja sen allergeenien kaseiinin, alfa-laktalbumiinin, beta-laktoglobuliinin ja naudan seerumialbumiinin spesifeihin IgE-vasta-ainetasoihin. Tulokset Viisi altistusta jätettiin tutkimuksesta pois puhtaasti subjektiivisten oireiden vuoksi. Jäljelle jäävistä 130 altistuksesta 98 (75 %) oli positiivisia. Yhdenkään allergeenispesifisen IgE:n erottelykyky ei ollut maidolle spesifistä IgE:tä parempi. 1–2-vuotiaiden lasten erottelukykykäyrässä maidolle spesifisen IgE:n taso 6,30 kU/l ennusti positiivista altistustulosta 94 %:n tarkkuudella ja 33 %:n herkkyydellä. 3–14-vuotiaiden lasten osalta taso 13,9 kU/l ennusti positiivista altistustulosta 93 %:n tarkkuudella ja 25 %:n herkkyydellä. Keskivaikean tai vaikean reaktion saaneilla lapsilla oli korkeammat spesifisen IgE:n tasot maidolle, alfa-laktalbumiinille ja naudan seerumialbumiinille verrattuna lievän reaktion saaneisiin lapsiin. Pohdinta tutkimustulosten merkityksestä Molekyyliallergologiset tutkimusmenetelmät eivät osoittautuneet perinteistä maidolle spesifisen IgE:n määrittämistä paremmaksi keinoksi ennustaa avoimen maitoaltistuksen tulosta. Tutkimuksen ansiosta suomalaisille lapsille on luotu kliiniseen käyttöön soveltuvat raja-arvot, joiden ylittyessä lapsi voidaan jättää altistamatta, mikäli myös kliiniset esitiedot tukevat tätä päätöstä. Lisäksi tutkimus vahvisti käsitystä, ettei altistuksessa mahdollisesti ilmenevän allergisen reaktion vakavuutta voi luotettavasti ennustaa spesifisen IgE:n avulla.

Milk fat contains a lot of (70–75 %) saturated fat, which is connected to Finnish public heart and coronary diseases. However, it is possible to alter the fatty acid composition of milk fat by giving cows lipid supplements such as crushed rapeseeds. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate how the lipids of crushed rapeseeds affect dairy cow’s milk fatty acid composition. The effects of rapeseed lipids on saturated and unsaturated fatty acid concentrations in milk fat were studied in particular. Additionally, it was investigated how dietary lipids affect cows’ dry matter (DM) intake and milk production as it is known that high amounts of lipids can reduce DM intake and fiber digestion in the rumen. The study consisted of two successive three week long periods of which the first one was control period and the second one test period. There were six ayrshire cows which had been on average 181 days in milk at the beginning of the study. The cows were given partial total mixed ratio (pTMR) containing grass silage as forage (60 % of diet DM) during the whole study. Concentrates comprised cereals, rapeseed meal, molassed sugar beet pulp and mineral supplements. Control diet’s barley was replaced by oats and most of the rapeseed meal was replaced by crushed rapeseed in the test diet. Crushed rapeseed was added 160 g/kg pTMR DM. Cows were also given complete feed 3kg/day at milkings. Lipids of crushed rapeseeds reduced the concentration of saturated fatty acids by 20 % in milk fat. Of all the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid (C16:0) was decreased by 38 % and stearic acid (C18:0) was increased by 94 %. Of these two saturated fatty acids, C16:0 is linked to higher total plasma cholesterol levels whereas C18:0 is considered to have a neutral effect in humans. The concentration of monounsaturated oleic acid (cis-9 C18:1), which is known to be hypocholesteremic, increased by 78 % in milk fat. Test diet caused decline in DM intake and milk production. It is likely that the milk production decreased partly because the cows were in declining milk production phase. Test feed decreased the apparent digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), because the amount of rapeseed lipids in the diet was high (48 g/kg diet DM). Crushed rapeseeds suit excellently to alter dairy cow’s milk fatty acid composition. The amount of lipid supplementation should not be too high in order to avoid decreases in DM intake and NDF digestibility as occurred in this study.