China is not known for its cheeses. In fact, ask most people in the country, and they'll tell you that Chinese people traditionally don't eat cheese at all.
But the biggest reason Asian cultures don't regularly incorporate cheese into their cooking is probably because so many East Asians are lactose intolerant. In fact, they're drastically more likely to be lactose intolerant than Westerners.
The American anthropologist Marvin Harris found in a study that the majority of the Chinese suffer lactose intolerance. Thus, the main reason why this dairy product is not consumed in China may be genetic. However, there is also a cultural aspect, namely that the Chinese don't like milk or its derivatives.
But most people -- about 60 percent and primarily those of Asian and African descent -- stop producing lactase, the enzyme required to digest milk, as they mature. People of northern European descent, however, tend to retain the ability to produce the enzyme and drink milk throughout life.
Cheese is not a traditional part of the Japanese diet, although cows and dairy were noted now and again in ancient records.
The International Dairy Federation estimates that France holds the title for the most cheese consumed in a year per capita, but Italy boasts a close second.
Icelanders consume on average 19kg of cheese per person each year, with Skyr being a particular favourite.
The exceptions are certain groups of humans, such as Hindus, Europeans, and their American descendants, who consume the milk of cows or other animals throughout their lives. A sizable majority of traditional cultures in the world do not drink milk, including most Asian and African populations.
The Hindu reverence of cattle—particularly the cow—is well-known. Census data shows that nearly 80 percent of India's 1.2 billion population are Hindu. Most Hindus worship the cow and abstain from eating beef, so it might come as a surprise that India has become the world's second-largest beef exporter.
Approximately 65 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy. Lactase nonpersistence is most prevalent in people of East Asian descent, with 70 to 100 percent of people affected in these communities.
Korea ranks tenth in the global dairy market by volume and is the fifth largest importer cheese in the world.
The actual time and place of the origin of cheese and cheesemaking is unknown. The practice is closely related to the domestication of milk producing animals; primarily sheep, which began 8-10,000 years ago.
An intriguing little detail in all this frothy commerce is that many people in China, like much of Asia, are lactose intolerant. Human children produce an enzyme that allows them to digest milk, but in much of the world, its levels taper off as they grow up.
Milk and dairy products have become an indispensable part of the Japanese diet. Milk and dairy products are now a common sight in refrigerators in Japanese homes, but when and how did they start to take root in our daily lives?
France: Camembert Cheese
French cheeses are renowned worldwide for their quality, variety, and rich history. With over 400 distinct types of cheese produced across the country, France boasts the most extensive cheese-making tradition in the world.
Unlike many other forms of livestock, pigs are omnivorous scavengers, eating virtually anything they come across, including carrion and refuse, which was deemed unclean. Furthermore, a Middle Eastern society keeping large stocks of pigs could destroy their ecosystem.
The only dietary restrictions specified for Christians in the New Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals" (Acts 15:29), teachings that the early Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, preached for believers to follow.
Forbidden food substances include alcohol, pork, carrion, the meat of carnivores and animals that died due to illness, injury, stunning, poisoning, or slaughtering not in the name of God.
Finnish milk is among the cleanest milk in the world thanks to healthy cows. The superior quality of Valio milk is ensured by expert milk producers supported by first-class advisory services. Valio milk ranks among the cleanest in the world, and we have zero tolerance for antibiotic residue in milk.
Milk, cheese, yogurt and butter can all be eaten. Fruits and vegetables are also considered halal unless they are known to be poisonous. Vegetables may be pickled in brine or vinegar, but it cannot be fermented as ft gives an alcohol content to the food and this is not permitted. Cereals axe also considered halal.
The country with the highest per capita consumption of fluid milk in 2022 was Belarus. The average person in Belarus consumed about 114.9 kilograms of milk in that year. Ukraine came in second with approximately 113.27 kilograms of fluid milk per person.
According to Guinness World Records, Turkey has the largest per capita consumption of bread in the world as of 2000, with 199.6 kg (440 lb) per person; Turkey is followed in bread consumption by Serbia and Montenegro with 135 kg (297 lb 9.9 oz), and Bulgaria with 133.1 kg (293 lb 6.9 oz).