Wednesday, 10 July 2024 11:55

100-year-old milk powder

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: A 100-year-old sample of milk powder from Ernest Shackletons’ first solo expedition to Antarctica has been analysed by scientists.

It came from a Fresian cow, and it was either Spring or Autumn was it was milked way back in the early 1900s and was made at a milk plant in Bunnythorpe.

According to Radio NZ, Fonterra Research and Development Centre lead investigator and principal research scientist Dr Skelte Anema told its Nights programme it had been an exciting time for his team.

“It takes a lot to get a scientist excited but once we heard this powder existed, we were absolutely thrilled... it was the fact that it was 100 years old, it was made in New Zealand... it was made only about 20km down the road from where we are in Bunnythorpe.

But how did New Zealand made milk powder end up with Shackelton in the first place?

New Zealand company Glaxo donated about 450kg of milk powder (enough for 3500 litres of milk), some butter and cheese for the expedition.

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