Scientific Advances of Milk Enrichment with Conjugated Linoleic Acid to Produce Anti-Cancer Milk

Background Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is an unsaturated fatty acid that after the discovery of its anti-cancerous properties numerous researches conducted to increase its concentration in the food products. The current study aimed to review researches in the field of milk enrichment with CLA to identify the main actors and highlight the achievements in the field; therefore, the effectiveness of these researches for producing anti-cancer milk was surveyed. Methods The journal of dairy science was selected for data extraction and related papers were identified via review of all published papers during years 2003 - 2013 and then were subjected into content analysis. Statistical analysis was done with the MEANS procedure of SAS software (Version 9.1). Results Among all collected papers, only 72 were eligible. Data analysis showed that the USA, Canada and France were the most productive countries in the field of milk enrichment with CLA. Surprisingly, Iran did not have any paper in this field in the journal of dairy science. The supplements that were added to the animal diets were enriched by linoleic or linolenic acids. Enhancing the milk cis-9, and trans-11 CLA content were the main objectives of researches. More than 70% of treatments led to the supply of the minimum amount of CLA to prevent cancer with serving milk twice a day. Conclusions Considerably, milk enrichment with CLA mostly has being attracted by developed countries. Enriching milk with CLA is a suitable scientific strategy to fight against cancer. It is important to increase researches in increasing trans- 10, and cis- 12 CLA.