Milk fatty acids in Germany

This dataset contains the detailed fatty acid composition of German retail milk. Whole milk samples with ‘best before’ dates ranging from January to December 2006 were collected biweekly from supermarkets. On each sampling date, three brands from both organic and conventional production were included. In total, the dataset comprises 80 conventional and 77 organic samples, thus covering variation due to both season and production system. Consequently, the dataset accurately reflects the average fatty acid composition of milk in Germany. These data were collected as part of a project to authenticate organic milk, and they represent a full calendar year.