Estimates of milk production as reported by countries refer to one or more of the following three concepts.
Gross production is milk production plus milk sucked by young animals.
Production available for consumption is net production less milk fed to animals, milk retained by farmers for food and feed, direct sales to consumers and farm waste. The FAO concept relates to net milk production. In most developed countries only 5-10 percent of whole milk is used directly for human consumption. Processed milk and dairy products are often supplemented with vitamins, minerals and various additives. FAO lists 50 milk and dairy product items in the list that follows, of which five are primary products.