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Fermented milk from Denmark

A-38 (A38)A38

A-38 is a Danish soured milk that Arla says has been part of Danish food culture since 1938. Milk of 0.5–3.5 % fat is high-pasteurised and soured with Lactobacillus acidophilus into a mild product that Danish Wikipedia calls a form of yoghurt or ymer. The name joins the year 1938 to the letter A, which first stood for the cooperative dairy and is now linked with acidophilus.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about A-38 itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Ymer, the closest documented fermented milk ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of A-38.

Short entryFermented milk

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedIndustrial product with no published recipe; the amounts are not given by any source found.
Cow's milk0.5 to 3.5 % fat, high-pasteurised[wp-da]
Lactobacillus acidophilus cultureThe defining culture[wp-da][arla2018]
Starterdefined-culture: Lactobacillus acidophilus

Total time across the steps of Ymer: 18 h – 20 h

Start
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90–95 °C

What changes: Skimmed milk is heated to 90–95 °C for about 3 minutes

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Ymer
Heat the skimmed milk
Time
3 min
Reported
Temperature
90–95 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
Leuconostoc

Output: heated skim milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A-38 is a Danish soured milk that Arla says has been part of Danish food culture since 1938. Milk of 0.5–3.5 % fat is high-pasteurised and soured with Lactobacillus acidophilus into a mild product that Danish Wikipedia calls a form of yoghurt or ymer. The name joins the year 1938 to the letter A, which first stood for the cooperative dairy and is now linked with acidophilus. Lactobacillus acidophilus does most of the fermenting.

What makes this one different

A-38 is soured with Lactobacillus acidophilus. Ymer is soured with Lactococcus and Leuconostoc, and dairy tykmælk with a mesophilic culture, often with an acidophilus culture too.

Codex rule for acidophilus milk (a comparison, not a figure for A-38)
Codex sets at least 0.6 % lactic acid and at least 10^7 cfu/g of the starter culture to the date of minimum durability.

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is high-pasteurised before souring.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Arla's 2018 product page says A38 has been part of Danish food culture since 1938, hence the 38; the A first stood for andelsmejeri (cooperative dairy) and is now linked with acidophilus. Danish Wikipedia says 1938 is supposed to be the original year of introduction.

  1. [codex243] Codex Alimentarius, Standard for Fermented Milks, CXS 243-2003 (rev. 2008, 2010), sections 2.1 and 3.3 (acidophilus milk)spec
  2. [arla2018] Arla Foods Denmark, Arla A38 product page "Siden 1938" (web.archive.org copy of 15 June 2018)web
  3. [arla2026] Arla Foods Denmark, Arla Cultura product page (A38 Naturel 1.5 %), read 2026-10web
  4. [wp-da] da.wikipedia, A-38wiki