2017 March Board Book

calories and sodium also dropped, while the percentage who checked labels for sugar held steady at 41 percent.

Petaluma dairy producer Clover Stornetta Farms saw that trend play out in sales of organic full-fat milk, yogurt and other dairy products, which saw double-digit increases in 2015 and 2016. Because organic products are typically bought by more health­ conscious shoppers, the attraction to these products is probably due to the fact that they are less processed, director of marketing Kristel Corson says.

For example, nonfat milk often contains milk powder in addition to liquid milk, and low-fat yogurt is frequently thickened with pectin, which gives it more of a gelatinous quality, rather than the naturally creamy texture of regular yogurt.

In response to consumer interest in richer dairy products, the company has a new line of Greek yogurts and will soon introduce a European-style butter, which has a higher percentage of fat than the standard kind.

A selection of cheeses displayed at the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley. Nina Teicholz, author of "The Big Fat Surprise," has concluded that saturated fats, including cheese, actually leads to better health. Another reason many people are returning to full-fat products is their increased satiety, in ways we often don't even fully realize. As Bay Area food scientist Ali Bouzari writes in his new book, "Ingredient: Unveiling the Essential Elements of Food," it's actually aroma - the building block of flavor - that is carried by fat more than flavor itself.