I would like to add something to the discussion about fatty acid patterns
of grasses and the resulting pattern in animals that feed on these grasses.
My understanding of this issue is that the ratio of n3/n6 or the level of
polyunsaturated fatty acid content in grasses is not reflected in the
meat/milk of ruminant grazing animals.  This is because the rumen bacteria
do a good job of hydrogenating all the PUFAs and the animal absorbs only
saturated fatty acids.  Thus the meat and milk of cattle and sheep are
fairly saturated irrespective of what you feed them.  On the other hand,
pigs and chickens (which are not ruminants) show a fatty acid pattern which
reflects the diet they are getting.  I am not sure where caribou etc stand.


Best wishes  Jennie




Jennie Brand Miller  PhD
Associate Professor in Human Nutrition
Department of Biochemistry  G08
University of Sydney
NSW 2006  Australia
Phone: (61 2) 9351 3759
Fax: (61 2) 9351 6022