Peruvian authorities recently announced that since October 4, domestic light milk products must be made with 100% fresh milk, and manufacturers who continue to use other materials such as milk powder to make light milk products must indicate their ingredients on the product bottle and change the product label to "mixed milk". This initiative aims to improve the quality of dairy products, as well as to generate more income for domestic dairy farmers.

Peruvian newspaper La República reported on Oct. 3 that Peru's Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) highlighted that the country's average annual growth in fresh milk demand has been only 2.3 percent over the past 10 years. The new regulations for light milk products are expected to increase the average annual growth rate of fresh milk demand to 5%, which will raise the income of about 452,200 dairy farmers, 85.9% of which are small farmers with only 10 cows.

The Fourth National Agricultural Census 2012 (IV CENAGRO 2012) shows that domestic dairy farmers represent 51.3% of all cattle farmers in the country (about 881,900), with a total of nearly 1.52 million dairy cows. The region with the highest production of fresh milk is Cajamarca, with 17.2% of the national total, followed by Lima and Arequipa, with 16.7% and 16.4% of the production respectively.

Saby Mauricio Alza, former director of the College of Nutritionists, said that the difference between mixed milk and pure fresh milk is the quantity and quality of the proteins contained. Pure milk has a more complete protein profile, and drinking it will help pregnant women to give birth to full-weight babies and to have enough breast milk to feed them after delivery. In addition, fresh milk is better for children's growth.