Introduction and objective:
Milk contains all the ingredients (protein, fat, sugar, minerals, vitamins) needed for the proper development of young organisms. Therefore, humans have been including milk of domesticated mammals in their diet for over 10,000 years. The question remains whether, due to the growing interest in plant-based drinks, there is still room for dairy products in the diet of an average Pole. The study aimed to characterize fresh milk in terms of its nutritional value and to emphasize its importance in nutrition. To implement the discussed topic, the resources of the PubMed database and Google Scholar, as well as the official websites of dietary and nutritional organizations were analyzed.

Brief description of the state of knowledge:
Milk is a natural product that has played an important role in human nutrition for hundreds of generations and its bottling and packaging technology has remained simple and unchanged for many years. In addition to the above-mentioned macronutrients, it contains many biologically active substances (including immunoglobulins, hormones, growth factors, cytokines, and nucleotides) that affect the proper functioning of the immune system and the transport and absorption of vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, plant-based drinks are processed products with lower nutritional value, therefore they can be consumed occasionally and not as a substitute for conventional milk.

Summary:
It is increasingly more common to replace natural milk and its products with artificially fortified plant drinks, which is detrimental to human health.