Milk 101

This article was inspired by many others containing misinformation about milk safety that have recently been sent to the public in print, on radio, in social media and even in paid ads that usually solicit funds. My wife — who has milked and cared for thousands of cows from birth to death since arriving at our farm 50 years ago — became extremely upset when she listened to one of these disclosures on radio.
Milk has been the worlds most nearly perfect food for thousands of years. Yaks, camels, sheep, goats, water buffalo, cows and other animals have been milked since caveman times and even during times of drought, winter and other times when milk was in very short supply, milk was saved for the children. I have a picture of six different breeds of cows with the caption under it, “Mothers of the human race.”
Milk can be found in the cooler in grocery stores in many forms. Homogenized is 96.75 per cent fat free, 2 per cent is 98 per cent fat free, 1 per cent is 99 per cent fat free, skim is 100 per cent fat free.
Ultra filtered is processed through a special filter which filters out bacteria and unwanted somatic cells rather than pasteurize the milk. This is similar to a process that the armed forces use to make unsafe water found in some countries safe to drink. Lactose free milk has the lactose filtered out. UHT milk or coffee creamers are pasteurized at ultra high temperature and can be kept unrefrigerated for a longer period of time without spoiling.