There is a war a brewin over milk in all of it’s forms. Last night I was at my local WalMart Supercenter and went to grab a jug of milk when a new kind of milk caught my eye. Microfiltered milk? Well I had to see what this new healthy version of milk is.
Over the last few years my milk consumption has really gone down but the kids still drink milk and I like to have some chocolate milk occasionally so I though I would see what the latest on milk is.
Microfiltered Milk
Microfiltered milk undergoes a unique microfiltering process that actually removes more bacteria than pasteurization. Therefore, this milk has a longer shelf life.
Pasteurization is a process that kills harmful bacteria that can make people sick. Some of these bacteria are Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and the bacteria that can cause tuberculosis.
Pasteurization works by heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time. The most common method of pasteurization in Ontario consists of raising milk temperature very rapidly to at least 72oC for not less than 16 seconds, followed by rapid cooling. Since it was first used widely in the early 1900s, pasteurization has been credited with dramatically reducing illness and death caused by harmful bacteria in raw milk.
Microfiltration is an innovative technology that was first commercially employed in fluid milk processing in Canada during the early 1990’s. This special process produces better tasting milk that stays fresher, longer. Today, Canadian milk processors are on the leading edge of employing microfiltration technology for fluid milk meaning that our milk is some of the best tasting and freshest milks anywhere.
Because milk is a natural product it contains bacteria that causes it to spoil after a relatively short period of time. That’s why milk has a “best before” date on the packaging. To maximize its freshness, Natrel Fine-filtered milk undergoes the process of microfiltration. Here milk is forced through an incredibly fine filter that removes most of the bacteria that regular pasteurization can not. This specially designed filter allows all of the natural protein, vitamins and minerals to pass through ensuring that Natrel Fine-filtered milk retains all of its original nutritional goodness.
After the microfiltration process the milk is then pasteurized and filled into sanitized packaging. Because over 99% of the natural bacteria is removed, microfiltered milk enjoys a richer, creamier taste that stays fresh longer than regular pasteurized milks. Be sure and visit the Natrel Fine Filtered Milk brand page in this website to learn more about our microfiltered milk products.
So what about the other side of this story? How about all of those Raw Milk advocates that say that pasturization in all of it’s forms destroys the goodness of milk? I am buried in lots of pro and con articles and hope to write about that soon as well giving detail on what to look out for and see if the laws in this field are antiquated or not.