Decoding the Dairy Dilemma: Packaged Milk vs Fresh Milk - Which One is Right for You?

Packaged milk or fresh milk? When it comes to choosing the perfect milk for you and your family it becomes hard to decide because there are multiple options available in the market. Both options fresh and packaged milk have their own nutritional benefits choosing them depends on the availability and personal choices of the consumer. In this article, we are going into depth to understand key differences in nutritional benefits of packaged milk and fresh milk, which will help you to choose quality milk for the goodness of you and your family.

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Girl Having Milk

Which milk is more healthy, packaged milk or fresh milk?

Packaged milk goes under processing and it is popular because of its long shelf life and convenience of transportation. But is it healthy? while processing, it loses its nutritional value in some amount and hence it can not be considered completely healthy and nutritious milk

Vice-versa raw milk which comes directly from the farm to dairy and then to homes has all the essential nutritional values that milk should contain like protein, calcium, vitamin B12, potassium, vitamin A, Vitamin D, and phosphorus.

How is Package milk obtained?

Packaged milk is generally known as homogenized milk or pasteurized milk. It goes under various processes in the factory like collecting raw milk from the farmers, removing impurities from the milk, pasteurizing it to increase its shelf life, and then packing for ease of transportation.

Here is how the process starts:

Milk Collection: This is the primary process, where farmers collect and transport milk to the processing units.

Milk Reception: At the processing unit, raw milk that comes from the farm is then tested for quality and safety. Contamination tests and microbiological tests are performed to ensure the purity of the milk after clearing the test it gets ready for further processing.

Clarification: Raw milk then again gets cleared up from solid particles, sediments, and foreign materials, this process is said as filtration.

Separation: In factories, they separate milk into cream and skim milk to make various milk products according to fat content.

Pasteurization: This is the main and most crucial process of increasing the shelf life of the milk in the milk packaging unit. Pasteurization involves heating milk at a specific temperature mainly about  162 Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Celsius for an adequate amount of time typically 15 to 35 minutes. This is done to kill harmful bacteria from the milk and microorganisms. And makes it safe for consumption. And then to prevent recontamination milk gets cooled rapidly.

Standardization: This is done to meet consumers' demand of fat percentage or to maintain regular requirements of milk packets and fat percentage in it, this is done by blending different portions of skim milk and cream to achieve the desired fat percentage.

Packaging: Processed milk is then transferred for clean aseptic packaging can be cartons, or plastic bottles, which are sterilized to prevent any type of contamination then packaging gets sealed and also labeled with relevant information such as fat content protein, expiration date, branding, and other important factors.

Quality check: Before the dispatch of milk packets one additional quality check is performed to ensure standard consumer requirements that is taste, safety, and appearance.

Distribution: The packets of packaged milk are then distributed to retailers, stores, supermarkets and outlets.

Milk Processing unit

Now after this long milk packaging process, it's genuine to ask, Is packaged milk nutritious?

When milk undergoes this long process it loses crucial nutrition from it like vitamins C and B. Some milk packets that are available locally have additives like preservatives, and stabilizers to extend their shelf life which makes them less healthy.

Additionally, the packing material used for milk packaging is harmful to our mother environment which is plastic material, and containers which contributes to environmental pollution.

Like processed milk losing its nutrition, ultra-processed foods are also devastating for human health which we need to be cautious about. Hence make yourselves aware of the devastating effects of processed food on our health.

What is fresh milk and how is it obtained?

Fresh milk is raw milk obtained directly from the cow farm which has gone through minimal process and made it suitable for consumption.

Fresh raw milk has all its nutritional values retained in it because of minimal processing, it is cherished for its natural flavor, taste and purity.

Fresh Milk

Is fresh milk nutritious?

Yes, fresh raw milk contains good quality calcium, vitamins A, B12, and D, phosphorus, potassium, and protein and is comparatively healthier than packaged milk because it is minimally processed and obtained directly from dairy which comes from the cow farm.

If you are an athlete, gym freak, sports person or a fitness lover then fresh raw milk can be a great choice for you to meet your nutritional requirements.

Environmental Safety: by taking raw milk rather than packets you can contribute to reducing plastic waste which has become a global issue nowadays. And also you can show your support to local farmers in your area.

In the bottom line.

It's clear that milk which is highly processed loses its nutritional value. Also, packaging impacts our mother nature by creating more plastic waste.

Hence it will be awesome to consume fresh raw milk which is available in dairy and comes directly from cow farms it has all the nutritional values because it does not go through any processes and also it provides an authentic pure natural taste and fulfills your values and nutritional needs.