Milk – Why Homogenized, Pasteurized? Follow the Profit!
Wow! Do you know why milk is almost universally homogenized and pasteurized in this country? I didn’t know why, but I’m old enough to remember when the mantra “homogenized, pasteurized” was spoken with acceptance and approval. I remember when, but I don’t remember why (or probably never knew) the change from the delivered fresh to the door every morning milk.
The latest edition (Spring, 2011) of the Wise Traditions quarterly from The Weston A. Price Foundation includes an article,”A Campaign for Real Milk,” by Steve Bemis, Esq., about raw milk and raw milk cheese. The information that caught my attention was about how the pasteurization and homogenization process became the combined standard in this country. I guess I had assumed that pasteurization was mandated due to a concern for food safety, but, no, the motive appears to be primarily profit. According to the article, “it had been feasible to pasteurize milk on an industrial scale for more than sixty years.” The standardization of the process began because there was much competition among milk producers in the 1940’s and 50’s based on the “cream line.” Customers valued the cream–which separates in raw milk–and judged the quality of the milk they bought on the depth of the “cream line.” The problem: if the full amount of cream was left in the milk, it could not be used in more profitable products like ice cream.
As Steve Bemis states, “Homogenization, which effectively removes the cream line, solved this problem.” The homogenization process starts with the removal of all the cream. Some cream is added back to produce the various grades–whole, 2%, 1%, 1/2%, and of course no cream in skim milk. After creating the new types of milk, the milk is homogenized so that no “cream line” is visible–you can’t tell how much cream (or how little!) is left. The actual process of homogenization involves thousands of pounds of pressure that break down the fat globules in the milk. These small particles will no longer rise to the top. However, homogenizing the milk did create another problem! Homogenized milk “with no further processing will go rancid within a matter of hours.” That’s where the requirement for pasteurization comes in. Pasteurizing the homogenized milk extends its shelf life by killing the “liquid phase enzymes.” So, “once the dairy industry took the homogenizing step to follow the dollars, it had to pasteurize.” Pasteurized milk does not need to be homogenized, but homogenized milk must be pasteurized, and the profit to be gained from homogenizing the milk led the way to the requirement for pasteurization.
For information about the safety and value of raw milk, go to RealMilk.com.
Very interesting. I know that for years after they started requiring paturized milk, many people refused to buy it. My grandmother in Kansas refused to give it to her family, but owned a resturant, and was forced to serve it to her customers, and they all hated it.
Producers of raw milk are also more likely to care about other asectps affecting milk quality like diets (their cows are more likely to be grass fed) and breed (they are more likely to use breeds other than the breed of Holsteins used by most of the milk industry to maximize yield). Both of these things affect the macronutrient content of milk: amount of proteins, fat, and types of fats.
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what I was looking for, thanks
Very interesting…I never knew the details but should have known it would involve placing commercial interests before health interests. Another part of the story I have heard (not personally researched) is that the process of homogenization is the worst thing you can do because the fat globules are broken up as described in the story rather than slowly digested by the body. This leads to the fat constituents being more likely to adhere to arterial walls and clog them since they are not given the chance to be broken down by metabolic processes. At any rate, I’m going to try raw milk and raw butter myself, since there are two dairies near me that off them.
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I agree, Carolyn. The brain washing is done so well that no one ever questions homogenization or pasteurization. It is the gold Standard.
We need to build a campaign against homogenization.