Dairy Safety

		Milk is made into a variety of products including: White, Chocolate and Strawberry Buttermilk Cottage Cheese Yogurt Ice Cream Sour Cream Whipping Cream Cheese

Storing Milk

Once outside the cow, milk is never exposed to air because it has no protection from contaminates. That is why clean equipment and sanitation are so important.

Pump It - Sanitized pipelines carry milk straight from the cow and milking machine to the cooler. Milk is never touched by human hands.

Cool It - Milk comes out of the cow warm - at the cow's body temperature. It is quickly cooled in refrigerated storage tanks to 40 F or lower to keep it fresh and good tasting. Milk is stored in the refrigerated tank until the tank truck comes. Tank trucks come every day or two to pick up the milk. Milk is pumped into the insulated tank truck - which is like a giant Thermos bottle on wheels. The tank truck keeps milk fresh and cold on its way to Meadow Gold's dairy processing plant.

At Meadow Gold Dairies' Processing Plant

Milk samples are first tested in a lab to ensure that only the purest milk is used. Milk that isn't top quality or that hasn't been kept cold enough is not processed for people to drink.

Homogenize - The milk is then homogenized to break the butterfat particles into tiny, uniform globules. Homogenizing ensures that the butterfat particles are uniformly distributed throughout the milk. If the milk wasn't homogenized, the cream would rise to the top. So you would have to shake or stir the milk before serving.

Pasteurize - In 1856, Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, discovered that heating liquids to high temperatures kills bacteria. Today, milk is pasteurized by quickly heating it to 161 for 15 seconds and then rapidly cooling it. Pasteurization protects the purity and flavor of milk without affecting its nutrient value.

Handling Milk at Home

Everyone loves ice-cold milk! Follow these simple rules to keep milk at its freshest:

Keep milk CLEAN.
Keep milk COVERED.
Keep milk COLD.

• Store Milk in its Original Container
  Be careful not to touch the pouring lip because milk quickly picks up flavors of other foods in the refrigerator and will spoil. Keep the original container covered and resealed when you’re done pouring.
  
  
• Buy Your Milk Last
  When shopping or running errands, buy milk last so that it doesn’t sit un-refrigerated for long.
  
  
• Fast is Fresh
  If your drive home is more than 30 minutes, bring an insulated cooler with ice to keep your milk products cold.
  
  
• Keep it Cool
  To keep milk fresh longer, store milk products between 32° and 39°F. Store milk in the coldest part of your refrigerator.