The basic steps of milk production

[0:03]Milk is a popular drink in many parts of the world. But we don't just drink milk. It's also used to make cream, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, milk powder, and lots of other foods and beverages. Milk is rich in calcium, which is good for the bones. Protein, which is good for muscle growth, and vitamins, which have lots of health benefits. But milk is a very sensitive product. So between the farm and your fridge, it needs to be handled carefully to ensure it's safe to drink and tastes good. In a modern dairy, milk production is a continuous round-the-clock process. The simplified version goes like this. Firstly, the milk is tested before it's collected at the farm and again upon arrival at the dairy. This guarantees it has the desired quality and doesn't contain anything unwanted such as antibiotics. Cow's milk varies in fat content, so it's first separated into cream and skimmed milk by a centrifugal separator. Some of the cream is then mixed straight back in to achieve, for example, one, two, or 3% fat. Because as a consumer, you choose either full-fat, semi-skimmed, or skimmed milk. Next comes homogenization. Here the milk passes through a very small gap in a homogenizer which breaks up the larger fat droplets. Homogenization prevents the fat droplets from rising to the surface and forming a layer of cream in the container. Milk needs to be heat treated to be safe to drink. So it's quickly heated and then cooled in a heat exchanger, which kills harmful bacteria that can cause disease. It also reduces the number of microorganisms that can spoil the milk's taste and shorten its shelf life. This pasteurization has only minor effects on the milk's nutritional value. Pasteurized milk needs to be kept cool to stay safe. If the milk is heated to an even higher temperature, the more heat resistant spores are also killed. Then the milk will stay safe unopened for several months without needing to be kept in a refrigerator. Finally, the milk is packaged under strict hygienic conditions. The packaging protects against recontamination by microorganisms and against light and oxygen that can destroy vitamins and affect the taste. And of course, it also makes it easier to get the milk from the dairy to the store and then home to your fridge. But was all this really necessary? Absolutely. All of these steps are important for ensuring that the milk you drink is safe, stays fresh longer, and reaches you ready to enjoy just as it is.