Product by Product to Real Food. Series. Part 1 (Milk)
April 9, 2010 | Filled under Real Food |
I published the list of chemicals I avoid in our food a couple of days ago. This and next week, I will jot a few notes about my checkpoints by product.
Milk:
I check that the milk is
- Hormone free, meaning cows were not treated with Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). A lot of milk brands are hormone free, even not organic ones. There is usually a statement on the label regarding the use of hormones.
- Antibiotics free. Usually only Organic milk is antibiotics free since cows cannot be given antibiotics at any stage. If a cow is treated with antibiotics, milk cannot be certified organic
- Pesticide free, meaning chemicals are not used on the cows or the feed they eat.
- With no ingredients added. Once you start buying chocolate or strawberry milk, you get all kinds of food additives, like carrageenan, corn syrup, artificial flavors.
- Not Ultra-pasteurized. I buy pasteurized milk but not ultra pasteurized. Ideally, I would buy raw milk. I was drinking raw milk all my childhood from my grandparents’ small farm. Now, however, I cant get over my Salmonella fears. Nor do I know any farms around hear that sell raw milk. I understand that milk vital qualities are destroyed by pasteurization (even more so by ultra-pasteurization), I am going to settle for pasteurized milk now.
- Whole. There have been multiple research showing that calcium and vitamins are absorbed better when consumed in whole milk. There is research that women who regularly consume at least one serving of full-fat dairy every day gained about 30 percent less weight than women who didn’t. Should be similar for men, right?
UPDATE: The only kind I found in a Conventional Grocery Store which meets all these criteria was Horizon Organic. Not in the carton package though (which is ultra-pasteurized), but a Gallon sized plastic jug. The plastic has recycling code number two, so it is safe.
Disclaimer: There is just so much controversy about whole milk vs. skim milk, raw milk, vs. pasteurized. Therefore, I do not make recommendations, but express my own views on milk