Watering down milk.....

ceridwen

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

In fact, it costs more to make skimmed milk, so by purchasing whole milk, at the same price as skimmed, you're paying over the odds, and subsidising the purchasers of skimmed milk

With paying for an extra stage of processing you mean?

That is a point - but then one still wonders what happens to the fat that is skimmed off......(I would imagine that whatever-it-is sold for more than covers the cost of the extra processing stage IYSWIM).

Penelope_Penguin

ceridwen wrote: »

.(I would imagine that whatever-it-is sold for more than covers the cost of the extra processing stage IYSWIM).

Not according to the farmers I heard on Farming Today, recently.

orb_3

ceridwen wrote: »

You might know actually - do you know what happens to this fat that gets skimmed off full-fat milk by the manufacturers? (I am thinking this might be an ingredient in those "buttery" spreads perhaps??)

The fat skimmed off milk is generally sold as cream. It's not a waste product.

orb_3

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Not according to the farmers I heard on Farming Today, recently.

Sadly it's not the farmers who benefit from milk processing. They just see the raw milk carted off in a tanker for a pittance. It's the milk processors & supermarkets who make money.

anguk

orb wrote: »

Sadly it's not the farmers who benefit from milk processing. They just see the milk carted off in a tanker for a pittance. It's the milk processors & supermarkets who make money.

Last week my local Tesco was selling the Creamfield 0.75% milk 3 litres for 65p so someone is losing money on that, I'm guessing Tesco isn't taking the hit so it must be the farmer. I'm surprised there's still any dairy farmers left in this country.

Penelope_Penguin

orb wrote: »

Sadly it's not the farmers who benefit from milk processing. They just see the raw milk carted off in a tanker for a pittance. It's the milk processors & supermarkets who make money.

Not in the programme I was listening to which now I think was the Food Programme Listen again here

The farmer runs a micro-dairy alongside his Ayrshire herd. He then supplies milk directly to the consumer, and expalined that he has to sell skim-milk at a premium due to the extra costs of removing the fat.

orb_3

anguk wrote: »

Last week my local Tesco was selling the Creamfield 0.75% milk 3 litres for 65p so someone is losing money on that, I'm guessing Tesco isn't taking the hit so it must be the farmer. I'm surprised there's still any dairy farmers left in this country.

Just looked on the DEFRA website for current farm gate prices. Just under 25p per litre for the last few months.

The fat skimmed off to take it down to 0.75% will be sold for cream or for butter production so probably no one will be losing money. Just not making as much.

orb_3

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Not in the programme I was listening to which now I think was the Food Programme Listen again here

The farmer runs a micro-dairy alongside his Ayrshire herd. He then supplies milk directly to the consumer, and expalined that he has to sell skim-milk at a premium due to the extra costs of removing the fat.

I think I heard it when broadcast & wished I had a local farmer I could support by buying milk from. Our local milkman delivers Country Life milk in polybottles

But if I remember correctly, they said in that programme that the vast majority of UK dairy farmers are in long term contracts to sell milk to the big milk processors and have no option but to do so.

Penelope_Penguin

orb wrote: »

I think I heard it when broadcast & wished I had a local farmer I could support by buying milk from. Our local milkman delivers Country Life milk in polybottles

But if I remember correctly, they said in that programme that the vast majority of UK dairy farmers are in long term contracts to sell milk to the big milk processors and have no option but to do so.

Everyone has options; they just may not be very attractive.

But as consumers, we can't have it both ways - we want cheap food, yet are up in arms when small producers fold.

Housewives of Britain - rise up and vote with your purses :T

patchwork_cat

No one has to defend that they buy skimmed milk. We buy skimmed milk, I am merely advising people that they need to be aware and not just water down their milk as I have seen frequently in my many years of reading MSE.

In all instances I would rather pay a few pence more for a product to know that the animal is treated better and where possible to get my products from as near to source as possible (with some exceptions - seperate ethical issue concerning the damage to environment on growing items in warmer climates and not greenhouses and advantages to poor economises of my buying their goods - another issue for green and ethical board )