It’s Udderly Up To You

When I got to work this morning, it was dark and rainy and the perfect day to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the rain. Of course, I was at work and therefore hoped that it wouldn’t be slow enough for me to just sit around and watch the rain, but more importantly… I didn’t have any coffee. Then in walked Darcy with coffee for two. It was a very welcomed suprise. Now, I am a huge wuss and very new to the coffee drinking world, so I have to have ample milk and sugar (let’s be honest… at least 2 sugars). I began to fix my coffee when I realized that I would have to use the creamer in the little packet. Not my fave. Then I remembered that I had purchased some organic milk a while back that was still in the fridge. Certain that it couldn’t possibly still be good, I ran to the back to check the expiration date. To my suprise, it is still good for another week. Wow! I got to thinking, why does Organic milk stay good for so long? So Darcy and I looked into it and here is what we found out.

The Pros and Cons of Organic Milk

The USDA has 4 criteria that organic milk must meet:

1. No harmful pesticides or fertilizers are allowed on the feed the cows eat.
2. No Bovine Growth Hormones (BGH) are allowed to increase milk production. There is no genetic mutation or irradiation permitted.
3. No antibiotics are allowed. If a cow does need to be treated it will not be returned to the herd for a year to make sure the antibiotics are out of its system.
4. The cows must have access to pasture which guarentees grazing time.

Of course, anyone who is watching as the price of all milk goes up, you have certainly noticed the price differences between regular milk and organic milk. This is becuase it just costs more to raise organic cows. Everything from the bedding to the grazing areas has to be organic. Organic dairy farms make sure that they are taking care of their cows and the land they use. They use organic herbacides that are non-toxic, which benefits not only the cows, but all of us, too. Workers aren’t subjected to the chemicals of commercial fertilizers and pesticides, our water systems aren’t affected by chemical runoff and the milk that is produced is chemical free.

BGH is a growth hormone that is given to cows to increase milk supply. This hormone causes an insulin like growth factor to be present in the milk. This growth factor survives pasteurization and thereby passed on to humans and absorbed directly into our bloodstream. There are a lot of health claims regarding this hormone and the debates can get pretty heated, but this has been linked to breast and colon cancer. BGH has been banned in Europe, Canada and Japan. BGH also lowers the cows’ immune system requiring increased antibiotic treatment which is passed along to humans as well.

When humans ingest antibiotics through their milk, they become more susceptible to antibiotic resistant diseases. Studies are being done right now to see if antibiotics in milk are linked to the increasing number of MRSA (antibiotic resistant staff infection) cases in the USA.

The fabulous benefit of the prolonged expiration date is due the ultra-pasteurization of organic milk. Most milk is flash pasteurized, meaning that it is exposed to high heat (140-160 degrees) for a short period then rapidly cooled. Organic milk is exposed to ultra high heat treatment (UHT), meaning that it is heated to 275 degrees for a couple of seconds. This kills ALL the bacteria in the milk and prolongs its shelf life. Also, UHT has a shorter processing time which reduces the spoiling of nutrients found in milk. UHT milk also doesn’t need to be regrigerated and so, by adopting this process across the board, greenhouse gases could be greatly reduced by removing the refrigeration component from the process.

These are the facts as I have interpretted them. I drink organic milk and try to lead a pretty organic life from produce to skin care to clothing and therefore have opinions favoring organic. In the end, the choice is udderly yours… do your research and make the best decision for you and your family.