Processed milk is better

Thursday, July 05, 2012 - One of the advantages of being a woman is that it is primarily our domain to manage the entire household, giving us decision-making power. While our husbands and menfolk might want to call the shots when it comes to buying electronic devices, new cell phones or nifty gadgets, they really do not care what type of milk is used to make their tea as long as it tastes good. Hence the privilege of ensuring that our family is consuming safe and healthy food rests with us.

Speaking of healthy food, the milk that most people consume in their daily lives does not come directly from dairy farms. While being transported to retailers, hawkers and processing plants, it gathers all kinds of bacteria making it harmful for direct consumption. To get rid of these organisms and disease vectors, the milk needs to be heated at high temperatures.

A traditional way of doing so is by boiling the milk at home, a common practice followed by most households in Pakistan. What we do not realize is that boiling milk on our kitchen stoves takes time, and while we do manage to get rid of some of the bacteria, the prolonged heating makes the milk less nutritious by destroying most proteins and vitamins at the same time. On the contrary, factory-processed milk goes through UHT (Ultra High Temperature) treatment, where milk is heated at around 135°C for just over 2-4 seconds. The high temperature kills 99% of all bacteria while retaining the nutrients. Thus processed milk is far healthier and more nutritious as compared to loose milk.

—Via email