I am a hobbyist cheese maker, and thus it is very important that the
milk I buy is HTST pasteurized, and *not* ultra-pasteurized (UHT). A
lot of the milk in the supermarket is simply labeled "pasteurized",
but it does not say HTST. Is all ultra-pasteurized milk labeled as
such, or is it possible that milk that says "pasteurized" is actually
UHT?

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 19 Sep 2005 10:44 PDT

Howdy erica121283-ga,

Are you based in the U.S.?  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by erica121283-ga on 19 Sep 2005 11:06 PDT

Hi denco, I am looking in the US (Florida if it matters). Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 19 Sep 2005 15:38 PDT

Howdy erica121283-ga,

I am going to post this as a request for clarification. mostly because I can
not give you a "sure fire" method of looking at a carton of milk at your
supermarket that will tell you if it is ultra-pasteurized or not.  I can give
you some tips that can help you try to figure it out.

- In general, don't buy "organic" milk, because lots of it is UHT processed
- Obviously, look for labels that do tell if it is UHT, etc. processed
- Check the "sell by" dates for ones that are 3-4 weeks away, this means UHT
- Make sure they are a local dairy, as most will be, to Florida
- In turn, contact that same local dairy and ask them if they use UHT

More to read can be found on the "Milk is Milk" blog.

http://www.milkismilk.com/blog.htm
http://www.milkismilk.com/2005/01/pure-milk-pure-bull-there-is-new-bully.html
http://www.milkismilk.com/2005/01/black-marketing-to-new-parents-and.html

You might be able to get more information on Florida milk producers from
Southeast Milk, Florida's largest dairy cooperative.
http://www.southeastmilk.org/

If the above will work as an answer for you, please tell me and I will post
it as such.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by erica121283-ga on 19 Sep 2005 17:15 PDT

Hi denco,

Thank you for the great info! Though really, my question is much
simpler ;) Essentially, I have seen milk in the supermarket that is
labeled "pasteurized", as well as milk that is labeled
"ultra-pasteurized". Hence, I am wondering if all UHT milk is labeled
"ultra-pasteurized", or if UHT milk is sometimes simply labeled as
"pasteurized".

If you know the answer to this, feel free to post it as the official
answer :) Again, I appreciate all of your tips!

--Erica

Howdy Erica,

Apologies!  After more searching, I finally found the following on the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) web site.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=131.110

"...
TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBCHAPTER B - FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
PART 131 -- MILK AND CREAM
Subpart B -- Requirements for Specific Standardized Milk and Cream
Sec. 131.110 Milk.
...
(1) The following terms shall accompany the name of the food wherever it
appears on the principal display panel or panels of the label in letters
not less than one-half the height of the letters used in such name:
...
(ii) The word 'ultra-pasteurized' if the food has been ultra-pasteurized."

So, milk that has been ultra-pasteurized is supposed to be marked as such.

Acidified, cultured, and concentrated milk have no such requirements.

You might also find this article interesting.

"In the Kitchen with Mother Linda - Ultra-Pasteurized Milk" by Linda Joyce
Forristal, CCP, MTA, and found on The Weston A. Price Foundation web site.
http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/ultra-pasteurizedmilk.html

"Today, an increasing amount of milk found in conventional grocery
stores?including most organic milk ? is ultra-pasteurized.
...
In the Washington, DC area, Horizon sells UHT milk in the supermarkets and
pasteurized milk in the upscale markets like Whole Foods.
...
In the name of science, I decided to do an experiment. I usually make
homemade yogurt with a Bulgarian culture and the best quality milk I can
find. ... This time, I bought a quart container of organic Horizon UHT
whole milk and cultured it exactly the same way. ... When I tried to spoon
some out of the jar, it dissolved into small curds instead of staying in a
firm mass on the spoon."

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Google search on: label OR labeling OR labeled "ultra-pasteurized"
://www.google.com/search?q=label+OR+labeling+OR+labeled+%22ultra-pasteurized%22

Google search on: label "shall be" "ultra pasteurized" site:.fda.gov
://www.google.com/search?q=label+%22shall+be%22+%22ultra+pasteurized%22+site%3A.fda.gov

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I have searched for this everywhere.
It's good to   finally know the answer :)

Howdy Erica,

Even though my colleague has given a magnificent answer, it could be
somewhat misleading.  As mentioned, and because of logistics,
ultra-pasteurization is used with lots of organic milk, granted, a
"specialty
dairy product," and they appear to have that noted on at least some of
those type of products.

Here is an image of some Stonyfield organic milk products which are labeled
"Ultra Pasteurized" and are, indeed, ultra-pasteurized.
http://www.stonyfield.com/images/OurProducts/SFMilk-Family.jpg

The part that is easily misleading is two fold in nature.

First, I have found no requirement that ultra-pasteurized milk actually
needs to be labeled as such, at least no Florida or federal (FDA, etc.)
requirements, that I could find.

This means that there could be ultra-pasteurized milk on the shelves,
labeled as "pasteurized," and you would not know the difference, that is,
until you went to make up a batch of cheese.

The second part is that even though ultra-pasteurized milk could have a
"sell by" date a few weeks away, there, again, does not appear to be any
requirement to date it as such, that is, it could be dated earlier, or
they might not be put out on the shelves until it was a week or so away
from the more accurate "sell by" date.

Mind you, I don't have any evidence that ultra-pasteurized milk is indeed
being presented as "just" pasteurized milk, but there does not appear to
be anything to prevent it.

Even the answer provided by Crabcakes has the following quote:
"Ultra-Pasteurization is most often used for creams and specialty
dairy products
though its use for milk is becoming more popular."

Better to be sure than sorry, so you might want to call the dairy.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Thank you denco!

Unfortunately, you may be right ;) I have noticed that most of the
big-brand milks are ultra-pasteurized, while supermarket-brand milks
say pasteurized. My fear is that generic brands purchase milk from a
variety of local dairies that may supply HTST and/or ultra-pasteurized
milk.

I wrote my local supermarket and asked about their milk (which is
labeled "pasteurized"). I am still awaiting a response. Also I will
see if one of the local natural food stores will special order HTST
Horizon brand milk for me. Unfortunately, ultra-pasteurized milk
creates such a weak curd that I can only use it for very soft cheeses
:(

Thanks again! I will post here when I find out anything else.

--Erica

Much, much, much thanks for the 5 star rating, Erica!

My pleasure, and glad to have been of service.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher