Press Releases

Milk - Quality Control from Cow to You

PHILADELPHIA (June 1, 2004) - When it comes to food, the U.S. has one of the most plentiful food supplies in the world, as well as one of the safest.

Perhaps the safest product of them all is milk. That's because milk is the most monitored product in the entire food supply, according to the National Institutes of Health. The milk safety inspection system involves a series of tests by federal and state inspectors and by the dairy industry itself to confirm the safety of all milk and milk products. From the cow to your store, at least 17 checks, tests and inspections are made to ensure that consumers have only wholesome, healthy and safe products from which to select at their local supermarket dairy case.

Quality Starts on the Farm
The continuing high quality of milk starts on the dairy farm. Even beyond natural pride, dairy farmers have a real incentive to produce the safest milk possible. If they don't, they lose money. Dairy farmers work closely with their herd veterinarian to practice sound disease prevention, conduct careful medical treatment, and maintain timely, accurate records. State and federal regulations require on-farm cleanliness and equipment sanitation. Many dairy producers even do their own on-farm testing to further ensure milk quality.

Milk delivered to the dairy plant is tested before it is unloaded. Any load that does not pass inspection is dumped without ever entering the plant. Recent studies have shown that well over 99 percent of all milk delivered by dairy farmers passes inspection.

FDA Supervision
Two branches of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work to ensure the safety of dairy foods. The Milk Safety Branch enforces the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, the basic federal reference for all milk-testing programs. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) reviews all animal medications to be used on milk-producing cows. Test medications must meet stringent CVM standards regarding effectiveness and safety before being approved.

The FDA doesn't just rest there; it also conducts random tests of milk samples inspected by state regulators to ensure testing accuracy. In addition, the FDA distributes medication-specific test kits to state regulators for their use.

Additional Protection
In addition to federal testing, each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, carries out extensive safety and milk quality tests. Each state also tests pasteurized milk and milk products. Dairy farms and dairy plants handling Grade A (fluid) milk production are covered by the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, an organization of federal and state health officials and regulators, state agricultural regulators, and representatives of the dairy industry. This group makes recommendations on strengthening the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and coordinates voluntary efforts of local, state and federal regulatory agencies as they oversee and ensure the production, processing and handling of quality milk and dairy products.

Meanwhile, Grade B milk (used in food manufacturing) is covered by similar rules under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Finished Milk Testing
As milk is processed, pasteurized and homogenized, laboratory checks are made to evaluate the color, odor, appearance, temperature and taste of milk. Butterfat content is analyzed for accuracy, and tests are conducted to ensure proper pasteurization.

Next, a laboratory runs several microbial tests. Then shelf-life testing is conducted to ensure that the code life is correctly stated. Routine tests are also made to ensure package integrity and weight and to offer a final check for the presence of animal medication residues or added water.

Finally, there's the ultimate test - consumer satisfaction. Each day, millions of Americans give their stamp of approval to wholesome, healthy and safe milk.