Milk is Milk Blog by Alex Avery
Virtually every survey I’ve ever seen studying dairy consumer buying habits suggests that “freshness” is a key factor influencing purchasing decisions for dairy products. 74 percent claim “freshness” and 94 percent say “date label” are extremely important in the purchase decisions for milk. Price, brand loyalty and simple availability are other factors frequently cited, but freshness as defined by “expiration date” is almost always noted as a key factor influencing a purchase decision. It makes sense. We all do it - dig through the back of the dairy case for that carton with a few extra days before the milk “expires.” But do we really know what that date means and how it compares from one carton to the next?
Unfortunately for consumers the main indication we have of freshness is the sell by or expiration date imprinted on cartons. We would expect that comparing different brands would inform us about how fresh that milk may actually be, but in many situations we would be wrong because of practices called “ultra-pasteurization” or UHT (ultra-high temperature) milk. It’s easy to understand why we might be misled when you see how certain companies market their use of these practices.
For example, I was reading the Web site for $140 million mega-dairy Stonyfield Farms and seeing how they promote their new line of organic milk. Most people know Stonyfield (now a subsidiary of $18 billion French dairy giant Danone) for the aggressive marketing of their self-proclaimed socially responsible yogurt with lids proclaiming “No Yucky Stuff” and advertisements which scare new mothers away from less-expensive competing dairy products.
However, Stonyfield recently launched a line of fluid milk products which are making their way into supermarkets across the country. In addition to a slew of false and misleading production claims about hormones, antibiotics and pesticides, their Web site proclaimed that Stonyfield “milk is also ultra-pasteurized to help it stay fresh longer…”
I thought, this seems like a bit of an oxymoronic statement - how can something be “fresh longer” given that freshness by most definitions means “recently made” or “not old.” Ergo, by simple definition “fresher longer” is a somewhat incompatible combination, but I guess “fresh-like” longer isn’t as compelling a marketing claim. Like other organic claims such as “no toxic pesticides,” “antibiotic-free” or “no hormones added” the claims don’t actually match the truth and are slick marketing-oriented misrepresentations of the facts. (If you’re a regular reader of my blog you already know how these production oriented claims are misleading or simply false.)
You see, ultra-pasteurization is used to give milk longer shelf life - 30 to 60 days or longer shelf life. Some UHT products, appropriately packaged, boast shelf-stability of 6 months. UHT and Ultra-pasteurized dairy products’ sell by or expiration dates reflect this extended shelf-life. Thus comparing dates for normally pasteurized milk with competing ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Most consumers don’t know this. In fact, if consumers believed Stonyfield and others making “freshness” claims linked to ultra-pasteurization they could come away thinking older milk was actually fresher based on these misleading claims and corresponding “expiration dates.”
“Sell by” or expiration dates for milk are regulated at the state level, but the truthful and non-misleading in any particular marketing claims are covered (but largely un-enforced) by both state and federal laws. A review of most state regulations show that they require normally-pasteurized milk to print sell-by dates of 12 days to three weeks after the product was pasteurized in the plant. This same review also reveals that most states have no similar guidelines for ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk or they simply exempt them from these timelines. A carton of ultra-pasteurized milk with the same expiration date as a normally pasteurized carton could be weeks or months older.
Once the milk is opened after leaving the store (something consumers actually care about) both normally pasteurized and the UHT or ultra-pasteurized milk should last anywhere from 2-7 days refrigerated. At this point, the point that matters most for consumers, there is relatively little difference. So when dairy packagers like Stonyfield, Organic Valley or Horizon say “ultra-pasteurized for your convenience” that’s a bunch of malarkey - it’s purely for their convenience. Their convenience means longer shelf life in the warehouse, more days on the truck or longer periods of time in the back of the dairy case - it has little if nothing to do with any real average dairy consumer benefit.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to ultra-pasteurization - if you read this blog you know how I feel about raw or un-pasteurized milk. By most accounts ultra-pasteurization and UHT have limited affect on the milk and the main complaints are reports of slightly chemical taste. In one study children ranked UHT and ultra-pasteurized milk as slightly “below good” as compared with normally pasteurized milk. This suggests kids might be less inclined to choose milk if mom is purchasing an ultra-pasteurized or UHT brand. That aside, it’s basically the same milk - it’s just not “fresher” and in fact, it is likely to be less fresh.
Locally produced milk is shipped daily to local dairy plants, which quickly process (pasteurize, homogenize, add Vitamin A and the hormone Vitamin D3 and then package) that milk. Depending on where you live it’s possible to buy milk that is only a few days away from the cow and can last (under proper refrigeration) for as long as two to three weeks. UHT or ultra-pasteurized milk may have come from thousands of miles away and have sat in the back of a dairy case for weeks before even reaching the store shelves. Compared with the local, conventionally pasteurized milk (which often sells for $2 to $3 less per gallon), the ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk may have been months since this milk left the cow. As such, these products simply shouldn’t unfairly compete on “freshness” claims with brands not making these claims.
Who uses ultra-pasteurization or UHT and why? Well, virtually every national organic brand. Horizon , Organic Valley and Stonyfield are all ultra-pasteurized. According to a New York Times report, this is because the majority of this milk (Horizon for example dominates nearly 70 percent of the U.S. organic milk market) comes from cows raised thousands of miles away on a few mega-dairy farms run by these giant companies. The Times report suggests this milk is “arguably less nutritious” as a result.
Since organic brands still only constitute 5% of the dairy market and are priced 50 to 200 percent higher than conventional brands, they don’t sell as quickly and thus require longer shelf life to remain profitable. This is true for restaurants and retail outlets as well as supermarkets. Our review of Starbuck’s failed policy to offer organic milk options for their costumers showed that even with the several month extended shelf life (they purchased UHT organic milk) they reported they threw more of this milk away than they actually sold. Despite claims by the organic marketing interests and the activists they help fund, Starbuck’s consumers simply weren’t interested in their products.
Oddly, consumer surveys which show people purchase milk based on freshness also show that consumers who purchase organic or other niche-marketed milk because they believe it to be fresher and have other qualities which are not true. Consumers who want longer-shelf stable milk should be able to buy it; however, the rest of us shouldn’t be misled into buying these products because we think they are fresher or of higher quality.
* To the companies making these freshness claims along side of other false or misleading production-related marketing tricks I say shame on you and watch out - we’re on to your game and consumers aren’t as dumb as you think.
* To the retailers carrying these brands: beware, many states extend the criminal and civil litigation risk exposure for false or misleading marketing of products to the stores which carry such products. Adopt a simple, consumer-friendly policy of carrying only dairy products which comply with state and federal laws and guidelines for truthful and non-misleading in any particular marketing.
* To the regulators: Respond to the growing number of complaints filed and enforce existing laws about truthful, non-misleading marketing to protect consumers and already struggling local dairy producers.
* To the legislators who care about dairy producers and consumers: Consider enacting regulations to protect consumers and local dairies by requiring a “born-on” date for ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk to appear prominently along side of sell by or expiration dates.
Consumers should remember that milk is milk; buy local, pasteurized and affordable milk, period!