Is milk included in your
daily diet? Dairy milk comes in several varieties to meet the different
preferences of consumers, but all of these milks contain essential nutrients
that are beneficial to our health and wellness. When you walk down the dairy
aisle in the grocery store, you might come across various kinds of milk, such
as whole milk, fat-free milk,
organic milk, lactose free and others. For consumers who are not sure what type
of milk is ideal for their dietary needs, it might be a little confusing to
choose what to buy.
There is a wide variety of
milk available on the market today, so consumers have numerous choices to match
every age and lifestyle. Below are the most popular types of milk you can find in
Singapore.
UHT Milk
The UHT or Ultra High
Temperature milk is a type of milk that has been pasteurised at a high
temperature ranging between 275 - 284 degrees Fahrenheit for short time,
approximately three seconds. Exposing the milk to intense heat for a brief time
is meant to preserve its taste and nutritional contents.
In comparison to other milk
treatment, the UHT process is continuous which often takes places inside a
closed system to prevent airborne microorganisms from contaminating the product.
The milk passes through different stages, including heating and cooling, in
quick succession before it is immediately put into a sterile container or
carton. The meticulous process of UHT milk Singapore results into a product that can last up to six months even without
preservatives or refrigeration. This treatment is likewise used for processing
fruit juices in boxes, soy milk, cream, broth, soups and wine.
Low-Fat Milk
Do you prefer your milk to
be creamy but not too rich? Then you should opt for low-fat milk. Low fat milk
is just typical milk minus the creamy fat that it usually comes with. It goes
through a process called centrifugation wherein the fat contents are removed, and
then the creamy fat is later used to create other products, such as butter,
cream and other dairy products.
Low fat milk has a minimal
difference from regular full fat milk and that is the taste and consistency.
Both milks still remain identical in terms of the opaque white shade; however,
the low fat milk becomes thinner after the removal of fat globules. Moreover,
low fat milk should not be confused with skimmed milk, as low fat has 1% to 2%
of fat whilst skimmed contains less than 0.5% fat. If you want this type of
milk, there are various low fat milk brands Singapore that you can buy in grocery stores.
Whole Milk
As the name itself
suggests, whole milk is basically
whole or simply intact, which means the dairy fat that it contains has not been
stripped of under any milk treatment. But this kind of milk is not made wholly
of fat, or even substantially of fat. In fact, whole milk only contains
approximately 3.5% of fat while skimmed milk has less than 0.5% fat making it
less creamy and caloric.
Whole milk is the standard
choice for baked goods and recipes for home bakers unless it is specified to
use other type of milk. Hence, if the recipe did not specify the type of milk,
it is safe to assume that you will be using whole milk. Whole milk is rich and
creamy, and is simply referred as, “milk.”
Milk has essential benefits
to our body, especially to the bones and teeth. Thus, it is of substantial
importance to carefully pick which type of milk is suitable for the dietary
needs.
