Homogenized vs Whole Milk

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nes

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
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28
Hubby brought home homo and I need whole is it the same thing?
 
Whole milk is based on fat content. What is the fat content? Almost all commercially sold milk is homogenized, fat content determines type. Whole milk, according to my carton, contains total 12% fat. Interestingly enough, my 1% milk is 4% fat :LOL: That's total though, not just milkfat. I don't remember the milkfat content of whole but the fat grams will help determine if you have the right milk.
 
Whole milk means no fat has been removed.

Homogenized milk means the fat in the milk has been evenly distributed throughout the milk rather than letting it rise to the top of the bottle.

So whole, 2%, 1% can and usually are all homogenized.

The bottle should say if it's whole milk or one of the reduced fat versions.
 
Not necessarily. Homogenized milk simply has the butterfat broken down into smaller particles so that the cream will not separate from the rest of the milk. However, virtually all milk sold in markets is homogenized, including skim or non-fat milk, 1% and 2% low-fat milk, regular whole milk (about 4% fat), extra-rich milk, half-and-half, cream, whipping cream, and heavy cream (have I missed any?). The difference is in fat content.

However, if the carton simply says "homogenized milk," it's undoubtedly regular "whole" milk.
 
Whole milk is based on fat content. What is the fat content? All milk is homogenized, fat content determines type. Whole milk, according to my carton, contains total 12% fat. Interestingly enough, my 1% milk is 4% fat :LOL: That's total though, not just milkfat. I don't remember the milkfat content of whole but the fat grams will help determine if you have the right milk.


Callisto, the 12% number you see is the percentage of the average daily values, not the amount in the milk. In other words, a cup of whole milk contains 12% of your daily fat intake.

Whole milk contains 3.5% to 3.8% total fat. 2% and 1% milks contain those amounts of fat and skin contains less than 0.5% fat.
 
Whole milk is based on fat content. What is the fat content? Almost all commercially sold milk is homogenized, fat content determines type. Whole milk, according to my carton, contains total 12% fat. Interestingly enough, my 1% milk is 4% fat :LOL: That's total though, not just milkfat. I don't remember the milkfat content of whole but the fat grams will help determine if you have the right milk.
Those percentages are the "% of Daily Value" amounts of each nutrient, which differ from the actual fat content of the milk. Whole milk is about 3% to 4% milkfat. CLICK ME
 
Callisto, the 12% number you see is the percentage of the average daily values, not the amount in the milk. In other words, a cup of whole milk contains 12% of your daily fat intake.

Whole milk contains 3.5% to 3.8% total fat. 2% and 1% milks contain those amounts of fat and skin contains less than 0.5% fat.
I know, I said that, although maybe I could have been more clear that I got it from the nutrition panel. Unfortunately, it was the best I could get off the carton. There was no milkfat content on the whole milk carton, only on the one percent. As no one had answered and it's a slow Sunday, I was only trying to help.
 
Thank you
but I do not savvy the math.
Cant work with Weight x Volume so
1 cup = 236.5 m.l. = 244Grams ... Close enough
What times or divided what equals 3.3

Thank You again
 
The 12% refers to the percentage of a person's daily value of fats as a total in their diet. NOT the percentage of fat in the milk.

If you re-check the label, the serving size is 240ml and there are 8g of fat in that serving. Grams are roughly equivalent to ml in water based liquids (1.05g/ml) so 8 divided by 240 = 3.3% fat.
 
Hello people.
I'm afraid you are (some of you at least) mixing apples and oranges.
Milk cannot be homogenized OR whole, because such a question doesn't make factual sense.
Milk can be homogenized OR non-homogenized. Homogenization is a mechanical process. It says NOTHING about fat content, it simply states how the milk has been processed.
When you open a bottle of milk which was standing in the fridge for some time and see that:
1) there is layer of SEMI-SOLID cream, almost butter on the top of the milk - that is NON-homogenized milk.
2) there is nothing special visible, the milk is all liquid with no solid layer - that is homogenized milk.
Milk of ANY fat content can be either homogenized or not. The fact is that practically all milk in supermarket is homogenized. You can find non-homogenized milk usually only in specialty stores (Natural, organic and such)

Whole milk on the other hand refers to a fat content. Milk could be whole, partly skimmed, skimmed or no fat having 3.25%, 2%, 1% less than 0.5% of fat respectively.

Thus the question is never about whole or homogenized milk, but either "whole or low fat milk" or "homogenized or non-homogenized milk".

Hope it cleared up some of the confusion.
Unfortunately, the producers don't make it any less confusing, because they are labeling 3.25% milk as "homo milk", which is technically true, but their low fat milk IS homo milk as well, only with lower fat content :)
 
Hello people.
I'm afraid you are (some of you at least) mixing apples and oranges.
Milk cannot be homogenized OR whole, because such a question doesn't make factual sense.
Milk can be homogenized OR non-homogenized. Homogenization is a mechanical process. It says NOTHING about fat content, it simply states how the milk has been processed.
When you open a bottle of milk which was standing in the fridge for some time and see that:
1) there is layer of SEMI-SOLID cream, almost butter on the top of the milk - that is NON-homogenized milk.
2) there is nothing special visible, the milk is all liquid with no solid layer - that is homogenized milk.
Milk of ANY fat content can be either homogenized or not. The fact is that practically all milk in supermarket is homogenized. You can find non-homogenized milk usually only in specialty stores (Natural, organic and such)

Whole milk on the other hand refers to a fat content. Milk could be whole, partly skimmed, skimmed or no fat having 3.25%, 2%, 1% less than 0.5% of fat respectively.

Thus the question is never about whole or homogenized milk, but either "whole or low fat milk" or "homogenized or non-homogenized milk".

Hope it cleared up some of the confusion.
Unfortunately, the producers don't make it any less confusing, because they are labeling 3.25% milk as "homo milk", which is technically true, but their low fat milk IS homo milk as well, only with lower fat content :)
Welcome to DC JTrucker. Waving from near Montreal.

You are quite right. However, at least around here, milk can be labelled as "Homo" or "Whole Milk". The "Homo milk" is 3.25% m.f. and the "whole milk" is 3.8% m.f. The "whole milk" is usually only found at the health food store or health food section of a supermarket. It is often organic and usually not homogenized.
 
Here, if it's in a store and, sold for human consumption, it's homogenized, regardless of fat content. Non homogenized is called RAW or BATH milk and, is not sold for human consumption at all, it is not pasteurized either. Again, it can be of any fat content.

Obviously, I drink whole, homogenized, pasteurized milk. Low fat or no fat milk tastes like chalk water to me - I refuse to buy it. Worth a bit more fat to get milk that tastes like milk. I'd prefer it not be homogenized but, if I want it pasteurized then, that isn't an option for me.
 
I think that "homogenized milk" getting conflated with milk of ~3% m.f. comes from the 50s, when the choices were "homogenized milk" and "skim milk" / "non-fat milk" and cream. The skim milk was so low in fat that it probably wasn't homogenized, but you never saw any cream that had risen to the top.
 
Here, if it's in a store and, sold for human consumption, it's homogenized, regardless of fat content. Non homogenized is called RAW or BATH milk and, is not sold for human consumption at all, it is not pasteurized either. Again, it can be of any fat content.

Obviously, I drink whole, homogenized, pasteurized milk. Low fat or no fat milk tastes like chalk water to me - I refuse to buy it. Worth a bit more fat to get milk that tastes like milk. I'd prefer it not be homogenized but, if I want it pasteurized then, that isn't an option for me.

I'm luckier than you. Just yesterday i was in health food/organic store and the were two bottles from the same farm, both 3.25% (name Avalon dairy). One homogenized and one not, marked as "whole". I bought the non homogenized (about 50¢ more ) and i had to use spoon to get through the half an inch of cream layer on top before i could pour it. And it was definitely for human consumption. And it IS pasteurized.
 
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