• Milk provides nine essential nutrients in each serving: protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins A and D and four B vitamins—B12, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin.¹
• On average, it takes two days for milk to travel from the farm to local stores.
• Milk has been fortified with Vitamins A&D since the 1930s and 40s.³

Milk comes from a cow and is produced on a dairy farm, but how does milk get to the grocery store? Milk’s journey starts with the cow. Dairy farmers ensure their cows are healthy and comfortable. This includes a nutritious diet, clean water, comfortable bedding, and an environment that’s not too hot or too cold. Occasionally, cows get sick and some dairy farmers will treat illnesses with antibiotics. If a dairy cow is currently milking and receiving antibiotics, her milk is not collected with the rest of the milk. Dairy cows are milked 2-3 times a day using mechanical and robotic milkers. These technologies are more comfortable for the cows and more efficient than milking cows by hand.

When cows are milked, the milk is the same temperature as the cow’s body—100 degrees. Using pipes hooked to the mechanical milkers, the milk immediately travels to a storage tank on the dairy farm where it is quickly cooled to below 45 degrees. Depending on the size of the dairy, insulated milk trucks (tankers) will visit the farm daily, multiple times a day, or every other day to pick up the milk. The driver of the milk tanker will collect milk samples from each tank on each dairy. Typically, a milk tanker will pick up milk from various dairies and haul all of the milk in one load. The milk is then delivered to a dairy processing plant where it will be tested for quality and safety.

At the milk processing plant, the milk’s temperature is taken again, and the milk in the tanker is specifically tested for any traces of drug residue from the use of antibiotics. If any drug residue is detected in the milk tanker, each milk sample that the truck driver collected at each dairy is tested. All of the milk from the tanker is discarded. Milk that is safe and free from drug residue continues through the processing plant and undergoes various processes including standardization, pasteurization, homogenization, and fortification. All of these quality tests and processes make milk one of the most regulated and safest foods you can buy at the store.²