Fresh Milk - What Is It?

What should we imagine under the term "fresh milk"?
First of all, milk that has a much higher nutritional value than long-life milk. The most important parameters are the protein content, their structure, digestibility, vitamin content, and calcium bioavailability.

Do you mean just milk that has been freshly milked?
Freshly milked milk is raw milk. Fresh milk is considered to be milk treated only by basic pasteurization.

Is there a definition somewhere of what fresh milk is? Some imagine fresh milk as still warm, freshly milked milk, some think of two- or three-day-old, others ten-day-old…
There is no exact definition of how long fresh milk should be guaranteed. In our understanding, fresh milk means pasteurized milk because the legislation does not allow anything else for consumption. Fresh milk in our country has a guarantee of about five to fifteen days, but this is not fixed. Our fresh milk is seven days old. I have also encountered milk with a thirty-day guarantee still labeled as fresh milk. Since it is not clearly defined, consumers can be confused. For example, some pasteurize milk at temperatures above 90 °C, which extends the shelf life. But that is something between fresh milk and UHT (Ultra Heat Treatment) milk. Such a process reduces the nutritional value of milk.

Basic pasteurization is gentler…
We used to call it "gentle" pasteurization directly. Now this term is no longer used. Basic pasteurization means the milk has undergone heat treatment at a minimum temperature of 72 °C for 15 seconds. At these temperatures, only potential pathogenic microorganisms (vegetative and most saprophytic bacteria), which may or may not be present in the milk, are deactivated and neutralized. It is a preventive step to ensure the milk is safe for health.

What are pathogenic bacteria?
To simplify greatly, pathogens are microorganisms that can cause health problems.

So we destroy pathogens and along with them vitamins?
There are certain vitamin losses; there are precise studies on how many vitamins remain preserved at this temperature and how many are lost. But losses are much lower than with UHT milk, which is heat-treated at temperatures up to 135 °C. But in my opinion, it is even more important that basic pasteurization does not cause protein denaturation, meaning it does not change the protein structure in a way that would partially degrade their nutritional value. Some degradation occurs but not to the extent as with UHT milk. From a dietary perspective, proteins remain almost as usable for humans as in raw milk.

You say legislation does not allow selling raw milk for consumption. What about milk vending machines? They say "raw milk" on them.
Yes, it says raw milk there, but with a note that this milk must be heat-treated before use. It is protection for both the consumer and the producer. If something happened, the milk producer is responsible. If several people had health problems, it would be a big issue. So it should be stated there.

I read an analysis that milk from vending machines contained salmonella, campylobacter, E. coli, staphylococci, which can cause infections even at low doses.
These are conditional pathogens, and some can cause serious health problems. That is why raw milk should be heat-treated before consumption. At home, boiling (around 100 °C) guarantees this. If you want to buy raw milk, I recommend boiling it, even though it destroys more important substances than pasteurization.

I read a report that last year in France two classes of students visited a farm, drank unpasteurized milk, and then half of the students in each class got sick. It was confirmed that the illness was campylobacteriosis caused by bacteria from raw milk.
That is the risk, and that is why the law states that milk for public sale must be heat-treated. If you have one cow at home and your family consumes the milk, the risk is limited to that family. But if you sell milk to thousands of consumers, you must at least ensure a label stating the milk is suitable for consumption only after boiling. Boiling causes greater destruction of milk than pasteurization.

Is pasteurization itself defined somewhere? It is stated that the "certainty" in pasteurization is 74 °C for 15 seconds.
Yes, the minimum parameters are exactly defined: minimum temperature 72 °C and duration 15 seconds, and then it is proportionally adjusted; for example, if you go to 80 °C, you can shorten the duration to a few seconds, or vice versa, you can have a lower temperature and longer duration.

So 72 °C and at least 15 seconds is the temperature and time that almost 100% eliminate undesirable bacteria that could be in the milk. This is gentle pasteurization. Then there are so-called high pasteurizations, above 85 – 90 °C. That is for milk, but for example, heat-treating cream means something different than treating milk. Cream has a higher fat content, so heat transfer is worse. Cream must be heat-treated at least at 90 °C.

After a few days raw milk sours, pasteurized milk turns musty…
It depends on how it is treated. The higher the pasteurization temperature, the more live bacteria are killed, including beneficial lactobacilli. Therefore, that milk does not sour anymore. So that is over-pasteurized milk. Of course, it has a longer shelf life. We follow the philosophy that fresh milk is produced so that it is milked in the morning, arrives at the dairy the same day, processed, and filled. Within 24 hours of milking, the milk is on the shelf of our store. We produce semi-skimmed milk with 1.5% fat content and for four months also whole milk with 3.6% fat. More semi-skimmed milk is sold because it is cheaper, but for children, I would recommend whole milk.

For the average consumer, the most used temperature for food preparation is the boiling point. What is the difference between pasteurized and boiled milk?
The boiling point is around 100 °C depending on altitude and air pressure. But that temperature destroys more vitamins. Above 90 °C proteins denature, meaning the digestibility of milk proteins drops sharply. Therefore, 72 °C is optimal and the least harmful for the milk.

Raw milk may contain pathogens, but if healthy, it has significant antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Calcium and phosphorus absorption is very high and decreases with pasteurization and boiling. As children in the village, we drank freshly milked milk, still with foam… 
Yes, milk immediately after milking has a natural antimicrobial property caused by the enzyme lactoperoxidase, which is present in milk in very small amounts but causes this antimicrobial effect. It also manifests in that milk does not sour immediately after milking and remains sweet for some time. Until this lactoperoxidase acts. It gradually breaks down, bacteria from the lactobacillus genus then attack the milk, and it naturally sours. If milk did not have this property, it could sour already in the udder. So lactoperoxidase is naturally in milk. But dairymen are different. Lactoperoxidase can also be artificially added to milk, artificially extending the "freshness" of milk. It is very difficult to distinguish natural lactoperoxidase from added. Fortunately, it gradually deactivates.

Competition may claim they have a cleaner environment, so their milk stays fresh longer…
If you add lactoperoxidase in several times the natural amount, it naturally acts longer. Officially, it is said they have a cleaner environment, better aseptic filling. The professional public knows about this; it should be publicly discussed because until these things are disclosed, we will deceive each other like this. It is only a matter of time before legislation starts to address this. But laboratories will have to be equipped to measure it. We sell fresh seven-day milk without adding artificial enzymes.

Artificial enzymes are not added to UHT milk…
No, but if I compare UHT milk with fresh milk, another advantage of fresh milk is that we do not adjust the protein content in fresh milk. Those who have UHT lines can adjust the protein content in milk; producers then use these proteins in cheese production, improving the economics of cheese production but at the expense of consumers. We do not adjust it. The milk that is milked is the milk after pasteurization. We adjust fat content because we remove some fat for further processing, obtaining 1.5% milk from whole milk with an average annual fat content of 3.75%. 

UHT milk still sells well…
Despite the nutritional advantages of fresh milk, selling UHT milk is more interesting for producers. More is sold; it does not require special storage conditions in stores or at home; it can be stored at room temperature for several months. The minimum protein and fat values specified by the regulation are preserved. But all living cells must be killed in that milk. Because even a few live cells would multiply in three months and spoil the milk.

Supplying fresh milk is much more demanding…
Fresh milk must be stored by law at 2 – 6 °C, even stricter than yogurt, to keep the milk sweet. Our big plus is that we try to get the milk on the shelf within 24 hours because every extra day of shelf life degrades it, for example, fat oxidation. Slow milk degradation cannot be completely eliminated. That is why there is a difference between drinking 7-day-old or 30-day-old milk. It also affects the taste. So the principle is that fresh milk should have the shortest possible shelf life to reach the customer as soon as possible and be consumed quickly. This way, the customer gets the most benefit.
Is it demanding? Yes, but it is our service to customers; we want to supply the healthiest food possible.