Organic Milk Reviews and Why I Switched


I’m sorry it’s been another week since I last posted~ my last final was yesterday!  So, I’m going to be blogging much more frequently now 🙂

I’ve been trying to eat healthy and good quality foods, including a little bit more organic.  So, while I was looking into starting a No Processed Foods and No Sugar Challenge (which I’m doing right now) I started relooking at ingredient labels. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw nonfat dry milk in my Swiss 2% milk!  I did not like that.  Before this I had been drinking the generic grocery store brand’s 1% milk, and then the Swiss 1% milk, but I was having trouble with both of them spoiling on me within a couple of days (one time even the next day)!  That was when I went to 2%.

Once I saw the nonfat dry milk though, I decided to look into other options.  So, my dad and I were at the grocery store looking at all of the milk ingredient labels.  I questioned why some of the Swiss containers (the plastic gallon and 1/2 gallon jugs) had nonfat dry milk listed, but others (the plastic “water bottle sized” bottles and the cartons) did not.  So, I went to look at organic milks.

And what I found out later, after researching more, was that the FDA does not require companies to have on their labels whether or not they put nonfat dry milk in their regular milk!   

Apparently the only ways you can know if they add dry milk is if you call the company and ask them, or if they have more than 9g  of protein in each serving.

Why does it matter if there is nonfat dry milk in the milk? 

Well, for me, it’s just the fact that if I’m drinking milk, I want actual milk, not any nonfat dry milk in it.  If there is nonfat dry milk in it, it makes me not want to drink it. 

The actual reasons why are more controversial because some people believe nonfat dry milk is harmful to your health while others say that there isn’t enough oxidized cholesterol in nonfat dry milk to make a big deal of it.  More studies are needed to show whether there is enough oxidized cholesterol in nonfat dry milk, or not.

What it is though, is that nonfat dry milk is said to make you gain more weight in the long run.  For example, they are now saying it is better to drink whole milk instead of lowfat milk because the nonfat dry milk is added to a decent amount of lowfat and skim milks anymore. 

The other problem is that the process that makes milk into nonfat dry milk changes the cholesterol in milk to oxidized cholesterol.  This oxidized cholesterol has sharper edges than normal cholesterol.  So, your arteries than become irritated from the rougher edges, and start to create plaque.  This is the beginning of heart disease.  This oxidized cholesterol can even make other cholesterol in your body turn into oxidized cholesterol. 

All fun stuff right?..Yeah, not really.  So, when I realized this is what nonfat dry milk could possibly do, I was very happy to have already had the uneasy feeling about it and had already gone to organic milk a week before finding this stuff out.  I do not want to be the one they are testing this on. 

The Three Organic Milks

Ok, so I have tried three different organic milks, and there is a slight taste difference between the three.  Other than that, I find all three to essentially be the same and last for the same amount of time.  These last for the same amount of time (before they sour) that regular milk normally does~about a week.  (I personally am able to drink 1/2 gallon of milk within a couple of days though). 

I have tried Stonyfield Farms Lowfat Milk, Organic Valley 1% Milk, and Nature’s Promise 1% Milk. 

All three have a slightly different taste than regular milk does.  It could very well be the food that the cows are eating that causes this slight different taste, or something else.  However, this difference is not in a bad way at all.  It just takes a couple cups to get used to. 

How they rank (this is my personal preference, it could be a different ranking for you) :

1. Stonyfield Farms Lowfat Milk.  This one out of the three just tastes the best to me.

2. Organic Valley 1% Milk.  This is only slightly below Stonyfield Farms.

3. Nature’s Promise 1% Milk.  The taste in this one did taste a little bit worse than the other three.  However, it’s not such a huge difference that I wouldn’t buy it again.

I found that all three were very good quality organic milk.  All three were pasteurized (so you do not have to worry about that), and all three were available in my normal grocery store.  (You will have to check for availability in your own stores though. And if they don’t carry it, suggest that they do 🙂 ).

All three also are certified USDA organic.  Make sure that any organic milk you try is! 

So, why drink organic milk instead of regular milk?

Certified USDA organic milk is produced without the use of antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones, and persistent pesticides.  This means that you, and your family, will not be consuming antiobiotics, growth hormones, and pesticides that are harmful to your health that can be in regular milk.

The FDA even has confirmed numbers that show 80% of all antibiotics in America go to animal agriculture.  This is a scary number of antibiotics that we, Americans, are consuming, not because we are sick and need the antibiotics to make us better, but because we are eating dairy and/or meat (beef, chicken, etc.).  

A way to avoid this amount of antibiotics is by eating organic dairy and/or organic grassfed meats.

So, try an organic milk instead of your regular milk!  There are many different organic milk brands out there other than just these three.  These three (other organic brands do as well) have whole, lowfat, and skim milk.  Organic Valley even has little packages of 1% milk and chocolate milk for your kids, or for yourself, to take for lunches! 

You and Mother Nature will smile a little bit more knowing that you are drinking something healthy for you. 🙂

Have a sunny day!


Please Note: I am not affiliated with Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley, Nature’s Promise, or Swiss, nor did any of these companies give me free milk, or products, nor did any of these companies compensate me for my review.  I started trying different organic milks because I was curious, and because my first choice, Stonyfield Farms, was out of stock constantly. 🙂