Milk comes in a variety of qualities and nutritional properties. Competing in the application of food technologies, manufacturers, unfortunately, are constantly working on how to reduce the cost of the product as much as possible. It even comes to the point that milk itself does not remain in it. How to choose milk in the store so that it is of the highest quality?
Instructions
Step 1
First, remember that milk must be sold in sealed containers. Inspect it carefully to see if it is damaged or leaking product. Never buy a bloated pack - this may be a sign of a violation of storage conditions. And, of course, when choosing milk in the store, pay attention to the expiration date: you should not take not only an expired product, but also one that expires in a day or two.
Step 2
Good milk has a rich white or creamy color. At the same time, the saturation of milk indicates its sufficient fat content. The fat content of the product should be from 2.5 to 6 percent, if it is lower, it cannot be fully called milk. When fat is removed from the drink, it also loses a number of useful components, for example, vitamins D, A, E and K.
Step 3
Milk should not be transparent. If it is, it means that the product has passed through the separator more than once or simply would have been diluted with water. If milk is sold in a transparent plastic bottle, this can be seen immediately, otherwise, in order to evaluate the color, you will have to buy it for a test. A bluish tinge is also a sign of poor milk quality.
Step 4
There is a simple test to determine if the milk is good. We just drip it into a glass of water. A drop of natural milk sinks to the bottom and gradually dissolves. If the product behaves differently, something is wrong with it.
Step 5
You've probably noticed that sometimes milk has a shelf life of several months. This is sterilized milk, which is processed using ultra-high temperatures. We are talking about heating the product to 130-140 degrees, at which almost all microorganisms die in it, including useful ones, vitamins are destroyed. UHT milk is obtained in almost the same way, but after heating it to 130-150 degrees, it is immediately cooled to 4-5 ° C. This version of milk, subject to the temperature regime, can be stored for one and a half to two months. As for its usefulness, a significant part of useful substances is destroyed in it.
Step 6
It is best to choose milk from the store that is classified as "pasteurized". It is heated at 70 degrees for about a minute. This is enough to kill pathogenic microflora and preserve most of the useful components of the product: lactic acid bacteria, vitamins. The shelf life of such milk is usually a week or less.
