RAW VS. PASTEURIZED | ORGANIC VS. CONVENTIONAL │ ORGANIC MILK

Milk itself has been a very engaging subject at every phase of human life development. It is the primary nutrient for the mammal class. The practice of milking animals was the main activity of prehistoric civilizations. The animals raised for milking are remarkable creatures, as they remain invisible to most of us.

Milk is a biochemical marvel that modern science has not yet finished analyzing. Milk is a complex compound, and sciences still have not unraveled its complexities; it is irreplaceable in many cuisines all over the world. In the old world, it often had religious significance as a ritual offering. In India, it still has sacred associations. It has figured tremendously in the farm economies of most industrialized nations.

RAW VS. PASTEURIZED, ORGANIC VS. CONVENTIONAL

Most of critiques of pasteurization have a view that it destroys the nutritional value of milk. It also asserted by these people that raw milk tastes better than heated milk. Both these claims are unconditionally valid. On the other side, proponents of pasteurization are that without milk processing, the spread of pathogenic organisms will be unhindered, and only pasteurization can remove these pathogenic organisms. This claim is only partly valid.

Indeed, a glass of raw milk sampled at the farm will taste fresh from the refrigerator’s market milk to start with flavor. But pasteurization is not only one of the industrial processing steps responsible for the difference in taste. Pasteurized milk that comes to us has been centrifugally separated, recombined to standardized milkfat, and homogenized. These processing steps do more to denature milk than anything else that happens to it in manufacturing. The creamier “mouthfeel” and fresher flavor of whole raw milk at a well-managed cow dairy farm reflect real freshness but the fact that the ingredient found in milk, their structure is not broken. We can get nearly all of the same effect from unhomogenized pasteurized milk compared to fresh and pasteurized by the right method. 

The second significant factor is that producing and distributing raw milk in the same way as HTST (high temperature/short-time) or pasteurized milk would be a sure invitation to public health. The raw milk must be handled and stored in much smaller volumes, transported over shorter distances, and sold at a shorter time than milk for mass distribution. And any given volume of pasteurized milk is not only cheaper to produce for retail sale than the same quantity of raw milk but cheaper to sell and regulate. It would be highly difficult to allow the sale of raw milk without frequent official inspections of herds and facilities, ultra-vigilant monitoring of all milking cows, and a strict schedule of bacterial colony done on the milk, all of which leads to longer working hours and higher cost of milk than the far laxer supervision of HTST and pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is a generally effective public-health measure that hugely reduces bacterial populations in milk.

The frequent line of argument we hear about the health-giving properties of unpasteurized milk is that the heat of pasteurization destroys the vitamin C and enzymes present in raw milk. Though true but not of great significance importance to anyone’s health. Compared with other plentiful sources of vitamin C (most fruits, some vegetables), milk contains very little Vitamin C. The loss through pasteurization isn’t going to drastically affect our access to an adequate natural supply of this nutrient.

Then there is the intrinsic quality of the milk itself. Rawness and pasteurization have nothing to do with the plain fact that milk produced by farmers without breeding-and-feeding priorities tastes better than milk cranked out with an eye only to volume. Hence comes into the picture :

Organic vs Conventional Milk

Organic milk comes from cows that are managed using a certified organic system that includes significant amounts of pasture during the grazing season and would be expected to contain some compounds that are not found or are found at higher concentrations in animals from conventional farms, where grazing on fresh pasture may be limited. For thousands of years, cows in herds and on small family farms were essentially organic and sustainable, feeding on available pastures and forages. During the twentieth century, extensive agricultural research focused on increasing milk yield and improving production efficiency. Advances in animal nutrition, genetics, and health, as well as improvements in farm .

Management and mechanization, resulted in the conventional dairy farms of today. Management trends may include high-density animal housing and administration of antibiotics and hormones to stimulate milk production and maintain animal health. Feeds are produced under many different systems that may include the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms. Animal diets are often formulated to a least-cost ration in which energy-dense grain–protein supplements are used, with less emphasis on fresh forage, and cows may or may not have access to pasture. Some farms may graze their cows extensively on fresh pasture, but because the portion of the diet is not certified organic, the milk cannot be sold as organic.

Basis of Organic Milk

1. In the case of dairy producers, animals must be managed by good farm practices approved by organic practices for a full one year before the milk that is produced can be certified and sold as organic.
2. The animals who are under organic certification must be given feed that is 100% organic and must obtain a minimum of 30% of their dry matter intake (DMI) from pasture during a minimum 120-day grazing season.
3. Sick animals must be treated in approved manner. If the medicine given to the animal is not on the approved organic list, the animal is no longer considered organic giving milk and must be removed from the main herd.
4. All feed and medicine given to the organic animals must be documented. The use of growth-producing hormones, antibiotics, genetic engineering, and cloning is not allowed in organic systems.

Nutritional Claims of Organic Milk

Consumer perception of organic milk is associated with the assumption that organic milk differs from conventionally produced milk. The nutritional value associated with organic milk justifies the premium retail price it demands. It also includes the assumption that organic dairy farming is gentler on the environment, animals, and people.

Certified organic milk is produced without the use of antibiotics, hormones, chemicals, and genetic modification. People also have the great perception that organic milk benefits are great for human health compared to normally produced milk.

Studies investigating the chemical differences between organic and conventionally produced milk have so far not produced any conclusive evidence that either or not these differences exist.

The main complication is that farming practices in different parts of the world, in different regions, different year and season, within organic and conventional systems of breeding. The above-cited factors influence milk composition (e.g., diet, breed, and stage of lactation), which have been studied individually, but overall as the impact on nutrition, nothing can be concluded.

Studies fail to establish the facts that key factors other than the farming system organic versus conventional, could have caused or led to the reported differences in milk composition. These findings make it impossible to determine whether there is a system related difference between organic and conventional milk or not. The results indicated that in pasture-based farming systems where many of the factors known to influence milk composition (e.g., breed) have been controlled, there is very little or no difference in chemical composition between milk produced organically, and that produced conventionally.

The current analysis suggests that a small number of differences in nutrient content exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs and that, whereas these differences in content are biologically plausible, they are unlikely to be of public health relevance.

One broad conclusion to draw is that there is no evidence to support the selection of organically produced foodstuffs over conventionally produced foodstuffs to increase the intake of specific nutrients or nutritionally relevant substances.

Research in the nutritional area of organic milk would benefit considerably from greater scientific rigor and a better understanding of the various factors (apart from production regimen) that determine the nutrient content of foodstuffs.

Flavour and Taste

Organic milk has not only been associated with the image of being safe and environmentally friendly; it is also regarded as more tasteful than conventional milk. Flavor differences have been studied in milk from cows feeding different amounts of concentrate and pasture (Croissant et al., 2007, Bloksma et al., 2008, Bovolenta et al., 2009), with no difference in consumer acceptance reported. Similarly, no obvious difference in taste was established when comparing organic and conventional milk, but trials found organic milk to be creamier and with a greater intensity of grassy flavor.

Conclusions

The number of factors that influence milk composition is numerous, and knowledge in regard to their interactions is limited. The same can be said in regard to the large number of studies comparing organic and conventional milk and the limited number of generally accepted research conclusions considering the difference between organic and conventionally produced milk.

This is caused by two facts. Firstly: a lack of comparable conditions within and between trials. In general, most researchers have not controlled enough variables to allow a valid comparison between organic and conventionally produced cow’s milk and draw overall conclusions. Diet composition and breed of the cow are the minimum factors that need to be considered and reported when aiming to compare milk samples.

Secondly: the current regulations for organic milk production do not allow for a distinct separation from conventionally produced milk. In other words, there is no ‘organic effect’ that can be credited to a ‘holistic’ combination of factors affected by the organic system. If animal genetic, health, breed, diet, management, or environment differ, then so will the composition of the milk production?

Country specific regulations for organic dairy farming in regard to pasture access, forage feeding and use of antibiotics

Country	Pasture access	Forage feed	Antibiotics use	Regulation
USA	Grazed for 120 days per year	During grazing season 30% of total forage intake must come from pasture	Producer must not: Sell, label, or represent as organic any edible product derived from any animal treated with antibiotics	Organic foods production act provisions 2014C (US Government Printing Office, 2014)
Canada	Pasture access during grazing season	During grazing season 30% of total forage intake must come from pasture 60% of dry matter in daily rations consists of hay, fresh/dried fodder or silage	Animals that require more than two treatments B shall undergo a 12-month transition period. Milk withdrawal time = at least 30 days or two times the specific medication’s withdrawal period, whichever is longer	Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards 2011C (Canadian General Standards Board, 2011)
European Union	Pasture access for grazing whenever conditions allow	60% of dry matter in daily rations consists of hay, fresh/dried fodder or silage A reduction to 50% for a maximum period of three months in early lactation is allowed	When animals that require more than three treatments, or more than one course of treatment if productive lifecycle is < 1 year, the or produce derived from the animal, may not be sold as organic products. Milk withdrawal time as above in Canada.	Guidance document on European union organic Standards 2010 C (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, 2010)
Japan	Pasture access, no less than twice a week	Feeds other than fresh or dried fodder or silage are less than 50% of the average feed intake, in dry weight.	Prescribed drugs or antibiotics are used only when therapy with veterinary drugs other than these is not effective.	Japanese Agricultural Standard for Organic Livestock Products, 2005D (Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries)
New Zealand	Ruminants must be grazed for throughout the grazing season 150 days	For herbivores a minimum of 50% of feed must come from pasture	Use of synthetic allopathic veterinary drugs or antibiotics will cause the animal to lose its organic status	Asure Quality Organic Standard For Primary Producers, 2013 E
Australia	Grazing of animals in natural/rangeland areas is considered part of an organic production system		After treatment with allopathic veterinary drugs or antibiotics, the products can be marketed as organic or bio-dynamic after a minimum management period of 180 day	National standard For Organic and biodynamic produce, 2013 C (Organic Industry Standards and Certification Committee, 2013)1