LPT 311: Milk and Milk Products Technology (1+1)

DISTRIBUTION OF MILK

• Because milk spoils so easily, it should, ideally, be distributed as quickly as possible. In many countries milk used to be delivered to households daily, but economic pressure has made milk delivery much less popular, and in many areas daily delivery is no longer available. People buy it chilled at grocery or convenience stores or similar retail outlets. Prior to the widespread use of plastics, milk was often distributed to consumers in glass bottles, and before that in bulk that was ladled into the customer's container.
• In rural India, milk is delivered daily by a local milkman carrying bulk quantities in a metal container, usually on a bicycle; and in other parts of metropolitan India, milk is usually bought or delivered in a plastic bags or cartons via-shops or supermarkets.
• Milk preserved by the UHT process is sold in cartons often called a "brick" that lack the peak of the traditional milk carton. Milk preserved in this fashion does not need to be refrigerated before opening and has a longer shelf life than milk in ordinary packaging. It is more typically sold unrefrigerated on the shelves in Europe than in America.
• Glass milk containers are now rare. Most people purchase milk in bags, plastic jugs or waxed-paper cartons. Ultraviolet light from fluorescent lighting can destroy some of the proteins in milk so many companies that once distributed milk in transparent or highly translucent containers are now using thicker materials that block the UV light. Many people feel that such "UV protected" milk tastes better.
• India: Commonly sold in 500 mL plastic bags. It is still customary to serve the milk boiled, despite pasteurization. Flavored milk is sold in most convenience stores in waxed cardboard containers. Convenience stores also sell many varieties of milk (such as flavored and ultra-pasteurized) in different sizes, usually in Tetra-Pak cartons.