Milk is the most regulated food

The Oregon Department of Agriculture works with licensed dairy farmers to ensure they follow the Federal Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance. These regulations set quality standards that include milk production, sanitation, transport, and pasteurization for all milk produced.

Pasteurization and raw milk

Milk delivered by tanker from the farm to the processing plant is unpasteurized or raw milk. By Oregon law, raw milk cannot be sold at retail. It must be pasteurized, a process in which the milk is heated to 161 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 15 seconds, then immediately cooled.

This process, developed more than a century ago, destroys potentially harmful microorganisms without affecting the milk's nutritional content or taste. This temperature and time combination has proven highly effective in making milk safe for human consumption.

Ultra-pasteurization is a similar process, but uses a higher temperature, which results in a longer shelf life for the product.

Antibiotics

Some dairy farmers occasionally administer penicillin or other antibiotics to their cows to help them recover from illness. But none of the antibiotics these cows receive ever make it into the milk or other dairy products available for sale. Government regulations make sure of that, and the dairy farmers themselves work diligently to make sure of it, too.

A cow being treated with antibiotics is tagged for identification. She is removed from the rest of the herd and is milked separately from the other cows and her milk is immediately discarded. This process continues after the cow is taken off medication and until her milk shows no residual trace of any antibiotics.

Every load of milk from every dairy farm in Oregon, and nationwide, is tested for residues of animal health products. Samples from the farm's bulk tank are taken each day when the dairy's milk is picked up by the processor. The samples are tested on site for antibiotic residues, and are tested again at the processing plant before the tanker truck is emptied. If any antibiotic residues are found, the entire load – thousands of gallons – is discarded immediately.

It is exceedingly rare that samples from Oregon dairies ever test positive for antibiotics. And when they do, that milk never reaches the consumer.

rbST

Bovine somatotropin (bST) is a hormone produced naturally in all cows to help trigger milk production. Scientists developed a means to reproduce the hormone, which is called rbST. Some farmers administer this to selected cows to increase milk production toward the end of the cow's lactation cycle.

The FDA approved the use of rbST in the early 1990s. It has been rigorously tested, and its safety in humans is universally affirmed by a consensus of the scientific community. Repeated studies have shown no significant difference between the milk of cows that have received rbST supplements and those that have not. Because of this, the FDA does not require labeling for milk that comes from cows supplemented with rbST.

Organic milk

Organic farming of all types is a growing trend in Oregon and nationwide. The term "certified organic" refers to a series of practices a dairy farmer must follow in order for his product to bear the name. In other words, organic denotes a type of farming practice and is not a difference in the content of milk.

Organic farmers feed their cows only certified organic feed. This is feed grown with organic fertilizers, and without the use of pesticides or genetically modified ingredients. The farmer can vaccinate his cows to boost their immune systems, but cannot administer antibiotics or use supplemental hormones. Cows must also have access to pasture at least part of the year.

These practices have been adopted by some farmers as their own philosophy toward dairy farming, and to satisfy a demand by the consuming public for organic milk.

Some conventional dairy farmers often use many of the same practices as organic dairymen, such as having access to pasture, or avoiding the use of commercial fertilizers, pesticides, or antibiotics.

Regardless of the type of farm production, organic and conventional milk must meet the same strict quality control standards. Research has shown that certified organic milk has no proven health advantages over conventional milk, and both kinds have the same levels of nutrients.