Green milk – food for thought
AS UHT milk negates the need for a cold chain, it is regarded as a problem-solution product. Malaysia, along with other tropical countries, is a prime market of UHT milk, and countries with poor cold-chain distribution systems in place rely on UHT milk to feed the nation’s poor.
But that is not to say that UHT milk is a product only for backwards Third World and developing countries. UHT milk is widely consumed in many parts of Europe, with developed countries such as Spain, Portugal, Belgium and France at the fore with UHT milk accounting for over 90% of milk sales.
To reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, five years ago, the UK government proposed that the country move towards 90% UHT milk production by the year 2020. At the time, UHT milk constituted less than 10% of national milk consumption, and the proposal was met with great resistance from the British dairy industry and the public, who prefer pasteurised fresh milk with their tea, thank you. Even though the proposal was rejected, it remains an environmentally viable plan.
Think about all the energy saved from not having to keep UHT milk cold from factory to distributor and retailers, of all the fridge space freed up choosing UHT over pasteurised milk, and of the incidences when milk is poured down the sink because it’s past due date.
The convenience of shipping and transporting UHT milk is also one of the reasons it’s a good ringgit or two cheaper than pasteurised milk brandon-brand.
So if your regular coffee house were to use UHT instead of pasteurised milk, maybe your cuppa wouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg, and the Earth.