In the Greenwood Farms Dairy, we cleanliness is our first priority. Ten years of running a Grade A dairy in the 1980’s taught us how to keep a dairy clean and sanitary - we even got a commendation for superior cleanliness!   Here's a quick run-down of the steps we take to assure that our dairy milk is ultra-clean:  

1.  CLEAN UDDERS  Our cows live on clean, grassy pasture and their udders are washed with a four-step cleaning regimen before each milking. We wear sanitized gloves while milking and clean them each time we work with a different cow. Our udder cleaning protocol is this: First, we wash the udder to remove any visible dirt, then we dry the udder, then we hand-milk about five pulls of milk from each teat (this is called stripping and it helps to remove any dirt that may have accumulated at the end of the teat). Next, we dip each teat with a sanitizing dip, let the dip sit 30 seconds, and dry the teats thoroughly. This routine has been shown to reduce mastitis in the cows and decrease the bacterial count in the milk as well.

2.  A CLOSED SYSTEM  In our milking parlor, the milk goes from  the cow to the bottle in an enclosed pipeline that keeps it from being exposed to bacteria in the environment. Environmental contamination is the primary source of bacteria in milk, so the use of pipeline system gives us a big advantage in bacterial control right from the start.

3.  SUPER-HEATED CLEANING  Because the pipeline is a closed loop and doesn't require cleaning by hand, the water we use in the washing and sanitizing of the system can be heated to a bacteria-destroying 164ºF and is circulated through the pipeline and milking equipment for 7 minutes both before and after milking. This temperature would cause third-degree burns on exposed skin, so this type of sanitizing is much more effective than hand-washing of milking equipment. (Please be sure to note that our MILK is NOT heated at any time - only the equipment is exposed to these high temperatures).

4.  FAST COOLING  Our pipeline milking system takes the milk from the cow, through the sanitized, stainless-steel pipeline, to our 400 gallon refrigerated bulk-tank where the milk is cooled within 15 minutes from 100ºF to 37ºF. From the moment the milker is put on the cow, the milk is kept in this closed system all the way through bottling, keeping it clean and healthy right to your front door. (Without a bulk tank, it takes an hour-and-a-half in an ice-water bath to cool 3 gallons of milk to 37ºF and 2 1/2 hours to cool to this temperature in a refrigerator. This time delay in cooling allows bacteria a lot of time to grow before it is killed by the cold temperatures, so the use of a bulk tank system like ours is another way we prevent the growth of potentially harmful bacteria in our milk.

5.  OUR IN-HOUSE LABORATORY  To further ensure that our milk is safe, we have our own in-house laboratory where we test each batch of milk we bottle for coliform bacteria. Coliform bacteria are the commonly-used bacterial indicator of sanitary quality of foods and water. In most instances, coliforms themselves are not the cause of sickness, but they are easy to culture and their presence is used to indicate that other disease-causing organisms may be present.

The state of Missouri requires that Grade A Raw Milk have fewer than 100 coliforms per milliliter of milk. Our personal goal is to have fewer than 10 coliforms per ml. This is the state and federal requirement for pasteurized milk, and thus far, we have been successful in achieving this goal. In addition to our own testing,the state also tests our milk periodically and their results become quality control for our lab.

Q: Is raw milk really so perishable it needs this kind of special handling to keep it safe?

A: The procedure we follow to keep our milk healthy is no more stringent than that required of any Grade A dairy, whether they sell pasteurized or raw milk. Milk is a perishable product and if it is mishandled, can become a haven for bacteria. Because we don't rely on high-temperature pasteurization to kill bacteria that may be in the milk after handling, we make sure the bacteria aren't a problem from the start.

Q: Is pasteurized milk safer than raw milk?

A: Many people believe that pasteurized milk is "sterilized" and therefore can't grow harmful bacteria. This is NOT TRUE. Pasteurization is not even intended to kill all disease-causing micro-organisms in the milk. Instead, it aims to reduce the number of viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease if the milk is refrigerated and consumed before its expiration date.^[1] Unfortunately for pasteurized milk consumers, once their milk is opened, it is actually more susceptible to growing harmful bacteria than raw milk. Look carefully at the label on ultra-pasteurized milk and it will warn you to "consume within 5-7 days of opening."

Why? NOT ALL BACTERIA IS BAD. In a misguided attempt to make milk "safe," pasteurization actually kills milk's built-in defense system: "Good" bacteria, that exist naturally in raw milk, that attack and kill harmful bacteria, should it start to develop.