quality of the milk produced in Thailand

[Issangeorge]

It's too bad Maizefarmer isn't on the forum anymore, I'm sure he would have a well researched answer to where all the milk comes from. I know some comes from his farm.

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[Gringogazzer]

If you want proper milk these days you need to go to The Channel Islands.  However; as that seems unlikely most of the milk here in LOS is drinkable and also good for the likes of scrambled eggs, with a big dollop of butter of course !

 
Most of the butter in Thailand is fake too!
(Made from butter oil)

Another link please 555

[midas]

 The Chinese melamine scare was melamine in powdered infant formula, not ordinary milk.

 

Although it's not quite New Zealand full cream pasteurised milk, it's better than nothing.

 

 

 It was found in ordinary milk. What you're referring to was an earlier incident.  It has even been found in chocolate there.

 

 
 

Frozen milk products and cartons of milk dating from early 2009 were taken off the shelves after health inspectors tested them and found melamine, said Ling Hu, a Guizhou provincial government spokeswoman.The announcement calls into question the effectiveness of a crackdown launched by Chinese officials to improve product safety after a number of scandals, including the contamination of baby formula in 2008

 

 http://phys.org/news183629325.html

Edited June 19, 2014 by midas

[tso310]

Tend to buy 'Dutch milk' and find a perfectly palatable. Can't taste the cannabis at all.

[jvs]

Anotheroneamerican i can tell you that there is a lot of fresh milk produced in the Kingdom.

We see dairyfarms many times in this area and we get raw milk almost daily from a neigbourhood farm.

Most of these cows are Friesian Holstein and there are very good bulls overhere to try and improve the herds.

 

 

[NeverSure]

I imagine that most people know that milk will pick the flavor of any strong feed it is given. If milk is fresh but has a strange taste I would wonder what it was fed. Good dairies keep the cows on grass pasture, give them lots of water, and feed them grain and other quality feed twice a day as they are milked.

 

Cows give milk only for a time, right after they give birth. The time can be extended to after the calf needs it simply by milking them twice a day. Then they are bred to produce a valuable calf, at which point they will "come fresh" again and give milk. The calf can't drink nearly all of the milk. A cow can feed more than one calf, and will usually readily accept an orphan to join her calf.

[JesseFrank]

I think there is only 1 milk in Thailand that is 100% milk, and that is Thai - Danish, all the others are part recombined.

[ClutchClark]

 

Milk sold in Thailand (Foremost isn't fresh milk, it's reconstituted milk) is usually reconstituted from powder imported from NZ.
Doesn't taste good.
 
Fresh milk from Thai farms is usually from Asian cows, different genetic line from the cows in western dairy herds.
Doesn't taste good (well, doesn't taste like the milk we are used to drinking).

From what I've been told there is a good Friesian cow population that where introduced here for large scale milking as in the west.
The whole milking program was built on the European methods.
Can't say I seen 1, but I haven't looked.
 

 
There may well be such a herd, but their milk won't be in the local supermarket.
Supermarket milk is all from milk powder.
 
ChokChai Dairy claim 3000 Fresian/Asian cross-breeds.
http://www.farmchokchai.com/en/index_content.php?content_id=29
That's about enough milk for a dozen of big supermarkets, where do you think the rest of their milk comes from? (Hint, it's bulked out with 95% milk powder & water)
 

Thanks to AOA for providing an actual supporting link rather than just whether people drink the milk here.

I was raised on a dairy farm and I am suspect of the milk products sold here since they don't taste like genuine milk but rather milk products, as labeled, and are usually mixed with sugars.

Thanks to OP for bringing up this useful thread. Edited June 19, 2014 by ClutchClark

[David48]

 

What I do like in Thailand is their version of a 'drinking yoghurt'.

 

Little bit sweet, but still enjoyable.

 

The drinking yogurt you buy in Makros is really good, I bet the twins would love it. I don't know whether they are too young for it as I have never had kids myself, at least none that I know about.

 

 

I hope they will in the future.

 

But, for the moment, MissFarmGirl is in charge of that department ... if you get my drift.

.
 

[NeverSure]

There really isn't anything wrong with milk that's been reconstituted from powder. After all, they simply removed the water and left the solids. They are very careful how much heat they use, but they do pasteurize it in the process which is good for the shelf life and safety of the powder.

 

If it's non-fat its shelf life is perhaps triple that with fat left because the fat spoils more quickly.

 

The milk is dehydrated partly to even out the supply as cows don't give the same amount of milk all of the time, partly to maintain a national reserve, but mostly to easily ship it overseas to 3rd world countries that don't have a valid dairy industry.

 

If I mix powdered milk with water, I can taste a chalky taste I don't like until it has been in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. I haven't researched why the taste change, but after 24 hours I can't tell the difference between it and fresh milk. The nutrition is said to be the same.

 

HERE'S the whole story on it.

[HeijoshinCool]

I'm just curious what do people generally think of the quality of the milk produced in Thailand?

 

Pour quality.

[HeijoshinCool]

There really isn't anything wrong with milk that's been reconstituted from powder. After all, they simply removed the water and left the solids. They are very careful how much heat they use, but they do pasteurize it in the process which is good for the shelf life and safety of the powder.

 

If it's non-fat its shelf life is perhaps triple that with fat left because the fat spoils more quickly.

 

The milk is dehydrated partly to even out the supply as cows don't give the same amount of milk all of the time, partly to maintain a national reserve, but mostly to easily ship it overseas to 3rd world countries that don't have a valid dairy industry.

 

If I mix powdered milk with water, I can taste a chalky taste I don't like until it has been in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. I haven't researched why the taste change, but after 24 hours I can't tell the difference between it and fresh milk. The nutrition is said to be the same.

 

HERE'S the whole story on it.

 

But the first time, the cow had done a great job, with her liver and intestines, of filtering the water.

 

Just yesterday I'm sitting at a mom & pop, who have a water dispensing machine out front. The "technician" came to change the filter. The one he was to put in was snow white. The one he removed was black, with green splotches growing here and there. 

 

I asked him how many liters between changes?

 

He said, every six months.

[ezzra]

Reading all the posts and the guess so far only show us the sad state of not actually knowing

what is in our most used staple food, the milk... and same goes foe many other product being

sold to up in the supermarket and open markets,

although Thailand have an agency that should, in theory monitor and control the quality

of the food we are putting on our plats, somehow, Thais, mostly, are not really interested to

no know the small details as long as it's cheap...

[h90]

I usually drink the 0%, fat milk, the one with the white top.

Many people have asked me why I bother, as it is just water.

But I like the taste much more than the other kinds.

Yes, I am surprized as it doesn't go bad, but "AnotherOneAmerican", has given me the answer.

Anyway, milk is good for you.

Not as good as beer, but we can compromise sometimes.

 

 

Not as good as beer....but you can drink both...it is not milk or beer. It is milk and beer.

 

I don't know for Thailand but the 0% fat milk is often more than 100 %. For not tasting to much watery they often add milk powder to it. So at the end it is 110 % milk.

Very common for UHT milk, but I don't know for the pasteurized milk.

[Chao Lao Beach]

 

If you want proper milk these days you need to go to The Channel Islands.  However; as that seems unlikely most of the milk here in LOS is drinkable and also good for the likes of scrambled eggs, with a big dollop of butter of course !

 

Most of the butter in Thailand is fake too!

(Made from butter oil)

 

 

 

Hi American, can you please expand this please.  

[Chao Lao Beach]

Anyone know if the the dairy farms use grass or grain as well here ?

[HeijoshinCool]

 

If you want proper milk these days you need to go to The Channel Islands.  However; as that seems unlikely most of the milk here in LOS is drinkable and also good for the likes of scrambled eggs, with a big dollop of butter of course !

 

Most of the butter in Thailand is fake too!

(Made from butter oil)

 

 

.

I find this easy to believe based on the fact that when baking with Thai "butter," the results are poor. When I use the butter from Oz, the cookies come out right.

[HeijoshinCool]

I'm just curious what do people generally think of the quality of the milk produced in Thailand?

 

Pour quality.

.

 

*sigh*

 

Only PaullyW got it.

 

I guess when I make jokes like this, I should consider that many on TV are pour pore poor spellers.

[littlefunko]

Anyone know if the the dairy farms use grass or grain as well here ?

 

http://www.farmchokchai.com/en/index_content.php?content_id=2

 

I have visited this Chokchai farm several times and they really have top quality feeding/breeding management. They own huge land and they this

 

'grazing system for the animals before first lactation, and a feedlot system for the mature milk-producing cows' (quote from website)

 

I'd recommend anyone to visit especially if you have children. You'd get a full guided tour around the farm and enjoy some activities as well as really nice homemade milk icecream and some good steak.

Edited June 20, 2014 by littlefunko

[MESmith]

 

 

Milk sold in Thailand (Foremost isn't fresh milk, it's reconstituted milk) is usually reconstituted from powder imported from NZ.
Doesn't taste good.
 
Fresh milk from Thai farms is usually from Asian cows, different genetic line from the cows in western dairy herds.
Doesn't taste good (well, doesn't taste like the milk we are used to drinking).

From what I've been told there is a good Friesian cow population that where introduced here for large scale milking as in the west.
The whole milking program was built on the European methods.
Can't say I seen 1, but I haven't looked.

 

 

There may well be such a herd, but their milk won't be in the local supermarket.

Supermarket milk is all from milk powder.

 

ChokChai Dairy claim 3000 Fresian/Asian cross-breeds.

http://www.farmchokchai.com/en/index_content.php?content_id=29

That's about enough milk for a dozen of big supermarkets, where do you think the rest of their milk comes from? (Hint, it's bulked out with 95% milk powder & water)
 

 

 

There are lots of small dairy herds kept in sheds east of Chiang Mai (San Kamphaeng, Mae On areas).  The dairies they supply box the milk for distribution to schools.  At least one dairy, on the superhighway sells raw milk to customers.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

 

 

There are lots of small dairy herds kept in sheds east of Chiang Mai (San Kamphaeng, Mae On areas).  The dairies they supply box the milk for distribution to schools.  At least one dairy, on the superhighway sells raw milk to customers.

 

 

Asian cows I think, so doesn't taste like western people think it should.

And this thread was about the taste of milk in Thailand.
 

[jayjayjayjay]

 

I've been drinking Thai milk, mostly Foremost, but sometimes the other brands, for 12 or so years. 90% of the time I use fresh milk....but occasionally use UHT. I've never had an issue with the milk.......and when I go back to the US, I don't detect any difference in what I'm drinking there.

 

What I noticed is that the fresh milk, really isn't fresh milk. It doesn't get foul at all.....So I think it is an "almost UHT" milk.

Good experience with Foremost and Dutch Milk. Before I had some milk that tasted "cheesy". But can't recall the brand and it was years ago.

 

 

I worked at Mali Milk and DutchMilll for 7 years.  95% of all milk is reconstituted milk powder. In the old days it came from everywhere including Ukraine's Chernobyl area!!! Now most of the milk powder is Australian or NZ sourced.

 

No matter what all the public information on fresh milk in Thailand is, most factories actually want to use as little as possible as Thai farmers do not follow proper antibiotic withholding periods of 30 days. So any antibiotic content in the milk kills drinking yoghurt production.

 

In the 90's Formost had the best collection system and as a result had the best actual fresh milk production, circa 1997 they recieved 600 ton a day.  I do not know how that has changed over the last 15 years. 

 

As h90 has pointed out, all milk, even pasteurized,  is run through aseptic temperatures making it actual UHT processed at 140 degree C.  That's what bottled milk lasts so long. The big companies have found killing the milk with aseptic treatment is the best way to avoid consumer complaints! 

[Datebayo]

You know milk is very bad for health right?

 

And no I'm not a naturist activist nor a debunker of myths, however the ''milk is good for ya!'' myth has been debunked.

 

You will be fine though if you have a straight bloodline of danish/Dutch ancestors.

[WitawatWatawit]

I'm just curious what do people generally think of the quality of the milk produced in Thailand?
 
Pour quality.

.
 
*sigh*
 
Only PaullyW got it.
 
I guess when I make jokes like this, I should consider that many on TV are pour pore poor spellers.

Pour quoi?

Pour favor, senor. I no udderstand.

[WitawatWatawit]

Interesting comments above. Last week I found lurking in the back of the fridge a bottle of milk that was about 15 days past the "use by" date. Yet no curdling. I poured a bit into hot water - no gunky type thing that normally happens with old milk, which could indicate it was still drinkable (but I wasn't game to find out).

Datebayo - I'm of Irish bog peasant stock (I still cook my poached rabbits on peat fires). Does that make me OK as well?

[daveAustin]

Much nicer than uk milk!


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I guess we all have our tastes but 555555555555555555SQUARED, you have got to be kidding! UK cows and milk and cheese are among the world's best. Just ask someone in the know. I was recently home and lapped up that delicious full fat, creamy milk. Compared to the watery crud here that takes weeks to go off; well, there just is no comparison. It's like comparing water from the tap in both countries.

[Datebayo]

Interesting comments above. Last week I found lurking in the back of the fridge a bottle of milk that was about 15 days past the "use by" date. Yet no curdling. I poured a bit into hot water - no gunky type thing that normally happens with old milk, which could indicate it was still drinkable (but I wasn't game to find out).

Datebayo - I'm of Irish bog peasant stock (I still cook my poached rabbits on peat fires). Does that make me OK as well?

Depends, wether your Irish ancestors drank mountain goat milk or ever set foot on Belgica and drank the Germanic cows. As long as you don't overcook the rabbit, you'll be fine. Tender rabbit meat mmmm.

[HeijoshinCool]

I've never had luck whipping cream after it's been stored in a freezer.

 

But defrost and shake (not whip, just shake) a half-full carton of Foremost cream, and it becomes thick in under a minute.

 

What's that all about?

 

And it does taste pretty darn good, I must admit.

[krisb]

Wow $9 a litre!

No wonder Aussie Dairy farmers are really annoyed.

[Sandman77]

And how about milk powder products?
Lactasoy etc, dangerous for health when I drink every day 2 or 3 lactasoy?