WHOLE MILK

Yes. The easiest way to know if Organic Valley® milk (skim, low-fat, reduced-fat, whole) contains added vitamins is to check the ingredient label on the carton. If vitamins A or D are added to that milk, it will be listed in the ingredients. Vitamin A: We are required by law to add vitamin A to all of our skim/fat-free/nonfat fluid milk, low-fat (1%) fluid milk, and reduced-fat (2%) fluid milk. This is because vitamin A is "fat-soluble," so you lose vitamin A content when you reduce fat in fluid milk. We do add vitamin A to some of our whole fluid milk products also. For confirmation, please reference the ingredient label.

Vitamin D: We add vitamin D to all Organic Valley® fluid milks. Vitamin D is naturally present in milk, but it can be low due to several factors like cow breed, seasonal exposure to sunlight, diet, and lactation. For confirmation, please reference the ingredient label.

Since grazing is a bedrock principle of our organic farming practices, all Organic Valley farmer-owners nationwide do their utmost to maximize fresh and dried forages to maintain the health and wellbeing of their animals because they know that milk produced from grazing cows contains increased levels of beneficial omega-3 and (CLA) fatty acids.

So while a significant number of Organic Valley farmer-owners around the country do not feed grain, there are several reasons why all Organic Valley® milk is not 100% grass-fed.

Some farms' soils are not ready for full conversion to pasture. Cows must be transitioned slowly from a grain diet, to less grain, to no grain. Some farms do not have the land base to produce additional forages the cows require when grain is taken out of their diet.

Milk is freshest within 5 days of opening. We do not recommend consuming any milk products past the sell-by date. If unopened, the freshness of Organic Valley® milk is guaranteed up to the sell-by date.

High Temperature/Short Time (HTST) is the most common form of pasteurization in the dairy industry. Milk is heated to a required minimum temperature of 161°F for 15 seconds and pasteurized to kill any pathogenic bacteria that may be present. It is common to find a date code between 16 and 21 days from the date of manufacture on our HTST milk. This ensures a fresh, wholesome dairy product.

The HTST process is referred to as 'pasteurized' on the milk package. Organic Valley offers gallons and some half gallons of milk with HTST pasteurization.

Ultra-pasteurized (UP) milk has been flash-heated with injected steam to 280 degrees and then vacuum chilled rapidly. The result is milk with a longer shelf life.

Milk is a source of both. The casein and whey found in dairy milk make it a protein source, and the natural sugars in milk give this drink carbohydrates. Choosing dairy milk will ensure you receive carbohydrates and protein, as well as other essential nutrients like calcium.