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Skimmed milk (
Skimmed milk (British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
), or skim milk (American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
), is made when all the milkfat
Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain.
Composition
Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...
is removed from whole milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat.
Background
Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was recommended as "not only the very best supplement for growing pigs, but is of almost equal value for fattening purposes" as it "furnishes a complete protein" and makes the feed "more palatable".Terminology
In theUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, milk is traditionally marketed and labelled as follows:
* Whole milk (around 3.0–4% fat) – Plastic bottles marketed in blue packaging.
* Semi-skimmed milk (around 1.8% fat) – Plastic bottles are marketed in green packaging.
* Skimmed milk (around 0.1% fat) – Plastic bottles are marketed in red packaging.
* Channel Island milk
Channel Island milk, is a creamy, light-beige coloured cow's milk from the Jersey cattle and Guernsey cattle breeds. As well as in the Channel Islands, Channel Island milk is produced in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, the Un ...
(around 5–5.5% fat) Often referred to as gold top, although this varies.
Additionally, some supermarkets in the UK now market milk as:
* 1% fat milk – Normally sold in purple or orange packaging.
In the UK milk is sometimes still delivered by milkmen, it can delivered on the doorsteps by a milkman
Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk. This service typically delivers milk in bottles or cartons directly to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cow ...
in the early hours of the morning in glass pint bottles with the colour printed foil lid indicating the milkfat content. Whole milk had plain silver foil, semi-skimmed milk had silver foil with red stripes and skimmed milk silver foil with a blue checker pattern.
In the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, milk is marketed primarily by fat content and available in these varieties:
* Whole milk is 3.5% fat
* 2% Reduced-fat milk
* 1% Lowfat milk
* 0% Non-fat milk (also called skimmed milk or fat-free milk)
United States milk producers also use a color-coding system to identify milk types, usually with the bottle cap or colored accents on the packaging. Whole milk is often denoted by red, while 2% is most often colored blue. 1% and skim colors vary by region or dairy, with common colors for these lines being purple, green, yellow, pink, or light blue.
Production
Today, most skimmed milk is created by spinning whole milk in acentrifuge
A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or ...
so that the fat droplets separate out.
See also
*Fat content of milk
The fat content of milk is the proportion of milk, by weight,
made up by butterfat. The fat content, particularly of cow's milk, is modified to make a variety of products. The fat content of milk is usually stated on the container, and the color ...
* Low-fat milk
The fat content of milk is the proportion of milk, by weight,
made up by butterfat. The fat content, particularly of cow's milk, is modified to make a variety of products. The fat content of milk is usually stated on the container, and the color ...
References
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