I know it’s tall, three times as tall as Seattle’s “there, there, it’s all right, we can try again in a little whilte” tower, but as far as I know there’s only one “C” in its name.
When I worked in a restaurant, we got milk in 5 gallon bags (that came in a plastic box). When the mil was empty, you’d take out the box, put in the new one, and cut the plastic spigot. (the milk cooler had a weighted lever that squeezed the spigot tube shut). I called the whole process “changing the cow”
I used to get 1/2 gallon bags because they were cheaper. (I also got a pitcher that had a notch for resealing the bag). But at my current grocery store I don’t think they have bags.
Brian
We used to get milk in bags all the time when I lived in Montreal in the 70s. It was cheaper that way. As has been said, we had a reusable plastic pitcher into which we’d plop the bag, snip off the corner, and be ready to go.
Ed
Packaging by law (and with some minor exceptions) must be in both official languages.
url]http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/C-38/C.R.C.-c.417/74651.html
And FWIW I grew up in a bagged-milk-and-pitcher household.
Hmm, I think I see a market for milk bags with their own nozzle. It could be the biggest thing since boxed wine.
patent pending…
If I remember correctly, milk in bags has the advantage of not needing refrigeration. The milk is pumped into the bag, all air is removed and then the milk is pastuerized. (sp)
Shipping is cheaper since you don’t have to keep it cool. I remember reading that in European countries milk is on the shelves with the granola and breakfast bars.
Tastes better cold, so people tend to chill it before serving.
I went to college in upstate New York in the late 80s and for a while, the supermarkets sold bagged milk, I think in one-liter bags. But rather than costing less than milk in bottles or cartons, it cost more. I think they stopped selling in bags after a while.
We still have to keep ours refrigerated. I’ve seen milk in boxes, with a shelf life of a couple of months if unopened, but the milk bags stay in the fridge.
Well, I have to say that I have seen milk spoil in unopened plastic bags from not being refrigerated. Looks and smells absolutely disgusting.
Then again, the milk bags that I’ve seen have always had little air bubbles still inside them (so that you can ‘snip’ a corner of the bag open without spilling.) Maybe that’s the reason they go bad. (shrugs.)
To sum up the responses so far:
[ul]
[li]Easier to carry home?[/li][li]Easy to pour when using plastic jug technique?[/li][li]Waste efficient in size, production, weight of container, and absence of one-use carton[/li][li]Takes up little space in storage when transported[/li][li]On rare occasions is cheaper[/li][li]On rare occasions is pasteurized so as not to need refrigeration when shipped and stocked[/li]-and-
[li]businesses and schools and such use them for serving machines or rarely for lunch rooms[/li][/ul]
These answers are great, yet still don’t quite answer my query- the first answer doesn’t fit 99% of cases who buy the milk I’m sure; the second answer doesn’t set well- cutting the bag and pouring it into a pitcher first and then pouring isn’t the hardest thing to do, but buying a carton, opening and pouring is still easier; the third and fourth make absolute sense for the manufacturer but not for the consumer who pays considerably more, unless that consumer is a serious environmentalist (and as popular as this stuff is in Canada, that place must be full of 'em!); and the next two are not true most of the time.
The last answer makes sense, but when schools and businesses use those bags of milk with the nozzles in their milk machines (like in a college mess hall) or bags served in a lunch room, they have them shipped in, right? Not from the grocery store aisle.
Is it possible that I’ve asked a question that can only be answered by- CECIL HIMSELF?!!:eek:
(thunder cracks)
No, no, you don’t pour it out of the bag and into a pitcher. The bag sits in the pitcher and you pour the milk out of the hole in the bag each time you use it.
I’m trying to find a pic online but I’m having no luck.
I grew up in a bagged-milk household as well. Now I live alone, and buy it in litre cartons (although I recently discovered that the Big Carrot store on the Danforth in Toronto sells organic milk in one-litre returnable glass bottles. There’s a deposit on the bottle, and the milk tastes better too!
This is the bag you buy, in which are three clear bags of milk of 1 1/3 litres each.
This is how you put the bag of milk into the pitcher.
These are scissors. You use them to cut the tip of the bag of milk.
That site answered my question, I think- this picture shows the price of a bag of milk to be between 4 or 5 canadian dollars, which means that a buyer is getting about 2.4 gallons of milk for $4.50 by buying bagged milk! I guess I was erroneously remembering the price posted there- as I recall, we were confused b/c there was a mistake in the posting of the price. So, the answer is that even though bagged milk has it’s many disadvantages, it is economical (which is why consumers buy it), economical for the manufacturers to make, store, and ship, and environmentally-friendly. 
Think of it this way: you’ve got three kids who drink a lot of milk. You buy it in bags - essentially in bulk - to save money. Also, it could be argued that bags take up less space in a refrigerator than cartons, since they’re soft and can fit into cramped spaces more easily.
Since there’s just two of us in this household and we don’t drink much milk, we buy 2 litre cartons of 3.25% milk and 500 mL cartons of 10% coffee cream.
Another little tidbit about Canadian milk: what you refer to as “whole” (3.25%) milk is called “homo” in many parts of the country.
From here. Also stuff like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese being packaged as Kraft Dinner (and referred to as KD) in Canada.
They sell milk (and orange juice) in bags in Wisconsin. My father-in-law buys it because it is cheaper. I’m sure, knowing him, that he would not buy milk in bags if it were not cheaper. He even got a special little snipper (magnetic, so it sticks to the fridge) to clip the corners off the bags…must have been a giveaway at whatever store he buys the milk bags from.
You do still need to refrigerate it, though. It’s milk in boxes (like they sell in Europe) that you can keep on the shelf until opened. I’ve only seen soy milk sold that way in the US.
I don’t get the whole “homo milk as a Canadian problem” problem – I grew up with “homo” milk in Port Huron, Michigan. It’s short for “homogenized.” It’s always on those hand-painted posters that stores put up. “Homo Milk, $2.99/gal.”
Oh, meant to add that it’s UHT (ultra-high temp) Pasteurized milk that’s shelf-stable. Kind of a funky flavor, but not bad when you get used to it. Gotta refrigerate after opening. All over the place when I was in Germany in the 90’s, and all over the place here in Mexico. I’ve seen it a little in that 'States, but it’s there. I always think of the brand Parlamat being associated with it.
Here in Colombia, most dairies sell milk in bags. We always buy our milk in bags because it costs less and it is easy to handle. We have a plastic container that the bag fits in. We just cut off a corner of the bag an it is easy to pour.
Isn’t all the milk we drink these days homogenized? It’s not like 2% and skim aren’t “homo milk”, right?