# What Type of Factory Makes Milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373 "2012-09-21T10:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/61 "2012-09-22T01:52:10Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I’ve seen cows being milked. The result is milk, and I think you could drink it straight, but I believe it is later processed to help preserve it and to reduce fat. That could happen at a plant outside the farm. Then you get what you see at the grocery store. When I was a kid, the milk went from the cow to the milker to the bulk tank to the quart bottle to the refrigerator. No other processing involved. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/62 "2012-09-22T01:53:47Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Mmm, tell me more about these “cows”. They want you to eat moar chikin. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/63 "2012-09-22T02:27:02Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > How is babby cow formed?? How cow get pragnent?? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/64 "2012-09-22T02:41:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I recently read about a grandfather who had a dairy farm and convinced his visiting grandchildren this was true. He secretly added some chocolate powder to the bottom of a pail and then let the children watch him milk a brown cow into the pail. And sure enough, the pail filled up with chocolate milk, which the kids got to drink. > > The letter I read was from one of the now-adult grandchildren, who admits he believed for years afterwards that it was possible to get chocolate milk from a cow - he had, after all, personally witnessed it happen. My grandpa (the electrician) used to take little snips of copper wire and start hammering them flat, then he’d switch them out for a penny when I wasn’t looking. For years I swore that my grandpa made pennies with his special “penny hammer” ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/65 "2012-09-24T19:08:43Z")
I’d like to hear more about these milk processing plants. How do they go about doing this? Are they giant venus flytrap-like creatures that swallow the cows and squeeze the milk out? Or do they just mind-control the farmers to do it for them? No wonder the cows are [revolting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5s5qGg01nE). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/66 "2012-09-24T19:23:28Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > When I was a kid, the milk went from the cow to the milker to the bulk tank to the quart bottle to the refrigerator. No other processing involved. When I was a teen, we would buy it directly from a farm. I think it was homogenized, maybe pastuerized, right on the farm. It was something like 40% milk fat. OMFG milkgasm! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/67 "2012-09-24T19:26:15Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > When I was a teen, we would buy it directly from a farm. I think it was homogenized, maybe pastuerized, right on the farm. It was something like 40% milk fat. OMFG milkgasm! 40% milk fat is cream. Ordinary whole milk has about 4% fat. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/68 "2012-09-24T20:09:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Have you ever been to a baby shower? It’s bad when it rains cats and and dogs, but… It is worse to be hailing taxicabs! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/69 "2012-09-24T20:34:52Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > I’d like to hear more about these milk processing plants. How do they go about doing this? Are they giant venus flytrap-like creatures that swallow the cows and squeeze the milk out? Or do they just mind-control the farmers to do it for them? No wonder the cows are [revolting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5s5qGg01nE). They’re smelly, true, but I don’t think I’d go so far as to call cows _revolting_. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/70 "2012-09-24T21:58:22Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > They’re smelly, true, but I don’t think I’d go so far as to call cows _revolting_. [This cow is Revloting. And a likely Marxist, to boot!](http://0.static.wix.com/media/d7c45a0b5328285c36e1077bef70d348.wix_mp_1024) ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/71 "2012-09-24T23:40:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You know what I like? Those little baby hot dogs. Do they small down the regular ones, or do they make 'em different? I like them when they have yet to emerge from their bagel shell. I think at that stage they are called kosher dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/72 "2012-09-25T00:46:38Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > [This cow is Revloting. And a likely Marxist, to boot!](http://0.static.wix.com/media/d7c45a0b5328285c36e1077bef70d348.wix_mp_1024) Cow Tse-tung? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/73 "2012-09-25T00:47:32Z")
We’ve been thread spotted! ---
**Author:** ![JimHorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@JimHorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimHorn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/74 "2012-09-25T15:41:23Z")
It’s just grass with the sh\*t taken out. ---
**Author:** ![Detroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Detroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Detroit)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/75 "2012-09-25T15:49:51Z")
⭕o:o:o:o C O W spells cow C O W spells cow A cow is the one who chews up grass And that’s how milk gets in your glass C O W spells cow… Thank you Pinky Lee! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/76 "2012-09-25T16:10:53Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > As kids, we had a book about Louise Pasteur, so naturally we wanted to know who Mr. Homogen was. Pasteur’s gay partner. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/77 "2012-09-25T16:13:45Z")
> [@naita](#): > > 40% milk fat is cream. Ordinary whole milk has about 4% fat. I’ve been told a million times not to exaggerate like that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/78 "2012-09-25T16:15:08Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > It is worse to be hailing taxicabs! LOL!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/79 "2012-09-25T16:49:22Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > [This cow is Revloting. And a likely Marxist, to boot!](http://0.static.wix.com/media/d7c45a0b5328285c36e1077bef70d348.wix_mp_1024) Is revloting when you picket a minister’s house? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/80 "2012-09-26T19:16:12Z")
> [@Huvudtvatt](#): > > The milk comes from animals called “cows”. They live at places called “Farms”. The owner of the farm (“Farmer”) sells the milk to a “Dairy” or “Milk processing plant” where it is processed and packaged. (Sometimes these plants are owned by farmers’ collectives). The plastic-coated paper boxes was an invention by the company Tetra-pak. This can’t be right. Who would drink a liquid that comes from an animal? Wouldn’t that be unsanitary? Far better to process some chemicals in a plant for a safe, healthy drink. > [@Smapti](#): > > You know what I like? Those little baby hot dogs. Do they small down the regular ones, or do they make 'em different? They’re like baby carrots, they’re just picked earlier in their growth cycle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373.md?page=5)