# White skim milk?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 14, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788 "2005-05-14T02:07:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/1 "2005-05-14T02:07:21Z")
Every once in a while I open a gallon jug of skim milk and find that it is extremely white and opaque rather the slightly translucent bluish cast that it normally has. It also has a somewhat strange taste that I can’t quite place, but it doesn’t seem to be mislabeled whole milk. Anyone seen this? What the heck causes it?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/2 "2005-05-14T14:38:09Z")
They add [carrageenan](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2002099036_realitybites24.html), a seaweed extract.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/3 "2005-05-14T15:54:19Z")
Wow… I need to see if my 2% milk down here had that added! I’ve been wondering why the low-fat milk here is so much like homo milk. I kind of prefer the thinness of 2%, and feel kind of turned off by the similarity to the homo.
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### Author:  [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/4 "2005-05-14T17:47:22Z")
Homo’s the only way to go. In the US, is it called whole milk, or is that something else entirely?
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### Author:  [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/5 "2005-05-14T18:38:00Z")
You guys know what it sounds like, right? I mean, seriously. 😛
_homo milk._
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/6 "2005-05-14T19:06:28Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#):
>
> Homo’s the only way to go. In the US, is it called whole milk, or is that something else entirely?
Oh, yeah, mostly. I grew up with it in Michigan, though, so it’s not an completely US thing. Homo’s too creamy, though, and has too much fat. I like the 2%, but the 2% here in Mexico is all thick and creamy like “whole milk” (for you homo-phobics).
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### Author:  [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/7 "2005-05-14T19:34:42Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> They add [carrageenan](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2002099036_realitybites24.html), a seaweed extract.
Well, it’s my regular brand (the cheap stuff), and it’s only the very rare jug that’s white like this. I checked the ingredients and there is nothing listed that would seem to be carrageenan, or any other emulsifier/thickener. It does have that appearance though.
By the way, where can you find carrageenan at retail? I want to make frappachinos at home with my leftover morning coffee. Without an emulsifier, all I get is watery coffee with a thick layer of slush on top. How is it that doesn’t happen with my frozen margaritas? Does the alcohol emulsify?
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### Author:  [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/8 "2005-05-15T01:38:08Z")
I’ve also had this a couple of times in the last couple of years - it’s labelled as regular skim, not the ‘ultra-skim’ of the same brand, (the one with carrageenen), but it’s more opaque than skim and tastes fattier. I’ve always figured that they put whole milk in there by accident.
I’ve never heard of homo milk, FWIW. (I’m in New York.) In all the parts of the US where I’ve shopped for milk (up and down the East Coast, plus occasional trips out west), milk with all of the fat in it is referred to as ‘whole milk.’ I’m assuming homo stands for homogenized, but isn’t 1% or 2% milk (aka part skim) homogenized also?
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### Author:  [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/9 "2005-05-15T02:12:12Z")
> [@GilaB](#):
>
> I’ve never heard of homo milk, FWIW. (I’m in New York.) In all the parts of the US where I’ve shopped for milk (up and down the East Coast, plus occasional trips out west), milk with all of the fat in it is referred to as ‘whole milk.’ I’m assuming homo stands for homogenized, but isn’t 1% or 2% milk (aka part skim) homogenized also?
All major bottlers of cow milk–unless otherwise specified on their label, which is unlikely–is homogenized. Homogenization does not refer to the fat content: 0, 1, 2 or 4 percent.
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-skim-milk/303788/10 "2005-05-15T02:19:15Z")
[quote]
Originally posted by **flex727**
I checked the ingredients and there is nothing listed that would seem to be carrageenan, or any other emulsifier/thickener. It does have that appearance though.[/quote
How about milk solids?