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http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/consumer/food/article/-/13441814/milks-hidden-additives/ Milk's hidden additives Most of us drink it every single day, but it appears that milk isn't as natural as you might think. What dairy producers are putting in your milk - and there's a lot of it - will shock you. If you think the milk you drink is pure and straight from the cow, it's time to think again. Milk is being tampered with, and waste products are being added to it. Now for the first time, an industry whistleblower has come forward to spill the beans. The whistleblower still works in the dairy industry, having spent years working in milk processing, and fears repercussions if his voice is heard or his identity revealed. “I've seen it, I was part of it, and it's wrong,” the whistleblower said. “It's about time the public knew what the companies are up to. It's a waste product - it used to be tipped down the drain, then companies saw they could use it to save money. It's a tightly held secret they don't want the public to know about. Companies know it would be detrimental to their sales if people found out.” What the major companies are doing is that after milking, solids that are separated out, pasteurized, homogenized, reduced, and refined are then mixed back. The big secret that's kept from the public is they also mix in a lot of the cheap, filler additive consisting mainly of lactose. The left-overs of milk production called permeate. Peter Nathan runs the A2 milk company, which produces milk from specially bred Guernsey and Jersey cows. A2 does not contain a protein found in normal milks, called A1 beta casein protein, which is allegedly linked to a range of illnesses, including heart disease and allergies. And A2, which is more expensive than normal milks, does not have permeate added. ”It's got an additive that most consumers don't know they've got in their milk, and it doesn't taste the way milk should taste,” A2 Milk CEO Peter Nathan said. Permeate's up to twenty per cent of most milks, including full cream, skim, low fat, and the supermarkets’ private labels. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.aussiefarmers.com.au/our-story/home-truths/permeate-in-milk/ Permeate in Milk - The Hidden Alternative Permeate In Milk – The Hidden Additive At Aussie Farmers Direct we believe ‘milk is milk’, simple as that, but not everybody does... Only the best, freshest, most wholesome milk, makes it into our bottles. Good old fashioned, Aussie milk, straight from Aussie cows, reared on Aussie soil, by Aussie farmers, bottled at Aussie Farmers Dairy with ‘no added permeate’, the way milk should be. However not all Aussie milk is just milk. Like anything in life you get what you pay for, and with some cheaper milks, you’re paying for added permeate, in some cases up to 12% at different times of the year. There is no requirement to declare the percentage of added permeate, so consumers have no idea it’s in their milk. What is Permeate? Permeate is a milk by-product that can occur during the production process. It is often used to standardise nutritional levels in milk. Basically it’s a cheap filler. Adding permeate to milk makes it cheaper to bottle, so fatter profits for those companies that practice it, an inferior product for consumers and less money for dairy farmers. Rest assured we won't ever compromise on the quality of our milk and we proudly label all our milk 'no added permeate' as a guarantee. Our Milk Promise: Always 100% Australian – Revitalising local communities. Quality - No added permeate ever in our milk, it’s creamier that way. Convenience - FREE home delivery to save you time and money. Everyday - Giving customers and farmers a fair go. ‘As the milk wars between supermarkets have crunched margins for major milk producers, industry sources say permeate is increasingly used to reduce the cost per litre’. - Source: The Age.