What is the Best Milk for Kids & Toddlers?

We get it. Grocery store shelves have become confusing and over-crowded with “milk” options. Use the following as a guide to help you navigate the numerous product attributes and call-outs!

Common Milk Attributes & What They Mean

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Organic

Not all organic dairy is equal. What do we mean by that? Well, it’s simple. There are many large organic dairy brands that are doing the bare minimum to be organic. They have large farming operations, pasteurize products at high temperatures, and use all sorts of gums and stabilizers. We at Kalona SuperNatural like to keep things simple. We work with small Amish and Mennonite family farms in the Midwest, where the average herd is 35 cows. These small farmers know that cows do best when out grazing on pasture and by far exceed the minimums of the organic standards. Our farmers know the cows. They give them names. And they appreciate all that they do for their farm and lifestyle. Our farmers have it made. Everyday they get to look out their windows, past their horse and buggies, and see rolling pasture. The cows our grazing on pasture is a beautiful site. Organic herds graze a minimum of 120 on fresh pasture. As mentioned, most of our producers exceed that requirement because they know it is best for the animals.

100% Grass-fed Dairy

If you’re looking specifically for 100% Grass-fed dairy, be sure to looking for these two symbols on products, American Grass-fed Association (AGA) and Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) are both certifiers. This certification guarantees that the cows are 100% grass-fed. Dairy products made with 100% grass-fed cows milk have high levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and a balanced Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio, both associated with a wide variety of health benefits including immune system support, reduced body fat, lessened risk of heart attack and more. Kalona SuperNatural has two 100% Grass-fed products on the market right now, Plain and Vanilla Kefir. We hope to expand our 100% grass-fed product offering in the future.

Ultra-Filtered and Ultra-Pasteurized

Ultra is a tricky word. Many think the word ‘ultra’ is a good thing, but when it comes to dairy that’s not the case. When you see the word ultra-filtered or ultra-pasteurized on dairy, you can correlate that with overly processed. Ultra-filtered products use a mechanical process to break the milk down into separate components and then use those individual ingredients to rebuild milk so that it fits a certain profile. For example, high protein milk, you can rest assured that it has been processed in this manner or fortified with additional ingredients. Next time you’re in a grocery store, we encourage you to look at several milk labels and read the ingredients. Pasteurization is a method of heating milk to destroy bacteria. See pasteurization infographic. Ultra-pasteurized is a method where milk is heated to 280 degrees F or above which kills any bacteria in the product, good or bad. The main reason why brands choose to UHT (Ultra High Temp) Pasteurize is to extend the product shelf life.

How long do you think fresh milk should last? Most fresh milk is good up to 19 days or so. UHT milk can have a shelf life of 6-9 months when unopened. Depending on how it is packaged, some is even shelf stable including some very common childrens’ options. We urge you to rethink your purchase the next time you’re buying milk in a non-refrigerated section. There are several great thermos options for kids!

rBST Hormone-Free

The rBST hormone, or the bovine growth hormone, is a hormone given to cows to increase their milk production levels. Currently, the FDA does not ban the use of this hormone, but it is banned in several other countries. There is much controversy surrounding the use of rBST on farms. USDA organic standards regulate the use of this hormone, it is not allowed in organic dairy. So if you want to avoid added hormones, we recommend choosing organic milk!

Non-GMO

Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs, are very common in food production and animal feed. One thing a lot of consumers don’t realize is that if a product is USDA Certified Organic, it is inherently Non-GMO. All you have to remember is, Organic means Non-GMO. However, the Non-GMO project has done a wonderful job with their labelling initiative. We will be releasing refresh milk labels in 2018 and they will feature the Non-GMO project verified seal. In a nutshell, if you want to avoid GMOs, look the USDA Certified Organic or the Non-GMO Project Verified seal.

Why Choose Kalona SuperNatural Organic Dairy Products

At Kalona SuperNatural we strive to provide you with the best milk for your family. We understand your commitment to a healthy household and planet, we work with small family farms to bring you delicious, certified organic cream-topped products from grass-fed cows. And we deliver our dairy products to you in the most natural state possible. You’ll taste the difference.

Kalona SuperNatural products meet these standards:

• USDA Certified Organic
• Grass-fed
• Minimally-Processed
  • Batch or VAT pasteurized at low temps destroying unwanted pathogens, but leaving the healthy bacteria
  • Non-homogenized with a delicious cream top
• No use of hormones or antibiotics

As Amy, from Yummy Toddler Foods, notes, “Your toddler should eat a range of dairy products to get lots of nutrition (and probiotics from foods like yogurt and aged cheeses) from their foods, not just milk.” Be sure to check out our organic yogurt and cottage cheese!

Share your #SuperNaturalParent story with us!

Have you already fallen in love with our products? We want to hear about it! Share your experience on social media using the hashtags #supernaturalparent and #supernaturalkid. Stay tuned for our upcoming photo contest!

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