Skimmed milk

Skimmed milk (United Kingdom and Canada), or skim milk (United States of America and Australia) is made when all the cream (also called milkfat) is removed from whole milk.

It is also common for different cows to be used that eat more nutritional grass making the cow lighter.

Sometimes only half the cream is removed; this is called semi-skimmed milk.

Skimmed milk is more popular in the United States than Britain.

Skimmed milk contains less fat than whole milk, and as such many nutritionists and doctors recommend it for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. On the other hand, some consider skimmed milk to actually be less healthy than whole milk, questioning the extent to which animal fat contributes to weight gain.

In the UK, milk is marketed and labelled as follows:

• Whole milk is about 4% fat
• Semi skimmed milk is 1.7% fat
• Skimmed milk is between 0.1-0.3% fat

In the USA, milk is marketed primarily by fat content and available in these varieties:

• Whole Milk is 3.25% fat
• 2% Reduced-Fat Milk
• 1% Lowfat Milk (also called Light Milk)
• 0% Fat-Free Milk (also called skim milk or Nonfat Milk)

Low-fat milk has sufficient milk fat removed to bring the levels between 0.5-2% It also must contain at least 8.25% solids-not-fat. It must contain 2000IU of vitamin A per quart.

Skim milk Also called non fat milk has had sufficient milk-fat removed to bring the level to less than 0.5%.

Nutrition Facts ( Serving Size 1 cup (236 ml)) Calories 80 Total Fat 0 Cholesterol <5 mg Sodium 125mg total carbohydrate 13g Protein 8g Vitamin A 10% Vitamin c 10% Vitamin D 25% Calcium 30%

See also

• Fat content of milk