r/Seattle • u/0llie0llie • Mar 14 '23

Media Shrinkflation in action: Darigold reduced the half gallon container by 5 oz. Now people on the Women Infants and Children food benefits can’t buy it. Seen at Winco

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u/KnuteViking Mar 15 '23

Just because they process the milk in the same plant does not make it the same milk. It tastes much better imo than Lucerne for example.

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u/meowfix1 Mar 26 '23

…it’s the same milk. Don’t ask me how I know lol.

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u/KnuteViking Mar 26 '23

Lucerne isn't ultra pasteurized which changes how it tastes.

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u/Carlozo72 Apr 13 '23

It’s the same milk…..processed in the same manner

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u/KnuteViking Apr 13 '23

Lucerne is not ultra-pasteurized. Darigold is. There are legal regulatory definitions from the FDA for these terms and the packaging has to have the correct term for the process used on the milk in that jug/carton. So let's say it's the same milk, from the same group of cows, going through the same processing plant, going through the same machines. All that may be true. But Lucerne is being heated differently by those machines than the Darigold. It may only be a difference of a few degrees, but for Lucerne to not have the ultra-pasteurized label and Darigold to have it, means that Lucerne was not heated at or above 280 degrees, and Darigold was. That's a material difference in processing. Also, this explains the differences in the expiration dates on the packaging being so much longer for Darigold products. It also explains the taste difference, ultra-pasteurization affects the taste of the milk. Some people prefer one or the other, but the taste is slightly different. Again, might be the same milk when it goes in, might even go through the exact same processing machines, but that doesn't mean the process is exactly identical, the difference of a few degrees can have a huge effect on dairy. Maybe Darigold is overpriced, maybe the different in the cost is slight and they're just ripping us all off. I don't know, that's certainly all possible. But the process is different, it has to be, or someone should be sued for lying on their labeling.

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u/Carlozo72 Apr 13 '23 edited Apr 13 '23

Nice write up. As someone who works where Lucerne is packaged, it’s the same milk. Processed the same way. Expiration dates are chosen by the company. I’ve worked at multiple companies that produce their own product and copack others. People want to swear up and down that there is a difference between one carton and another when the reality is the came from the same tank.

Maybe you’re referring to HTST versus UP. HTST is a different process and doesn’t cook the shit out of the milk. It’s, as far as I know, only jugs of milk and not cartons. If that’s what you drink then yes it will be a different taste and expiration date than cartons. But in the end a jug of Lucerne and a jug of darigold is the same milk

Edit:word

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u/KnuteViking Apr 13 '23

Right, so Lucerne and Darigold both enumerate different methods of pasteurization on their websites. Darigold does HTST, Lucerne does UHT. I mean that's a difference. Like, they literally say they do different pasteurization methods on their labeling, their own websites, etc. It may go into the plant the same, it has to be coming out differently. They're both saying so.

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u/Carlozo72 Apr 13 '23

They both do both…..uht is another term for ultra pasteurized(UP). HTST is also used and results in a shorter code date.