The Best Thing Right Now…

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The New York Sun

Brita water filtration systems have been bridging the gap between tap and bottled water for 40 years. Now an upstate dairy is applying the same idea to milk in an attempt to find a middle ground between organic and inorganic varieties. Mountainside Farms, a new division of Elmhurst Dairy, introduced “UltraPure” milk earlier this month. While it is not certified organic (cattle feed may not be free from pesticides), UltraPure comes from cows that are not treated with antibiotics or supplementary hormones. The milk also goes through an additional filtration system, which cleans it of bacteria, cells, and other debris prior to pasteurization.

Mountainside is the first American company known to employ this technology, according to a senior vice president of the National Milk Producers Federation, Robert Byrne.

“Consumers are looking for a more pure product with less additives, which explains the growth of organic milk,” the president of Mountainside Farms, Cyrus Schwartz, said. “The problem is the cost.”

Organic milk consumption is on the rise, but it still accounts for just 2.1% of the market, according to International Dairy Foods Association data. A half-gallon of milk generally retails for less than $2, while the same quantity of organic milk can sell for more than $4. A half-gallon of UltraPure costs about $2.50.

UltraPure fat-free, whole, 1% lowfat, and 2% reduced fat milk is now available at nearly 150 supermarkets in the New York metropolitan area.


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