What do the 2% and 1% milk fat in milk mean?

Question

When I go to the grocery store, there are always:

whole milk
2% reduced fat milk
1% reduced fat milk
skim milk

What do the percentages represent? Please, only answer if you actually know the answer.

Answer 1

1% milk means fluid milk with not less than 0.9% butterfat and not more than 1.1% butterfat and may contain vitamins A & D;
2% milk means fluid milk with not less than 1.9% butterfat and not more than 2.1% butterfat and may contain vitamins A & D;
skim milk means fluid milk that contains not more than 0.2% butterfat and may contain vitamins A & D;
From the website, http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/regs/2000/pdf/105-m130.00.pdf

Whole milk: Regular milk. Close to 4% fat.
webexhibits.org/butter/glossary-sz.html
from: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:Whole+milk&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

Please note that these are "official" definitions. In real life, a cow gives milk with about 16% to 20% butterfat. What is sold in grocery stores nowadays is what we always referred to as "skimmed" milk; most of the fat has been removed to make butter, etc.

Answer 2

Low Fat Milk Definition

Answer 3

It is the percentage of fat that is in the milk. For example, there is 2% fat in 2% milk and 1% in 1% milk.

Answer 4

Whole milk these days has about 3 -31/2 per cent fat.
2% has only 2% fat.
1% has 1% fat.
Skim milk has no fat.
So even whole milk is 96-1/2 to 97% fat free.

Answer 5

What percentage of the milk is made of fat. Whole milk is 4% fat.

Answer 6

As the grandson of a dairy farmer this is the way it is, as best as I remember.

Milk right out of the cow is very strong.

When you separate the milk into components, you get things like cream (very high in fat) butter (made by churning air into milk fat) cheese (make from milk fat that is churned until all of the liquid is removed, sometime its pushed through a piece of "cheese cloth" to make the grain of the cheese very fine, then aged until its solid).
Milk is processed these days, pasturized to kill bacteria, and the fat content reduced to 3.5% (I call it the high octane version), 2% is closer to being just water, 1% I don't drink, it tastes like drinking from a glass that you ran water into to wash out 3.5%, and skim milk,which is like skimming the water off the top of whole milk.

Milk is a natural source of calcium. Some people are lactose intolerant (lactose being a chemical part of the makeup of milk)
Soy milk is not milk. Its a soy extract made to resemble the taste and look of milk.

So whole milk is not whole milk, it is 3.5% butter fat processed whole milk. If you want to taste whole milk go to a local dairy farm, they will sell you a gallon, right out of the pasteurizer, better get ready for a taste shock...

Answer 7

I myself enjoy drinking skim milk if it's plain. But when I drink chocolate milk I like 2%. Everything else is skim.

Answer 8

Go for kettlebell workouts — the average joe burns 400 calories in 20 a few minutes.

Answer 9

well whole milk is just plain milk and 1%, 2%, and skim milk is just watered down milk.

Answer 10

When boredom, depression, or stress causes cravings, find a nonfood way to satisfy them such as going on a walk, calling a friend, having a bath, reading a book, or doing some yoga.