eli5 How are different types of milk made? Does a cow produce heavy whipping cream that just gets diluted down to skim milk?

Question

eli5 How are different types of milk made? Does a cow produce heavy whipping cream that just gets diluted down to skim milk?

In: 3

Answer 1

A cow produces whole milk which is milk with fats mixed in. These fats can be isolated and skimmed off to be used as things like butter and cream. The different kinds of milk like 2%, 1%, and skim have to do with how much fat is removed from the milk before it is sold.