Eli5: If the milk of each cow is unique, how come all milk bottles of a brand taste the same?

Question

I remember tasting milk of many cows in my family farm. Each cow had a “signature” taste and part of the experience of drinking milk was enjoying the different tastes. The taste of milk of one single cow depends on many factors: age, diet, health, etc. Then, how do companies standardise the taste of their bottled milk? Best case scenario I can imagine is that producers blends the milk of many cows, but this is definitely no guarantee of a standardised taste. How is this achieved?

In: 462

Answer 1

When you buy a bottle of homogenized milk at the store, you’re not getting milk from a single cow. Homogenization is the process by which the milk from many cows is mixed together, and then bottled. Pasteurization also affects the taste, and is mandatory for every bottle of commercially available milk.