How Now Brown Cow?

     The NPR report that “seven percent of adults still think that chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows,” got me thinking. 

     Breed and coloration can factor into milk production, reports Anne Arundel 4H-er Patricia Williams, who notes that Holsteins are the best milking cow. A single Holstein produces some 2,674 gallons of milk each year.

     But neither the cow’s color nor her breed affects the color of the milk. “All milk is white,” Williams says, “but the shades of white will vary depending upon the composition or what is dissolved in the milk. The amounts of casein, calcium complexes and water-soluble riboflavin contribute to milk’s opaque or ivory color by interfering with light transmission.”

     A cow’s diet has more effect on milk’s taste than its color. But that’s only in raw milk. “Pasteurization,” Williams says, “makes the milk taste uniform.”

     Chocolate milk comes from the syrup, not the cow. If white milk doesn’t suit you, reach for a bottle of chocolate syrup and squeeze in as much as you like.