Milk Processing Stages
Milk Collection
One of our milk trucks visits and collects the milk from each of our suppliers every two days to ensure the milk we get is the freshest it can be. These farmer/suppliers are approved by the Department of Agriculture & Food which means their milk maybe used for liquid milk processing, sale and consumption.
Milk Reception
On arrival at Wexford Creamery, the producers’ milk is weighed. It is then tested by
our quality control laboratory. Once the milk is approved for use it is pumped into our
milk storage silos via a chilling unit
Processing
The processing of milk while continuous can be divided into three key components.
Separation. Using a separator milk is standardized subject to product type. eg Fresh milk 3.5% fat, Low fat 1.5% , skim milk 0 % fat, whipping cream 40 % fat Homogenisation. This is a very important part of the process where by the standardised product is put through the homogeniser. Under high pressure the fat globules are reduced in size enabling them to stay suspended and evenly dispersed in the milk.
Pasteurisation
The heat-treatment of milk is a most important factor in the quality of the finished product. This means bringing it to a minimum temperature of 73°C for 22 seconds and then rapidly cooled to 4°C. This will kill or render inactive the spoilage bacteria which are found in milk.
Packaging, storage and distribution
The milk is then packed into Tetra-pak cartons , plastic bottles, or catering packs in various pack sizes using a range of sophisticated filling equipment, and stored in our dispatch fridges at 4 0c.
Our refrigerated delivery vans collect and distribute the milk to all our customers
daily including doorstep, shops/supermarkets and catering (Hotel/ restaurants)
customers.
Click here for the Nutritional Composition of Milk
