Why does our raw milk last longer than most? It's our cleanliness and safety standards.

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January 12, 2024

Back in the day, nearly 10 years ago when I first became a customer, things were a lot different at Miller's Bio Farm. The barn was old and outdated, the packing facility was in a garage, we had a shipping container as a cooler and freezer, the equipment was older, and there were no firmly set processes. And, the milk would start souring after just a few days in the fridge.

Since then, Aaron the owner has changed things A LOT. It seems like it happened overnight, but it took a few years. He updated the barn and facilities and equipment (if you've visited then you know how oddly sparkly it is... at least for a farm). And, he created procedures to ensure the quality and safety of his milk. He's always improving.

Aaron's goal is for Miller's Bio Farm to produce the best natural dairy that's yummy, highly nutritious, and also ultra low risk.

We take cleanliness and milk safety very seriously. It's the reason why our RAW A2/A2 MILK lasts up to 2 weeks before it becomes too sour to palate, which is at least 25% longer than raw milk for most other farms.

You see, raw milk sours because of the living microbiology within. The bacteria naturally present in milk are lactic acid bacteria. This means they eat lactose (milk sugar, which is sweet) and produce lactic acid (which is sour). The more lactose they eat, the more the milk sours.

You can't stop the souring process, but you can slow it down. The cold fridge slows it down, and the freezer almost stops it. And, controlling and limiting general bacteria counts (especially bacteria from outside of the cow) slows it down, too.

Naturally occurring healthy microorganisms are present in raw milk. They are a good thing and a big reason why raw milk is touted for its health benefits. But, not all microorganisms in raw milk are good.

We don't want manure in the milk! We don't want potentially harmful pathogens in the milk! And, in the rare chance a cow falls ill, we don't want that in the milk, either! Controlling and limiting bad or extra bacteria is the key to making milk safer and last longer.

How do we ensure an ultra low risk product that lasts such a long time? We do this in so many ways, for both our RAW A2/A2 MILK for humans in PA as well as our raw milk for cats & dogs everywhere else! Here are the most important things we do:

We are certified by the State of Pennsylvania for raw milk production. That requires regular farm inspections every 2 months as well as periodic testing for:
- General bacteria counts (2x per month - within set limits)
- Salmonella (2x per year - zero tolerance)
- e.Coli (2x per year - zero tolerance)
- Listeria (2x per year - zero tolerance)
- Campylobacter (2x per year - zero tolerance)
- Brucellosis (1x per year - zero tolerance)
- Tuberculosis (1x per year - zero tolerance)
We test every batch of milk on site for general bacteria counts. This is above and beyond required testing, and our counts are always well below what's required for pasteurized milk! This means that we can catch any slack in cleaning (or the rare case of a sickness) immediately. You can view the test results since 2018 here.
We have meticulous sanitation practices for milking and bottling. This involves A LOT of cleaning of the cows, the barn, and the equipment (other farmers think we're crazy for this). You can read the details about the process here. And, here are things we do that most farms don't:
- Clean the udders and teats with great care, and that includes removing all manure from small divots on the teats.
- Spread gypsum under and around the cows to effectively keep the milking environment free of urine, manure, and the moisture it may leave behind.
- The milk is cooled to 38-42F in under 10 minutes.
- Wash equipment with water that's at least 180F. The high temp helps the cleaning process significantly, and we know this because of the on site testing.

When delivering your order, we keep the frozen frozen and the fresh fresh. We maintain optimal temps for the best quality products. We have worked hard to figure out how to pack milk for mail shipping, delivery in our refrigerated vans, and pickup at our locations.

Why? Why do we put this extra effort in? Why are we so serious about milk safety? There are 2 big reasons:

Your safety is our priority.
We want to be a reliable source for real food.

Do you value milk safety? What practices do you look for when shopping for milk? Or are the government regulations enough to make you feel comfortable?

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear) orcontact us.

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

I was misinformed. At some point, I read that raw milk contains lactase. As it turns out, this is not true! It is true that raw milk contains many live enzymes that are inactivated during pasteurization. But, what about lactase? I’ve heard many anecdotal stories from people who are lactose intolerant... but can handle raw milk or fermented dairy. If raw milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheese doesn’t contain lactase, then why is that?

Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the bones. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment. And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you pre-soak with apple cider vinegar and simmer for 48 hours to make it thick and gelatinous (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead: (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We got the test results back. I was super excited. But, I was also confused. At face value, it appeared that our bone broth tested NEGATIVE for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the test results right here! You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<0.01 mg/kg" and "<0.02 mg/kg". I asked the lab what the "<" means. They said that it indicates their limit of quantitation (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So the results simply report that none of the metals tested were found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQs. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that is not provided by the test. When talking to the lab, I told them what we needed and assumed that this test would go below a 1 ppb. So, when the results came in, I assumed that a "mg/kg" was the same as a part per billion (ppb). Ummm... that math wasn't write! A "mg/kg" is actually a part per million (ppm). That means that the test we ran had results saying that the broth had less than 0.02 ppm (or 20 ppb) of arsenic and lead. And, it had less than 0.01 ppm (or 10 ppb) of cadmium and mercury. For some reference, the EPA says that less than 15 ppb of lead is safe in drinking water. Not saying that I agree, but it's a good reference point. These results are good. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals. But, it's not good enough!!! We need to test again! We really need to a lower LOQ. We need to know the results with an accuracy of as low as 1 ppb. It looks like the lab we sent the original samples to doesn't have an LOQ that low. So here I am on the hunt for a lab to do it again. As soon as I can, I'll send samples in again and paying for more expensive testing to get the info you deserve. Stay tuned! I hope to have the new results in by the end of April 2025. Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research Review

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Why does our raw milk last longer than most? It's our cleanliness and safety standards.

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566