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Margaret Murray, Swinburne University of TechnologyIf you’re browsing the supermarket fridge for reduced-fat milk, it’s easy to be confused by the many different types.
You can find options labelled skim, skimmed, skinny, no fat, extra light, lite, light, low fat, reduced fat, semi skim and HiLo (high calcium, low fat).
So what’s the difference between two of these common milks – skim milk and light milk? How are they made? And which one’s healthier?
What do they contain?
Skim milk
In Australia and New Zealand, skim milk is defined as milk that contains no more than 1.5% milk fat and has at least 3% protein. On the nutrition information panel this looks like less than 1.5 grams of fat and at least 3g protein per 100 millilitres of milk.
But the fat content of skim milk can be as low as 0.1% or 0.1g per 100mL.
Light milk
Light milk is sometimes spelled “lite” but they’re essentially the same thing.
While light milk is not specifically defined in Australia and New Zealand, the term “light” is defined for food generally. If we apply the rules to milk, we can say light milk must contain no more than 2.4% fat (2.4g fat per 100mL).
In other words, light milk contains more fat than skim milk.
You can find the fat content by reading the “total fat per 100mL” on the label’s nutrition information...
