The FDA accepts various product descriptors (Standards of Identity) for milk that has less than 0.5g of fat per cup. Organic Valley uses three different terms - Nonfat, Fat-Free, and Skim - based on the regional preferences of our consumers. Zero Fat and No Fat are also accepted by the FDA, though not used by Organic Valley.

High Temperature/Short Time (HTST) is the most common form of pasteurization in the dairy industry. Milk is heated to a required minimum temperature of 161°F for 15 seconds and pasteurized to kill any pathogenic bacteria that may be present. It is common to find a date code between 16 and 21 days from the date of manufacture on our HTST milk. This ensures a fresh, wholesome dairy product.

The HTST process is referred to as 'pasteurized' on the milk package. Organic Valley offers gallons and some half gallons of milk with HTST pasteurization.

Ultra-pasteurized (UP) milk has been flash-heated with injected steam to 280 degrees and then vacuum chilled rapidly. The result is milk with a longer shelf life.

Yes. The easiest way to know if Organic Valley milk (skim, low-fat, reduced-fat, whole) contains added vitamins is to check the ingredient label on the carton. If vitamins A or D are added to that milk, it will be listed in the ingredients. Vitamin A: We are required by law to add vitamin A to all of our skim/fat-free/nonfat fluid milk, low-fat (1%) fluid milk, and reduced-fat (2%) fluid milk. This is because vitamin A is "fat-soluble," so you lose vitamin A content when you reduce fat in fluid milk. We do add vitamin A to some of our whole fluid milk products also. For confirmation, please reference the ingredient label.

Vitamin D: We add vitamin D to all Organic Valley fluid milks. Vitamin D is naturally present in milk, but it can be low due to several factors like cow breed, seasonal exposure to sunlight, diet, and lactation. For confirmation, please reference the ingredient label.