Chilled, from the farm to the factory
During milking the milk still has the same temperature as the cow. In many countries the milk is then chilled as quickly as possible and disappears directly into a milk cooling tank.
Some dairy farmers transport the warm milk to the milk cooling tank through pipes that lie against pipes filled with cold water. In this way, the milk already cools down en route and the water is warmed up. The warmed water is heated further and used to clean the milking equipment.
The milk cooling tank stirs the milk and keeps it chilled at about 4 °C.
In many countries working with milk cooling tanks is subject to regulations. All milk cooling tanks are fitted with monitoring equipment. If the cooling or cleaning system is not working properly, an alarm goes off.
Immediately after the milk truck has collected the milk from the dairy farmer, the inside of the milk cooling tank is thoroughly cleaned.
The tank of the milk truck is insulated, ensuring that the milk is still chilled when it reaches the dairy plant. There, the raw milk is processed further and its shelf life is extended, for instance by heating.
Read more about the shelf life of milk and dairy products