04-018 Fresh milk vs. Milk drinks

04-018
Fresh milk vs. Milk drinks

Talking about milk, in a city with a population of over 7 million, the total number of dairy farm in Hong Kong is zero. Yes, all milk products you can find in the city are imported. Not even a single drop of milk is produced locally.

Do you like milk?

Image Source: Pixabay

It was not like this. We used to have several dairy farms. Due to the continuous salary rise, tightening of the food regulations, and scarcity of land, dairy farms were moving away from Hong Kong over the previous decades.

These all came to an end in 2008 when the last dairy farm, Hong Ning Dairy revoked their milking license and moved their cattle to China. It is absolutely okay for them to do this. They strived till the end and should not be blamed by anyone.

But instead of telling the truth to the public, this farm chose to lie. They locked up their cattle depot, claiming the new food regulations do not allow visitors milking their cattle anymore. And not only milking, they even not allow the public to walk close. Because there is always a concern among the locals on food safety in mainland China, Hong Ning Milk, claiming to be the last surviving dairy farm in Hong Kong, became the golden boy, until being discovered by the press in 2015.

Hong Ning started becoming suspicious because the wordings printed on their bottles changed from "Fresh Milk" to "Milk Drinks". What the heck is "Milk Drinks"? The term  is used for any milk products that are not 100% milk. Normally, they are made by dissolving milk powder into water, adding additional ingredients such as calcium or favor.

Being heavily criticized, Hong Ning nearly disappeared since then. Only very few shops still sell Hong Ning. No one knows where did their cattle go. Being moved to their new farm in China? Being slaughtered and eaten? Being released into the wild? Or all dead because of disease? It is still a mystery. Hong Ning disappeared completely before the pandemic.

"Vita", "Nestle Dairy Farm", "Trappist" & "Kowloon Dairy" being sold in 7-Eleven

So what about the others? There are still 5 local brands producing milk products, all using imported milk sources. They are the "Trappist Milk", "Kowloon Dairy", "Vita", "Nestle Dairy Farm" and "Farm Milk". The first 4 brands can be found in
most supermarkets and 7-Elevens while "Farm Milk" can be found in city’super, together with the other 4. But watch out! If you do not want to buy those watery milk powder mixture, make sure you can find the word "Fresh Milk" on the packing instead of "Milk Drink" or "Milk Beverage".

"Farm Milk" sold in city’super

Apparently, all products from "Farm Milk" are pure milk while all Vita's are "Milk Drinks". The others 3 sell both.

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