Low-Fat Milk Is More Than Just Watered-Down Dairy - Tasting Table

"At dairies, workers spin raw milk at high speeds in centrifuges to separate the milk fat (also called butterfat) from the liquid. Then, they just add back the fat to the liquid in different proportions. To make reduced-fat milk, 2% of the fat is added back (that's why it's called "2% milk"). For low-fat milk it's 1%, and so on. As you can see, not a drop of water is added throughout the entire process."

"The FDA is going to shut that down very quickly. It has specific rules on what can be labeled and sold as milk, known as "standards of identity." Dairies can add a certain amount of vitamins, flavorings, and even juice to some milk products - but this is where it stops. Adding water falls outside of these standards, so the watered-down milk literally can't be called milk."

"Despite having less fat, you probably won't taste much of a difference between all the lower-fat versions and whole milk - and that's not just our personal opinion. A study published in the Family and Community Health journal found that most people cannot distinguish between whole milk and low-fat milk in blind taste tests. Our taste buds, as it turns out, simply aren't sensitive enough to pick up on those fat differences."

Milk labels indicate butterfat percentage, with whole, 2%, 1%, and skim representing progressively lower fat content. Milk processors separate cream from milk using centrifuges, then recombine the fat in measured proportions to create reduced-fat products. No water is added during standard processing of reduced-fat milks. FDA standards of identity govern what can be labeled and sold as milk and prohibit adding water; dairies may fortify some products with vitamins, flavorings, or juice but cannot dilute milk with water. Blind taste tests find most people cannot reliably distinguish whole from low-fat milk. Low-fat milks perform adequately in many cooking and baking uses.

Read at Tasting Table