Which Milk is Better? (Part 2)
In Which Milk is Better? (Part 1), I decided on the ideal alternative milk for Vee:
- Regular pasteurised whole organic milk from grass-fed cows and/or
- homemade yoghurt made from organic milk from grass-fed cows
- 500 to 600ml (or mg) per day
- plus a multi-vitamin
(Vee’s diet is primarily vegetarian, with one serving of fish about 4 times a week. He also eats eggs about 4 times a week.)
Over the past two months, we have tried six types of dairy products, namely:
- Organic Valley Organic Full Cream Milk
- True Organic Organic Full Cream Milk
- Farmhouse Full Cream Milk
- PURA Milk
- Enfapro A+ Formula Milk Powder
- EasiYo: Bio-Life Organic (Full Cream) Yoghurt
This article compares the nutritional value, cost and other factors of the above products. Except for Enfapro A+ Formula Milk Powder, the other items can be consumed by adults too.
1. Organic Valley Organic Full Cream Milk
This is the only organic fresh full cream milk that we found in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Source: Australia
- Packed in: Australia
- Cow’s main diet: Organic vegetarian (which could mean grains, instead of grass)
- Organic certification: Yes (Australian Certified Organic)
- Processing: Pasteurised and homogenised
- Price: RM23.49 per litre (~USD7.35 or SGD10.03)
- Available at: The Village Grocer, Bangsar Village (Stocks infrequently replenished)
We like the taste and drank it for a few weeks. It is the MOST expensive milk among the six.
Special Note: This brand from Australia is different from another well-known “Organic Valley” brand from the U.S — the logos are different.
Strengths:
- Certified organic
- High in fats (4.0g per 100ml)
- Pasteurised and homogenised
- No additives
Weaknesses:
- Low in calcium (82mg per 100ml) and carbohydrates (4.5g per 100ml)
- Unknown whether cows are grass- or grain-fed
- No company website for further clarification
- Infrequently stocked
- High price
2. True Organic Organic Full Cream Milk
This is the only organic UHT full cream milk that we found in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Source: Australia
- Packed in: Australia
- Cow’s main diet: Grass
- Organic certification: Yes (NASAA)
- Processing: Pasteurised and homogenised
- Price: RM11.50 per litre (~USD3.60 or SGD4.91)
- Available at: The Village Grocer, Bangsar Village (Stocks are usually plentiful)
The taste is less rich and we drank it for a week. Being UHT milk, it is convenient to bring during travels.
Strengths:
- Certified organic
- Cows are grass-fed
- No additives
Weaknesses:
- Low in energy (259kJ per 100ml)
- Processed by UHT
3. Farmhouse Full Cream Milk
After we could not get Organic Valley Full Cream Milk several times, we turned to Farmhouse.
- Source: Australia
- Packed in: Australia
- Cow’s main diet: “Grazing in the pastures (grass), hay, various types of grains, and cotton seed” (Email from F&N Dairies (M) Sdn Bhd)
- Organic certification: No
- Processing: Pasteurised and homogenised
- Price: RM6.50 to RM7 per litre (~USD2.11 or SGD2.88)
- Available at: Most supermarkets (Stocks are usually plentiful)
The taste is rich and we have been drinking it for several weeks.
Special Note: This is different from the Farmhouse Full Cream Milk we bought in Singapore. The Singaporean-version is packed in Singapore and slightly cheaper.
Strengths:
- Pasteurised and homogenised
- No additives
- Widely available
- Low price
Weaknesses:
- Cows are not mainly grass-fed
- Not certified organic
4. PURA Milk
Another fresh milk from cows in Australia, which I decided to give it a try.
- Source: Australia
- Packed in: Malaysia
- Cow’s main diet: “All our milk is from ‘free range’ cows, i.e. not placed in barns and feed on hay and grains, but kept in paddocks to eat grass, supplemented with hay and other feed if the grass levels are too low.” (email reply from National Foods, owner of PURA)
- Organic certification: No
- Processing: Pasteurised and homogenised
- Price: About RM7 per litre (based on RM14 per 2-litre bottle) (~USD2.19 or SGD2.99)
- Available at: Cold Storage and other supermarkets (Stocks are usually plentiful)
The taste is less appealing than Farmhouse and we drank it over a few days.
Strengths:
- Pasteurised and homogenised
- Cows are mainly grass-fed
- No additives
- High in energy, protein, fat and calcium (refer to Nutrition Information below)
- Widely available
- Low price
Weaknesses:
- Not certified organic
- About 2-3 bottles was slightly sour when we opened them. When this happened, Vee would be very sensitive to the taste and refuse to drink the milk.
5. Enfapro A+ Formula Milk Powder
We had a 2 days 1 night trip to Ipoh. Bringing formula milk powder would be more convenient than liquid milk, so I let Vee try it a few days before the trip. (The most convenient is still direct breastfeeding!) Various brands of formula milk powder are not compared because Vee would rarely drink it. The choice is based on a relative’s recommendation as both her children are drinking it.
- Source: Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the U.S.
- Packed in: Thailand
- Cow’s main diet: Unknown
- Organic certification: No
- Processing: Pasteurised, homogenised, UHT and spray-drying (Inferred from Wikipedia)
- Price: About RM15.70 per litre of milk (Based on RM39.30 per 400ml tin, more cost-efficient for larger tins) (~USD4.91 or SGD6.70)
- Available at: Most major supermarkets
I do not like the artificial taste. Fortunately, Vee accepted it. At home, this is the least convenient as it needs to be prepared. I prefer to pour fresh milk into a cup and feed Vee immediately.
Strengths:
- High in energy and carbohydrate (refer to Nutrition Information below)
- No need to supplement with multi-vitamin
- Widely available
Weaknesses:
- Unknown whether cows are grass- or grain-fed
- Not certified organic
- Low in protein, fat and calcium (refer to Nutrition Information below)
- Processing steps (other than pasterisation and homogenisation) unknown
- Contains additives
Similar to many formula milk in the market nowadays, there’s added DHA in Enfapro A+. The level is one of the higher ones I observed, at least in Kuala Lumpur, which explains its higher price. However, I’m not convinced that added DHA is all good due to the controversy surrounding it. For instance, read USDA Calls for Removal of DHA/ARA From Organic Formula here.
Moreover, Vee’s able to get DHA from breastmilk (previously), and now from free-range eggs and oily fishes such as salmon and mackerel.
6. EasiYo: Bio-Life Organic (Full Cream) Yoghurt
Since pregnancy, I have been making EasiYo organic yoghurt at home with its yoghurt maker. Homemade organic yoghurt is fresher and more cost-efficient than off-the-shelf ones (which cost about RM50 per litre, 2.5 times as much).
It is easy to make fresh yoghurt with EasiYo:
- Add cold water and yoghurt powder into the inner jar, cover the lid, and shake to mix well.
- Fill outer jar with hot water to the recommended level.
- Place inner jar into the outer jar.
- Cover and let it stand for 8 to 12 hours.
- Place into the refrigerator and consume within 2 weeks.
- Source: New Zealand
- Packed in: New Zealand
- Cow’s main diet: Grass
- Organic certification: Yes (NZ Agriquality)
- Processing: Pasteurised and homogenised (Other steps: unknown)
- Price: RM19 to RM20 per litre of yoghurt (RM109 for yoghurt maker or RM99.90 for starter pack promotion) (~USD6.10 or SGD8.33)
- Available at: Selected organic shops, pharmacies and Ambery.com.my
This yoghurt is relatively sour, yet Vee LOVES it, whether plain or with thick cereal. I prefer to eat it with fruits, nuts and/or seeds.
Strengths:
- Certified organic
- Cows are mainly grass-fed
- High in fat and calcium (refer to Nutrition Information below)
- 5 strains of live lactic cultures
Weaknesses:
- Processing steps (other than pasterisation and homogenisation) unknown
- Contains additives (natural emulsifier and soy lecithin)
Conclusions
- We did not find any “regular pasteurised whole organic milk from grass-fed cows”.
- PURA Milk is a good alternative being a “regular pasteurised whole milk from mainly grass-fed cows”.
- EasiYo: Bio-Life Organic (Full Cream) Yoghurt matches the criteria for “homemade yoghurt made from organic milk from grass-fed cows”.
That’s it: Vee and I would be eating EasiYo organic yoghurt and drinking PURA Milk, until we find even better options.
Update on 31 January 2011: Because a few bottles of PURA Milk (bought in Kuala Lumpur) tasted “off” when opened, we’ve stopped buying them. Nowadays, Vee drinks Farmhouse Full Cream Milk and eats EasiYo organic yoghurt.
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Get Your Special Download:
This summary table compares the nutrition value, price and other factors of the 6 dairy products discussed.
- Summary Table: Compare Dairy Products for Toddler (webpage in new window)
- Summary Table: Compare Dairy Products for Toddler (pdf document)
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Other Useful References:
P.S. If you have any recommendation for fresh and nutritious dairy product, please share in the comment box.
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Note: The above opinions are from our own experiences, which may differ from yours. For advice on nutritional needs, please check with a qualified medical professional.
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Hi, I’d just like to thank you, I’ve been wondering if there are any fresh organic milk available in Malaysia, and I’m quite pleased to have stumbled upon your reviews. Keep them coming
Oh, and I’ve been wondering too whether Malaysia allows the use of rBGH, the Monsanto hormone for cows in Malaysia. Would appreciate some light on that matter, if anybody reading this knows. Thank you!
Hi Ainil, thank you very much for your encouraging words.
Referring to “Bovine somatotropin” at Wikipedia (last section on “Regulation outside the United States”, Malaysia is not mentioned as a nation that bans rBST.
did some more online research today, and came up with this:
http://squalli.com/blog/2008/04/genetically-engineered-rice-found-in.html
which listed Malaysia as one of the countries using rBST.
but the article’s link to the monsanto site doesn’t have the said list of countries using rBGH/rBST/Posilac, or whatever else they want to call it.
..then I found that there’s a Monsanto Sdn. bhd. in Pasir Gudang, they seem to provide GM soy and rBST among others..huh..
Question by a Mummy from Singapore:
“Hi MieVee,
Your article about fresh milk is very useful. However, I am exclusive
pumping now and can only provide 2 bottles of breastmilk out of 6 to 7
feeds a day for my 5 months old baby. She is currently drinking Dumex
Mamex formula.
Question, I am thinking of switching to fresh milk when she turns one
year old but how do you give it to your kid. Serve cold or do you warm
it up?”
My reply:
Thank you very much for your email.
I offer fresh milk to my boy right out of the fridge, since he likes it (especially during warm weather).
He perspires very easily and his tummy is fine taking cold drinks.
This is cleared by a babycare book and our home-visit nurse.
In fact, even EBM can be offered to baby right out from fridge if baby likes it cold.
Of course, if baby has a sensitive tummy for cold drinks or has a “cool” (liang2) body, warming it up a little to room temperature would be good.
Just pour the milk into baby’s cup / bottle and place in a bigger cup / bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
When transiting to fresh milk, do it very gradually to ensure that your baby’s body can accept it well.
(Your question and this answer would be shared in the “comments” section for other Mummies’ benefit, while keeping your name anonymous.)
In the meantime, it is wonderful that you are giving as much breastmilk as possible to your baby.
Keep it up and keep in touch!
Hi,
Tq for your sharing info..very good article..
will try what you have proposed..
currently, i am still fully breastfeed..same as youu.. plan to have baby next year..that’s why i wanna stop breastfeed..
i hv let my 1yr and 2mths baby try few brands of formula milk..but my bb alwiz reject it..
how do you give the milk to your baby? thru sippy cup? straw cup? or bottle?
i used the straw cup..
i will try to introduce the fresh milk.. hope my baby like it..
appreciate if you could forward your reply to my email too..
tq
Hi aida, thank you very much for your compliment.
Do note that fresh milk can only be tried from 12 months onwards. Introduction needs to be done gradually to ensure the toddler’s body can accept it.
My boy rejected the bottle teat, soft spout and straw, so we have been using an open cup, bowl or spoon.
The cups that we tried are shared here.
You’re most welcome and keep in touch! Oh, and good luck in having your next baby.
I’ve been going to a lot of stores, but i’ve yet to find EasiYo: Bio-Life Organic (Full Cream) Yoghurt anywhere. Where did you buy it in Malaysia? (I’m in KL/Subang Jaya)
Thanks!
Hi Aizah, so far I only found it at The Gardens (KL), basement level, Vitacare (pharmacy). Usually, I scoop up all the available stock, ha!
Alternatively, try ordering from the distributor at http://www.ambery.com.my/product_info.php?cPath=31_51&products_id=101. I’ve not tried ordering online before, would do so if the pharmacy runs of out stock for too long.
Hi,
I did my fair share of research too before deciding on my daughter’s dairy intake. As she was only 13mths at the time (I found my milk supply dwindling due to 2nd pregnancy) I decided on fresh milk , cheese and/or yogurt for breakfast and FM before nap and bedtime. For FM, I settled on Bellamy Organic Follow up milk. It really tastes good and I feel assured that my daughter is not consuming a product with unnecessary additives. I get it delivered straight from distributor here in SG.
HI Sarina, thank you for sharing. Yes, I’ve heard of Bellamy’s Organic milk too. Just read its ingredients list, which says it contains soybean oil. With a soy allergy, Vee won’t be able to try it. And it’s great that you like the taste.
Hi, like your reviews on milk for toddler. But have you come across Bon life organic milk. Compared to Bellamy, Bon life is enriched with DHA but Bellamy is not. However the price for Bonlife is so much cheaper than Bellamy. Really don’t understand. Have you tasted it as well? Really headache! Btw I am exclusively bf for 15 mths now, but the milk supply is getting lesser so need to think of alternative now.
Hi Beverly, thank you for your comment. I think I’ve seen Bon life somewhere before, not tried it before because I only offered Vee Enfapro A+ for a few trips after which he didn’t like it anymore. It’s common for exclusively breastfed babies to reject formula milk due to the unnatural taste.
DHA is usually the expensive component. Guess you’d have to zoom down to the ingredients listing for Bon Life and Bellamy, compare the source of the milk and where it’s packaged, etc.
For Vee, he gets DHA through eating oily fishes such as salmon and mackerel several times a week and free-range eggs every day. I’ve cleared this through a friend who’s a dietitian. For more info on DHA, you may read this from AskDrSears.com.
hi is me again. Have you came across Farm Fresh from Johor? Heard that taste is good, pls comment. How abt Nubian goat’s milk for babies?
Hi Beverly, I haven’t tried both Farm Fresh and Nubian goat’s milk.
From my understanding, injecting artificial hormones to cows / goats is not banned in Malaysia. So if you prefer milk free from artificial-hormones, you’d need to find out from the farm about their practices.
For this reason, I prefer milk sourced from countries where the artificial hormones are banned. Hope this helps.
Hi,
I love fresh milk. I grew up in Holland. We had so many choices over there and they were cheaper than in Malaysia too!
I’m a fan of low fat milk. But I didn’t mind drinking full milk (normal) as we call it Holland but the normal ones in Malaysia are just too thick!
So for the past few years I’ve been drinking Good day low fat 2L bottles until I tried out another brand, can’t remember the name. It has a red cap. It’s better than GoodDay.
But now ever since I found Pura Low Fat milk at Cold Storage Solaris, Mt.Kiara, I’ve been drinking that ever since.
Although the price is a bit steep but I find it worth it. And it doesn’t get spoiled that easily unlike the GoodDay’s. It even says on the bottle that it is best to finish it within 3 days. How am I, a single guy, would be able to finish a 2L bottle in 2 days? It usually takes me 6-7 days to finish it.
The only problem with these premium milk’s are that they are not available near my house. I can only get them whenever I play futsal at Segambut. I will stop over at Cold Storage Solaris to get my supply. Just to get a low fat milk from Good Day or the red cap bottle in my area is a challenge. There is hardly ever a stock. Sometimes when I don’t have futsal ( not going to drive 30km to Mt. Kiara jsut to get milk!), I would have to go to Jusco, Econsave, Carrefour and 2 different Giants near my area just to look for low fat milk. That’s how difficult it is to get milk. sigh.
Singaporeans on the other hand have quite a lot of choices. They have many different brands and they are available at any supermarket. Whenever I visit my parents there, I would go milk shopping
And they cost just as much as Malaysia. When you consider dollar to dollar, it is cheaper over there!
Australians also have a lot of varieties. There were at least 4 brands over there and on top of that, they are all fresh. No, really fresh, not Malaysian fresh
If I had known that milk was so scarce and expensive in Malaysia, I would’ve bathe in fresh milk while I was still in Holland
So which drinking milk are you consuming now?
Hi barca96, thank you for your sharing!
I prefer Pura for because the cows are grain-fed, but we’ve had a few 2L bottles spoil just upon opening, so we stopped buying them. Singapore has Pura in 1L packs, which seems so much better.
Australians are indeed lucky, even UHT milk has a good variety, with no additives. We’ve been unable to find good UHT milk in small packs here.
Now, we drink mostly Farmhouse (from Australia), easily available at KLCC Isetan, Cold Storage and Bangsar Village Grocer.
hi! i stumbled upon your blog while searching buds baby. I’m from the Philippines and the availability of organic milk is scarce.. im still breastfeeding my 13month old baby but we’re slowly mixing fresh milk as im a working mom and sometimes my milk supply is not enough. my lactation counselor also told me to introduce fresh milk instead of formula milk. i find your review so helpful!
Hi cai, thank you for your kind words. Do introduce fresh milk very gradually as your toddler needs time to adjust to it. And yoghurt is always a wonderful alternative too.
The best milk for babies is breast milk, followed buy RAW goat milk, followed by RAW grass-fed cow’s milk followed by almond milk, rice milk.
None of the milk above is good, because they are all pasteurized and homogenize. Also the amount of growth hormones and antibiotics added is unknown to us. I would not recommend milk powder as well. They a look at the infant/ toddler formula most of the ingredients, majority of them are just SUGARs. High fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, sugar and so many complicated and dangerous chemicals and pesticides. When milk are pasteurized, it’s internal chemical structures are altered also, the enzymes are all dead. Which makes it so difficult to digest because it is a dead product. Look for Raw Organic grass-fed cow’s milk, they are so good loaded with tons of CLA, enzymes, vitamins. If it is so difficult to find, make your own almond milk from raw almond nuts.
Thank you for sharing, Michelle. Unfortunately, we can’t find raw organic grass-fed milk in Kuala Lumpur & Singapore as farming land is very scarce. (Even if available, it’d be super-duper expensive.) And for young children, we’re not supposed to introduce nuts until 3 years old? So most of us got to settle for other options after weaning off breastmilk. That’s why I try to give a mix of homemade yoghurt and cheese as well.
Thanks for your helpful review which I stumbled upon while doing research on what milk to give my girl now that I’m weaning her off breast milk. Like Vee, she refuses to drink formula (I’ve only tried Gain IQ) so I’m giving her full cream Pura (I’m fortunate to be in Singapore where this is readily available and fresh). I’m just curious why you listed high carbohydrate as a pro, especially in the case of the formula as my view is actually the opposite: the extra calories and carbohydrates in formula is from added sugar which I think is bad for the child. Curious to hear your point of view as the extra sugar is one of the main reasons I don’t like the idea of giving formula to my girl. The other being my view that the more natural food is the better generally.
If I remember correctly: babies certainly needs carbohydrates and the most efficient way to include that in infant formula is by adding sugar. It just happens that sugar also comes with a bag of potential health risks. Babies below 1 year old rely mainly on milk for their nutrition. So if they’re drinking formula milk, can’t run away from taking sugar.
Toddlers above 1 year old get nutrition from their diet too. Milk is mainly for calcium and protein. In my comparison, I was more of thinking between non-sugar derived carbo. E.g. Between 2 brands of 100% fresh milk, the one with more carbo has an edge. With your comment, I now agree that carbo should be eliminated from comparison since I was looking at sugar-derived carbo too, especially for toddlers who take sufficient carbo from their diet.
Thanks for highlighting this!