What ingredients are in milk?
The only ingredient in milk is… milk! It's one of nature's 'superfoods', packed with 10 essential nutrients providing lots of health benefits as part of a healthy, sustainable diet.
Last updated 23/01/2025
Plain, white milk, is simply that – milk that has been collected from the farms that has been pasteurised, homogenised and standardised (to ensure the levels of fat and protein are consistent, no matter what season or cows it has come from).
To ensure that milk is consistent and consumers can trust they’re buying and drinking the same, quality dairy product all year round, The Australian Food Standards requires milk to contain at least 3.2% fat and 3.0% protein - which is achieved through processing and standardisation. Skim milk must contain a maximum of 0.15% fat.1
While plain milk has no added ingredients (yay for that!), some milk products, such as flavoured milk, fortified milk or lactose-free milk, have different ingredients added to enhance flavour and/or health function. But don’t worry, these food additives must be named in the ingredients list and pass strict regulatory controls, following the Australian Food Standards.
So next time you pour a glass, remember: it’s just milk doing what milk does best—keeping it simple, delicious, and packed with goodness!
References
1 Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Standard 2.5.1. Milk. 2012. Accessed March 21, 2023.
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