The milk factory near my parent's place used to package milk in bags (or sachets...). Factory isn't open anymore and our milk now comes in cardboard cartons or plastic bottles. 3L one on our fridge atm.

So, it isn't just Canadians who are weird - we Aussies are too!

Some small local dairies in the Midwest use the old style glass bottles, charge a deposit, etc.:) The milk just seems colder in glass. Probably my imagination.
We still keep a couple of small milk cows on the farm. Jerseys give great rich milk. Non-homogenized, of course, so there is thick cream (not as thick as cottage cheese, but so thick it won't pour -you have to use a ladle) on the top. Lipophobes, beware! We make our own butter (nothing better) and even cheese, mostly because even the little cows give more milk than the family can use now with most of the kids gone. We've never pasteurized and never had a problem. Just keep things very clean and cold.
You can approximate homogenized milk by running a mix of milk and cream in a blender for a couple minutes, although it does separate over time.
I don't think that the problem came from the bacteria in the cows gut, but rather from external contamination of the udder, or dirty hands or milking machine.

Lindy

my mother told me that as a kid she used to sneak out to the porch to eat the cream off of the top of the milk bottles that were delivered. she said that back then (late 1930's to 1940's) milk came delivered in a glass jug that narrowed in the neck, then got wide again before the mouth so that the cream would rise and collect in that area.

It could then be scooped out separately. This is what she would consume if she got to it first.

Yeah, we pay a deposit for the Merlon bottles.

There is a dairy in California that still uses glass bottles and distributes up here: Straus Family Creamery :: Home

http://www.strausfamilycreamery.com/...f%20Gallon.jpg

I haven't tried their milk but I have had their yogurt (yum).

http://www.beatrice.ca/products/prem.../lactaid_2.jpg
I used to buy this a few times a week. I can now buy it in bags like everyone else! this is great news for me. :):thumbsup:

No Clockwork Orange milk bar jokes yet? Color me surprised.

I used to get milk in gallon jugs, but as I got older I got more and more lactose intolerant and stopped having it altogether. I had Parmalat brand UHT milk in unrefrigerated cartons a few times, the taste was a bit different but I liked it. Not having had it for a few years, when I've tried it recently the taste disgusted me -- it tasted like bad breath smells. I've heard the same from a few other people who stopped drinking it, and I've also heard complaints that even whole milk is much less rich tasting than it used to be and reduced fat and skim taste almost sour. Any of you milk drinkers have any thoughts on that?

i don't know why but i don't like drinking milk.

I can only drink milk if it is chocolate, I never liked the taste of regular milk.

The milk I buy comes in reusable glass bottles, but I'm in Wisconsin, so there's a lot of milk options here. Most folks buy it in gallon jugs, or occasionally in bags. The bags always seemed more economical to me.

It's harder to find, but I love UHT milk. I love how I can take it camping, and how I can keep pint containers of it on the shelf for cooking, so it's already room temperature.