Raw milk, packet milk, tetra packs: Which one should you pick?

Milk is an essential element in our Indian households. Not only for kids, even adults prefer going to bed with their glass of warm milk. However, reports about deteriorating quality of milk is making us reconsider our choice of milk. Should it be the packeted ones we get at our nearby dairy shops, raw milk from the local dairy or the fancy tetra-packs, which promise us good health? Let us find out:
Raw Milk: aw milk is the unpasteurized, whole milk which is not treated in any manner. In India, this milk is available in both organic and inorganic forms. Local dairies often supply these to our doorsteps.
Organic: Organic means where the fodder provided to the cattle is unadulterated (not treated with pesticides or chemicals). Moreover, in such dairies, cows and buffaloes are also not injected with hormones or medicines for more milk.
InOrganic: Inorganic, on the other hand, is where adulterated fodder is fed to the cattle and even the condition in which they are kept is bad.
Why it maybe bad: The distribution of raw milk from local dairies is higher in rural areas than in urban areas due to the durability and nutritive value of this milk. This, however, does not mean that raw milk lacks nutrition or is bad. It simply means that the condition under which the milk is produced, may not be clean or sanitised, which may lead to hazardous repercussions.
Packet milk: Packeted milk is the pasteurized, homogenised version of milk. Pasteurization means that milk is heated and then cooled immediately under a supervised temperature to get rid of bacteria and impurities. Packet milk comes in three forms, toned, double-toned and full-cream.
Types: Full cream milk is undiluted and is pasteurized and homogenised as well. Toned and double-toned are the diluted version of this milk. The nutritive concentration and calorie quantity of these three types differ. Packet milk is common both in rural and urban areas.
Tetra-Packs: Using either UHT (ultra-high temperatures) or HTST (high-temperature short time), the milk is heated on a prescribed high temperature for only a few seconds and then cooled down and immediately aseptically (free from disease-causing microorganisms) packed in tetra packs.
Six Layers: Tetra-packs ideally contain six layers of protection for the milk. The durability of tetra-pack milk is more than the other two counterparts: Raw milk and packeted milk.
Which is the safest option: While there have been numerous studies on the comparison of these three types of milk available in the market, most studies point towards tetra-packs as the safest option. The quality of raw milk in India is under question and coming to packeted milk, a study conducted by Harvard University’s school of public health in 2015 confirmed the role of BPA (chemical bisphenol A) in the plastic we buy. This BPA found in plastic is known to disrupt hormones and hence may lead to many diseases. This is because when this plastic comes in contact with sunlight, this BPA can leak into our milk and hence get contaminated.
Tetra-Pack, Our Safest bet: Tetra-pack milk, on the other hand, is our safest bet. This is due to many reasons like its packaging, the way it is processed and treated. This milk is not contaminated or fouled in any manner, thanks to technology. Even though many scientists and studies have argued over the loss of nutrients in pasteurized and homogenised milk, tetra-packs are the safest option for us. This is because the milk is treated in a sterile condition and there are no preservatives added to it. Owing to these two main reasons, tetra-packs are hygienic enough for children as their immunity is not strong enough to fight bacteria found in milk.