What Makes Valio Milk the Best

The responsible choice

Valio is involved in the process from the very beggining by sourcing its milk from farmers who sign up to the Valio milk quality system. This system supports and oversees animal health and welfare. It ensures proper feeding practices, production hygiene and safety. Valio dairy cooperatives provide advisory services to their farmers free of charge.

Valio knows that the best raw milk comes from healthy, happy, well fed cows cared for by dairy farmers who are committed to producing quality milk. Furthermore, Valio farmers leverage their expert attention to detail and efficient production to minimise wastage and deliver an exceptional result.

Putting a focus on prevention

Valio’s high level of production hygiene controls combined with other preventive measures ensure the cows’ health and well-being. This decreases the need for unnecessary medication and makes Valio products even safer for consumers.

Low antibiotic residue in milk, a marker of quality and safety

Veterinary medications such as the antibiotics which are routinely given to cows in many countries are used less often in Finland than in other parts of Scandinavia or indeed anywhere else in the world.

Valio’s farmers ensure that their cows are healthy and free from the dangerous pathogens that can be found in cattle herds in other parts of Europe. For example, Salmonella serotype S. Dublin is very common in some parts of Europe but is not found in Finland. Healthy cows with great levels of hygiene help Valio dairy farms produce some of the best milk in the world.

Sustainable, ethical feeding practices

Valio’s commitment to responsible dairy farming means that resources are utilised in the best possible ways in order to ensure that its practices are environmentally friendly.

Valio dairy products are the sustainable GMO-free choice. Valio makes use of cattle feed that contains turnip rape and rapeseed meal instead of soy. This is because of the well known negative impact that soy has on the environment. This feed delivers a beneficial amino acid composition that is complimentary to that of grass silage which together with domestic grains and additional minerals and vitamins is the typical basis for cow feed in Finland. A large share of the feed is produced in Finland.

Measuring what makes milk good

Valio dairy products owe their quality to good hygiene practices and healthy cows which produce some of the best milk in the world.

The highest quality raw milk is determined by low cell and bacteria counts. This was met in 2014 by a full 99.8% of the milk produced at Valio dairy farms. To view this in an international context, in 2013 Danish milk had an average cell count that was 60% higher and a bacteria count around 31% higher than milk from Valio dairy farms. The figures from Valio dairy farms also bettered those of producers in Norway, another country known for its quality milk.

Valio Products in Maltese Stores

Valio Salted Butter, Valio Unsalted Butter and Valio Gran Regale can be found locally both in store and online. Try out Valio Butter in one of these amazing recipes.

Creamy Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp Valio Butter
• 300g sausage
• 1tsp salt
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 1 pot Hanini Creamylight cooking cream
• 320g penne pasta
• Grated cheese
• Chopped basil

Directions:

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Sauté it in butter.
2. Brown the sausage in a pan and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir. Season to taste.
4. Add the cooking cream and let simmer for a few minutes.
5. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box, drain and add the sauce.
6. Finish with chopped basil and grated cheese if desired.

Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

• 200g Valio Butter
• 1tbs breadcrumbs
• 200g sugar
• 2tsp vanilla sugar
• 1 lemon zest
• 3 eggs
• 400g flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• Directions:

1. Butter the cake tin and coat it with breadcrumbs.
2. Cream the soft butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one by one, mixing as you go along. Add the lemon zest.
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Sift the flour mixture and add the lemon juice little by little to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until smooth.
5. Spoon the batter into the cake tin.
6. Cook at the bottom of the oven at 175 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.
7. Allow the cake to cool and garnish with sifted dust sugar.

Original post by Valio.