RAW MILK SAFETY INFORMATION

(For more in-depth information, studies, & research visit Raw Milk Institute here)

Safety is of utmost importance, especially when you are producing raw milk for human consumption. We go above and beyond to provide you with the lowest risk product we can.

Read here to learn about our milk safety standards. If you have any questions, please contact us. 

Is CT Ranch raw milk laboratory tested?

Yes, we do a random testing of our raw milk in our on-site laboratory every 5 days. This is not required, but we do it anyway to produce the best product possible. Every batch is tested for:

• TCC (total coliform count): This must be less than 10 coli/ml. This is the same standard for bottled water from the store. (Sample taken from a final product jar of milk).
• SPC (standard plate count): This must be less than 20,000. This test lets us know the general hygiene of the milk and gives us a read of the quantity of bacteria present. (Sample taken from a final product jar of milk).

In addition, we send out milk samples to be third party tested by a Texas Certified Laboratory periodically for:

• SPC (standard plate count)
• (SCC) Somatic Cell Count 
• (TCC) Total Coliform Count
• Salmonella (zero tolerance)
• E.coli-O157:H7 (zero tolerance)
• Listeria monocytogenes (zero tolerance)
• Campylobacter jejune (zero tolerance)

Here are our most recent test results.

*Milk standards for both Pasteurized and Raw Milk are LESS THAN 10 Coliform (CC) and LESS THAN 20,000 SPC.

In the milk world, CC is the abbreviation for Coliform and SPC for Standard Plate Count.

Our Voluntary Raw Milk Safety Protocol

CT Ranch has chosen to voluntarily go beyond requirements for testing of raw milk. For licensed Grade A Raw Milk dairies, Texas Department of Agriculture requires milk testing only once per quarter.

We have chosen to test our raw milk, in our own on-site lab, multiple times per week. We do this extra testing for your peace of mind, the safety of your families and out of abundance of caution. Testing is tedious and expensive. It would be easier and cheaper to only test at the state required minimum.

To our knowledge, we are the only Texas dairy, raw or pasteurized, which tests in the final retail-ready container at this frequency. We are currently working with the team at The Raw Milk Institute to get our current food safety plan and operating procedures written down and will make these available here once finalized.

As members of RAWMI, we receive training, advice and learn from other raw milk farmers all across the country about improving raw milk safety methods and providing our members with the highest quality raw milk.

When it comes to your family’s safety, it’s not the government’s standards that we are trying to live up to… it’s yours.

Should I pasteurize my milk?

Whether to pasteurize or not is truly a personal choice. You can learn more about raw milk at www.realmilk.com and www.rawmilkinstitute.org.