Stepped away from the computer this weekend and ventured out to Chinatown. Went to get bubble tea at our favorite restaurant to find they weren’t serving it, because their milk came from China. A trip to a second bubble tea store and asked where did they get their milk. “Mei Guo! Mei Guo!” they said, which means America in Mandarin, “HEB!” the Houston grocery store. They showed us the half and half and carefully made the bubble tea with it so we can see it. Nevertheless they had a can of Nestle Chinese milk there, actually quite inconspicuous. So if you don’t ask they will use the canned stuff. So, there are
View Larger Map“>208 bubble tea stores in Houston, and if 75% are using Chinese milk, well you could do the math.

By the way, have you noticed that 300,000 Chinese babies have fallen ill from melamine poisoning? Keep in mind this number is what the official number is, so it is likely to be higher than that. Quite amazing.

I’ve been wondering this myself as milk we buy at Kroger goes bad in a week whereas milk from Whole Foods lasts a month. Turns out the pasteurization process is different for the two types of milk.

The process that gives the milk a longer shelf life is called ultrahigh temperature (UHT) processing or treatment, in which milk is heated to 280 degrees Fahrenheit (138 degrees Celsius) for two to four seconds, killing any bacteria in it.

Compare that to pasteurization, the standard preservation process. There are two types of pasteurization: “low temperature, long time,” in which milk is heated to 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) for at least 30 minutes*, or the more common “high temperature, short time,” in which milk is heated to roughly 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) for at least 15 seconds.