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Leeds dairy hopes to taste success with innovative milk jug
IT'S every tea drinker's worst nightmare – you pour your milk into your brew only to discover it has gone off.
Now, though, a Yorkshire dairy is putting a stop to sour milk days with a new invention.
The digital milk jug measures the bacteria in its contents and instantly flashes up a warning when the milk is past its best.
The device was dreamed up by the research and development team at Leeds's Cravendale dairy to help curb milk waste.
The company, part of dairy giant Arla, says that 330,000 tonnes of milk – worth 250m – is thrown away each year by British households.
The waste also contributes to around 190,000 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Cravendale is working with experts in a commitment to reduce this British milk lake, which is the equivalent to more than 373 Olympic swimming pools by almost a third.
The key causes of milk wastage are over serving (150,000 tonnes per annum) and throwing away products because they have not been used in time (170,000 tonnes per annum).
Sustainability expert Neela Bettridge, who is working with Cravendale, said: "It's quite shocking to learn that a whopping 100,000 tonnes of milk is thrown away each year, and a key reason for all this wastage is people not understanding when milk actually goes off. "So every drop of wastage is avoidable!"
According to calculations by Neela, adoption of the Cravendale milk jug across the UK could represent a reduction of up to 100,000 tonnes in milk wastage per year, which in turn would reduce the UK's carbon footprint by approximately 190,000 tonnes of C02 (two per cent of the nation's total carbon footprint).
Sam Dolan, Cravendale brand manager, added: "Cravendale has launched a commitment to British consumers that we will protect them against sour milk and ensure fresh milk every day.
Our milk stays fresh for up to 21 days unopened so the milk jug takes our mission one step further! "Our unique milk jug takes the guess work out of determining when your milk has soured which should help reduce dairy wastage."
How the jug works:
A unique PH sensor built in to the base of the jug.
The sensor measures the PH acidity of the jug's contents and updates the milk drinker via an LCD screen message
The LCD screen reads "Fresh" or "Sour" offering a reliable analysis of the milk's drinkability.
It has an alarm system which alerts when the milk has soured.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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