Paulette,

While I appreciate the information on vitamins, perhaps it is best to note that not all vitamins are photosensitive to decay, as your blanket statement [implying all] vitamins are.

I have suggested on this board on a few earlier occasions that factual information, particularly health and nutrition information, should be accompanied by a link to a responsible resource such as NIH, Medline, USDA, etc.

FYI, milk is actually exposed to sunlight or an artificial light source to activate vitamin D. This is counterdistinctive to your claim that milk is kept in the dark to protect vitamin content.

Actually, my guess, unencumbered by reliable factual research on the topic, would be that the milk solids and milk fats turn rancid more quickly in sunlight....the same is true for most oils and fats which are often sold in colored bottles.

pd

Born a cheesehead and can't shake it even if'n I wanted to.

We get Oberwei$ home delivery, if anyone has any questions on that. Wife figures it's double the price of store-bought. The cows supposedly aren't given hormones, making for a more "natural" product, so I'm told. Oberweis's eggs are Phil's Cage Free Eggs.

Apparently light destroys Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) which is necessary for the body to absorb Calcium and also destroys Vitamin A. It also contributes to making the fats rancid faster and to an off taste.

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/foods_view/1,1523,95,00.html

http://www.packworld.com/articles/Features/9799.html

http://www.packworld.com/articles/Departments/8832.html

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/vitamins_which.htm

I can also vouch for Paulette, my mum, who has a Master's degree in Nutrion and 20 years plus in food safety and knows about these things.

Rob

Leek,
Thanks I didn't have time to look this up but I do remember this from my nutrition studies. Also Oberwiess keeps their milk in the dark in their stores and will tell you this is the way it is supposed to be.
Paulette

All,

I have no argument that sunlight destroys SOME vitamins. I do have a problem with a statement that :

Do you know that light destroys vitamins

.

...and when I suggest that a reliable source link should be included, I do not mean a link to an article that quotes the generic "some studies suggest" as the first of the linked articles does, or trade publications of the packaging industry of which Dupont is a major sponsor (and who just happens to be promoting colored styrenes for milk jug packaging).

I don't mean to be so harsh and I realize your intentions were good, but miscommunicating nutrition information (or shall I say adding to the confusion) is a pet peeve of mine. For years I picked up my nutrition education on the street like many people do, listening to so-called "news" reports of the latest fads. It is just wrong.

Communication of nutrition information is probably the single worst sector performance of public health for our government. Can you imagine what our national vaccination programs or similar programs would achieve if the government sent as many mixed messages.

A current magazine that I like is Eating Well, the magazine of food and health. Yes, some will find it a bit over the top. I was reading the Editor's Page of the Summer 2004 issue, discussing the James Beard Foundation award for reporting on Nutrition or Health awarded to editor Allison Cleary, there are some great principles to live by in providing nutrition information:

1. Straight talk from such an unimpeachable source (though no one is unimpeachable);

2. Readers have a right to readable, credible, useful nutrition information.

3. Try not to dumb things down, but provide information to food questions in a tighter package.


Now, if the ultimate concern of Oberwiess is your nutrition rather than marketing, simply ask them why they don't sell milk in brown bottles...the beer brewer's have been doing it for years.


pd

i'm not sure what happened, but Oberweiss dairy on fullerton is now gone. in passing it every day, i hadn't seen any sign that is was going to close. any ideas?

leesh

Sign on the door says that they've left due to concerns about the structural integrity of the building. I must say I found this strange and amusing. It also said they would consider reopening after the concerns were addressed. ???

Hi,

Last December, I was a political breakfast where I found Jim Oberweiss sitting across from me. I had overwhelming desire to discuss something but I feared a deer-in-the-headlights look, so I kept my thought to myself:

Why, when you have a dairy selling upscale milk and ice cream, do you use cheap low-fat whipping cream on your desserts?

When they possess such high standards for all their other products, why go cheap on the whipped cream?

I decided not to be the weird lady anecdote he'd be telling for the rest of the day. I just continued eating my breakfast.

I started this thread when I was young and foolish. The point, at the time, was that politics (for me) should be irrelevant to whether I do business with a food provider. If the food is good, that's all I need to know.

We are veering into politics, inevitably, so I just want to make that observation and, if we have to, I'll lock my own thread to keep things cool.

Maybe enough has been said about this topic...but, speaking of milk, how do you feel about breast-feeding?

haha... i don't mind breast feeding at all!

If you go in to an Oberweis store, the B&W images of cows and milk
production are my photographs.... all shot in 1996 and 1997.

Had no idea of Jim's political views then but I don't think that
it would have changed my interest in doing the shoot.

mhill95149 wrote:If you go in to an Oberweis store, the B&W images of cows and milk
production are my photographs.... all shot in 1996 and 1997.

out of curiosity, do the photos actually depict cows that are part of Oberweis' production, or just beasts selected for their photogenic qualities?

mhill95149 wrote:If you go in to an Oberweis store, the B&W images of cows and milk
production are my photographs.... all shot in 1996 and 1997.

Very cool!

mhill95149 wrote:Had no idea of Jim's political views then but I don't think that
it would have changed my interest in doing the shoot.

Nor should it, IMO. We often joke at my company that if we only did business with people we liked, we'd have like 2 customers. Seriously, though, it's a big world with lots of diverse opinions. That diversity should never be a stumbling block to cooperation and collaboration -- especially when it comes to professional endeavors.

=R=

Kennyz wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:If you go in to an Oberweis store, the B&W images of cows and milk
production are my photographs.... all shot in 1996 and 1997.

out of curiosity, do the photos actually depict cows that are part of Oberweis' production, or just beasts selected for their photogenic qualities?

All the farms I shot on were "Oberweis" farms
Meaning that they sold milk to Oberweis

Nothing to do with politics, but I'm annoyed at Oberweis' claims that their milk tastes better than anyone else's. They follow standard industry procedures, and bottle in glass, but those aren't proven contributors to flavor. I'd be curious to see a blind tasting of a single grade - say 25 - of Oberweis vs. other dairies' milks - I'd be surprised if Oberweis was preferred by a statistically significant difference.

luckily I am a political agnostic so I am free to eat/buy anything without any issues...

With the above said, I enjoy Oberweis whole milk, and there is something to the glass bottle and better taste..could be psycologial though.. We also like their ice cream, and milk shakes at their stores.

nr706 wrote:Nothing to do with politics, but I'm annoyed at Oberweis' claims that their milk tastes better than anyone else's. They follow standard industry procedures, and bottle in glass, but those aren't proven contributors to flavor. I'd be curious to see a blind tasting of a single grade - say 25 - of Oberweis vs. other dairies' milks - I'd be surprised if Oberweis was preferred by a statistically significant difference.

My mom swears that it does taste better than anyone else's. Unfortunately for her, because of Oberweis' politics, she will not buy the milk (nor will I). This isn't because we believe we can take down the Oberweis business with a boycott. Rather, it's because some of his views induce an almost visceral reaction in us--not conducive to enjoying milk or ice cream.

nr706 wrote:Nothing to do with politics, but I'm annoyed at Oberweis' claims that their milk tastes better than anyone else's. They follow standard industry procedures, and bottle in glass, but those aren't proven contributors to flavor.

I think the fact that glass doesn't contribute to flavor is the whole point. Whenever I drink milk from a plastic jug, I can taste the plastic. I'm not sure about Oberweis' claim that their milk tastes better than anyone else's, but it absolutely tastes better than any plastic jug milk. I also think their vanilla ice cream is some of the best in Chicago.

P.S. Jim Oberwies, the perennial candidate, no longer operates the dairy; his son does. I'm not sure about the son's politics, but at least the milk hasn't changed.

HI,

Some years ago, Oberweiss came to Culinary Historians. One significant difference was when they centrifuged the milk to seperate the fat, they did it at far lower temperatures than is conventionally practiced today. It is more efficient to gently warm the milk to 120 degrees (at least that is the number tickling my brain), then centrifuged. The difference is typical skim milk has a blue-ish caste and Oberweiss skim milk tastes and looks more like a 1% milk.

As for boycotting a store because of their politics, I don't play that game.

Regards,

stevez wrote:P.S. Jim Oberwies, the perennial candidate, no longer operates the dairy; his son does. I'm not sure about the son's politics, but at least the milk hasn't changed.

When I was shooting at the North Aurora plant (and HQs) I was told that
Jim was not in charge of the dairy and that his wife was running the dairy.
Jim was way more involved with the Oberweis Fund in another part of the building.

In my last dealing with the Oberweis's, the son was in charge of the marketing department. That was around 2002. He was a very nice guy and understood the value of owning photos.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Some years ago, Oberweiss came to Culinary Historians. One significant difference was when they centrifuged the milk to seperate the fat, they did it at far lower temperatures than is conventionally practiced today. It is more efficient to gently warm the milk to 120 degrees (at least that is the number tickling my brain), then centrifuged. The difference is typical skim milk has a blue-ish caste and Oberweiss skim milk tastes and looks more like a 1% milk.

As for boycotting a store because of their politics, I don't play that game.

Regards,

The blueish cast and corresponding weak flavor of plastic jug milk was always my complaint with it, and I personally agree that skim oberweis is comparable to 1% plastic jug, or even a bit better.

I really do think I could tell 2% oberweis from 2% fieldcrest/deans/whatever in a blind test, and would prefer it. I don't know about other brands.

I have boycotted products or stores before. I also drink a lot of milk, all Oberweis, and thought about not buying it due to politics...but haven't yet. What that tells me is that I can be bought pretty cheaply for a tasty glass of skim.

That damn Oberweis. If it weren't for him, all politicians, all businessmen, and all places where money and politics intersect in Illinois would be squeaky clean and above reproach. Boycott him for putting the lone blot on the Illinois 'scutcheon!

Mike G wrote:That damn Oberweis. If it weren't for him, all politicians, all businessmen, and all places where money and politics intersect in Illinois would be squeaky clean and above reproach. Boycott him for putting the lone blot on the Illinois 'scutcheon!

Mike G wrote:That damn Oberweis. If it weren't for him, all politicians, all businessmen, and all places where money and politics intersect in Illinois would be squeaky clean and above reproach. Boycott him for putting the lone blot on the Illinois 'scutcheon!

I think it's more the fact that I might have serious disagreements with his views and don't want to think of my money helping those views in any way. I do think it's a little different when a political figure owns the food business. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the guy, I just might not personally agree with his views. Hey, it's my dang money and I can spend it how I want. Now back to work.

I can understand the boycott. The man tends to self-finance to a large degree, so buying Oberweis products will help, in some small way, to fund his future campaigns, which increases the risk that he'll be elected, etc.

I just don't care enough. If he looks like he might win an election, I'll give money directly to his opponent and keep drinking Oberweis chocolate milk. It's worth it.

grits wrote:

Mike G wrote:That damn Oberweis. If it weren't for him, all politicians, all businessmen, and all places where money and politics intersect in Illinois would be squeaky clean and above reproach. Boycott him for putting the lone blot on the Illinois 'scutcheon!

I think it's more the fact that I might have serious disagreements with his views and don't want to think of my money helping those views in any way. I do think it's a little different when a political figure owns the food business. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the guy, I just might not personally agree with his views. Hey, it's my dang money and I can spend it how I want. Now back to work.

Exactly! This is precisely why I will not pay to see any movies with the likes of Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey ( who I believe are oustanding actors) and other friends of Hugo Chavez.

That being said isn't there something in the guidelines about religion and politics

I agree with you Will. I will still buy Oberweis stuff sometimes. I think Jim O. should go back to the dairy where he belongs and stay out of politics. I bet Jim O. is a pretty nice guy (I don't really know this) but has wacky right wing policies I disagree with. He's probably not venal. I would not support a sandwich shop run by Al Quaeda though. And no beer from Hitler's breweries, or meat from Idi Amin's smokehouse. There is a different between political beliefs that are different and misguided and venal people hell bent on destruction and genocide.