What is the "Fat" Difference Between Whole, 2%, 1%, Low-Fat, and Fat-Free Milk?

by Pam Edwards, Assistant Director, Dining Services

Look at the variety of milk in the dairy refrigeration section of your grocery store and you may be overwhelmed by the many choices. But don't let those choices stop you from drinking milk. Milk is a great source of calcium and vitamin D along with other important nutrients.

Take a first step in choosing your milk by learning the "fat" difference among the refrigerated liquid unflavored whole, 2 percent reduced-fat, 1 percent low-fat, and fat-free milk. This information will help you choose the milk best for your health.

Whole milk contains not less than 3.25 percent butterfat and fat-free has less than 0.5 percent butterfat. Two percent reduced-fat milk has 2 percent butterfat while 1 percent low-fat contains 1 percent butterfat.

Taking this one step further, an 8-ounce serving of whole milk contains 8 grams of fat while 8 ounces of non-fat milk has less than 0.5 grams of fat. Two percent reduced-fat milk and 1 percent lo-fat milk has 4.7 and 2.6 grams of fat respectively per 8 ounce serving.

While the fat content of different types of milk varies, the content of other important nutrients in milk is relatively the same. So – by selecting the lower fat types of milk, you will get the nutrients of milk with less fat and calories.