Comments are welcome while open. You can also find them in South Africa, Hungary, and China, which also happens to traffic in bagged beer. A volunteer initiative launched in Toronto following the 2010 Haitian earthquake has helped countless of people in need -- … Milk bags are cut into strips and knotted together in lengths of four before they are looped and fit onto a frame. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. Next, don't miss these 20 other food facts that will change the way you eat . Others prefer a fat-free skim milk, or 1% or 2% milk that has some of the cream removed. The bags of milk can also be found in Quebec and the Maritimes. A one-quart bag easily changed into a 1.3-litre bag, meaning three-quart bags of milk became four-litre bags in parts of the country. It was initially introduced to lower Tetra-pack waste, but it hasn't caught on that well. However, Canada's conversion to the metric system in the 1970s meant dairy producers needed to replace and resize existing milk containers, which were measured in imperial quarts. According to Wikipedia, Milk bags had been widely used in the United Kingdom, Canada and several Eastern European countries during the Cold War, but began to decline in popularity after the emergence of Tetra Pak and plastic bottles in the early 1990s. Jul20 by sodiumsugar Or does it? While the unusual packaging confuses even Canadians in other parts of the country, it’s slowly been gaining support in other parts of the world. But what's to blame for the proliferation of bagged milk in Ontario, Quebec, and Maritime provinces but not others? ABSOLUTE AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES Comparative advantage occurs when a company can produce a particular product at a lower cost compared to competitors. This combination helped market forces take hold, and milk jugs slowly became more popular in areas of the country. At least in Ontario. You can still buy jugs and cartons of milk in By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. Toronto and Quebec are not Territories in Canada, Toronto is a city, and Quebec is a provence. “In Canada, Milk Comes in Bags” is a catchphrase that highlights the unique method of packaging milk in plastic bags, which is still commonly practiced in Canada. The difficult transition for American athletes whose careers take them from the United States to Canada is unthinkable. For decades, regulations in Ontario restricted the sale of more than one pint or about 473 millilitres of milk in containers other than plastic film pouches (aka bags), laminated containers or coated paper containers (such as Tetra Paks). These bags, in addition to being 100% organic, are vegan, undyed, unbleached, non-GMO, and processed without any harmful chemicals. If you're American, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. Generally, it’s colder north of the border.Danny Green’s face while trying to figure out bagged milk in Old hat, Switzerland had milk in Bags for decades now. Here's why milk comes in bags in parts of Canada, Milk in bags? (Some Canadians snip a second, smaller hole to let air out.) Milk bags started to fall out of popularity in many parts of the country as the hard plastic used for things like large jugs became cheaper. Outside Ontario and Quebec, you’ll also find bagged milk in Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, Hungary, South Africa, and India. > How do you store milk that comes in plastic bags in Canada? Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. #milk #travel pic.twitter.com/HDVKVDicqo. Everything in Canada, including milk, had to be rejiggered to be sold in metric units. Plus, in the 1980s, Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government relaxed rules on metric measurements. This explains why Ontario grocers almost exclusively provided large quantities of milk in bags. Some schools, like Golden Hills Elementary near Omaha, Nebraska, let kids sip from tiny, Capri Sun-esque milk pouches. A few years later, Canada was busy converting to the metric system, requiring liquids to be sold in liters. Years ago, when I lived in Montreal, Canada, storing bags of milk was easy, because one could lay the bags down on a shelf in the fridge. Take a walk through any Ontario-area grocery store and you'll see something a little unusual: shoppers hefting an item into their cart that looks like a plastic package of diapers, weighs roughly nine pounds, and requires some minor effort to enjoy. Written and produced by Anis Heydari. If you live in Canada, it's a safe bet you have a ton of milk bags in your kitchen. Why? It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. In general, these plastic milk bags will be of much help in Canada since they are multi-functional. It's a question The Cost of Living heard from listeners who were confused when they had difficulty finding the same milk jugs in Ontario that are easily sourced at any grocery store from British Columbia to Manitoba, or in the United States. "I think the shift took place less as a result of a movement away from plastic bags, and more the attraction of rigid milk jugs," said Dan Wong, president of the Western Dairy Council. I’m a Canadian living in the UK so have been able to experience multiple types of milk packaging - not 100% sure this is a good thing. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). The question was echoed by Pinto, who works for CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive in southwestern Ontario. But the process for injecting milk into plastic bags, which were introduced by DuPont in the late 1960s [PDF], needed only minor tweaks. This packing was adopted to reduce waste and to reduce the resources needed to ship the product but in the end the cultural eccentricity that this embodies is … Suddenly, pouring milk into giant, floppy sacks seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. Why would they do it like this?" Milk bags first entered the Canadian market in the late 1960s. Milk in bags — a kitchen staple in parts of the nation. Now i've freed up some precious shelf space in … Milk in bags — it's a kitchen staple in some parts of Canada. We need answers, Canada. Three bags are sold together in … But what's to blame for the proliferation of bagged milk in Ontario, Quebec, and Maritime provinces butnot others? asked Yamach. Surname 2 milk bags to carry with much ease. Changing a one-quart bag to a 1.3-litre bag was relatively painless, so three-quart bags of milk quickly became four-litre bags across parts of Canada. Try hitting up a Kwik Trip or Kwik Star convenience store, where locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa sell bagged milk by the half-gallon. The milk bag was originally introduced in 1967 by Dupont as a move away from the traditional Manufacturing plants producing plastic jugs or cartons (which had debuted around 1915) found that their machines would have to be dramatically altered to allow their containers to be re-sized to meet the new requirements. Walmart Canada has breast milk storage bags, containers and more, so you can start storing breast milk. In some parts of Canada, milk comes in bags. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. The Ontario regulation was amended in mid-2018, but consumer habits can take decades to break, so expect to keep seeing white, jiggly milk bags at your local grocery store for years to come. In Canada, three milk bags are usually packe… Packaging systems The concept of milk sold in bags was tried by the Co-op in the UK in the 1970’s without success. Stunned by the size of these giant milk bags sold in supermarkets in #Canada! Eventually milk bags became unheard of in provinces like Alberta or British Columbia. "I think it was a historical regulation that stemmed back to the days when plastic jugs were very rare in the marketplace," said Dan Wong. The bags used 75% less plastic than a normal plastic milk carton and could be manufactured from a biodegradable plastic, which breaks down in six to nine months. I understand why Americans think that we all drink milk from bags. Milk bags are quite common in parts of Canada. Yet there are areas of the country where the concept of four litres of moo juice coming in transparent, jiggly bags is the most inexplicable thing about life in Eastern Canada. Milk in bags — it's a kitchen staple in some parts of Canada. pic.twitter.com/6UbQdCKCsZ — Jack Forge (@TheJackForge) September 10, 2020 I went through the store repeatedly and couldn't find them," said Shemma Yamach, who moved to Toronto after growing up in Edmonton. Bagged milks are widely sold in east Canada, but not commonly in western parts of the country (British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan). Each package contains three un-resealable plastic pouches filled with milk, equaling 4 litres in total. They start as milk bags, and end up as mattresses. By the early 1980s, the metric system was fully adopted in Canada; in 1978, 4-liter packages of milk became the norm in Ontario [PDF]. Milk bags are sold in parts of central Canada and the Maritimes, but not widely sold in western Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Though they caution first-timers might need to get used to the pouring technique—there’s apparently a learning curve—they promise customers “will grow to appreciate” the lactose customs of other parts of the world. For quite some time, all across Canada, a community of volunteers, schools, churches and businesses have been collecting milk bags. The shift from bottles to milk bags was fueled by the introduction of the metric system in the country. Because it’s not fully sealed, the milk needs to be enjoyed relatively quickly. You can still buy it if I'm not wrong, but Tetrapacks have held their ground without much Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. No more milk bags rolly polly around the shelf, and it even has the little clip holder at the top to put the milk clip in so you know the expiry date. One of the first things that a visitor to Canada will notice in the home of most families is the liters of milk that is bought in plastic bags. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. "Whenever I have American friends visiting, they think the milk in my fridge is totally ridiculous," said CBC reporter Jonathan Pinto. Insert a single bag into a pitcher, snip off the corner and start pouring. Bags were easier to manipulate than jugs and cartons, which needed to be redesigned. Not planning on traveling outside the country? Click "listen" above to hear the segment, or download the Cost of Living podcast. Believe it or not, milk bags have been in Canadian fridges since the 1970s, selling mainly in Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes. "Coming from Alberta, I'm used to seeing milk jugs. How to store and reheat breast milk It is important to know how to properly store and reheat breast milk after pumping, so you have a happy and healthy baby. The milk bags used are the Bags did not have this restriction, so mainstream grocery stores and milk producers stuck to the bags for the most part. According to foodnetwork.ca, drinking milk out of bags isn’t new—in fact, Canadians have been doing this since the late … Sure, the milk could lose its freshness quickly, but because the packaging was broken up into three bags, there was always a new one to open; unused bags could be stored horizontally in refrigerators in spots where a tall jug wouldn’t fit. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. She quickly realized the issue wasn't that every grocery store she visited was just out of what she thought was universal — the four-litre hard plastic milk jug. There are some areas of the world that are starting to adopt this way of packaging milk, including in Sainsbury, which started rolling out milk bags in 2010. Buying bagged became habitual for shoppers, who realized that some of the perceived drawbacks were actually beneficial. 99 In other markets such as Quebec or Nova Scotia, bags and jugs have co-existed for years based on demand. DuPont introduced bagged milk in Canada in 1967, and the innovation became famous in Canada since polybags are cheaper, less delicate, and lighter than bottles. UK-based Sainsbury’s rolled out two-pint bags around 2010, offering a free pitcher as an incentive for people to make the switch and cut down on waste. "How come some places have milk in bags, and others don't?". Those with allergies or an intolerance to lactose can look for brands such as Natrel when buying milk and cream online at Walmart Canada. The bags also produced less packaging waste, since they require less plastic to hold the same amount of milk. The metric system, in part. Actually, it’s three medium-sized bladders of milk, packaged together in one large sack. It was the new normal 50 years ago. Retrofitting assembly lines or replacing heavy glass bottles was an expensive prospect for the milk industry, and milk bags — which they were already experimenting with — could be easily and cheaply adjusted. The reaction is similar for people who come eastward from western provinces. It takes approximately 400 milk bags to make an adult sized mat. The problem The milk packaging is not adopted throughout Canada, and in some parts of the country (as well as other parts of the world) it still seems unusual. I don't know if other places in the world use this method or not. All the warehouses and other spaces that accept milk bags have not reopened yet; even when they reopen, they will not have space for more bags … Yet there are areasof the country wherethe concept of fourlitres of moo juice comingintransparent, jiggly bags is the mostinexplicable thing about life inEastern Canada. I don't seen milk in bags in the west that often, but it's common in the east. Bagged milk is sold in loose pouches ranging from half a liter to 1.33 liters, depending on the country. It’s a concept foreign to most Americans, but in the Canadian province of Ontario (Canada’s largest by population), an estimated 75 to 80 percent of milk comes in plastic bags. The thing is, most cities don’t recycle milk bags. B. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. No more quarts and gallons of milk: liters were the way to go. "After going to people's homes and seeing that everyone had these bags of milk, and they cut them open on the corner and drink milk out of this pitcher… well, I just thought this doesn't make any sense. Consumers could buy milk jugs at those retailers if they paid a deposit for the jug at the store. Organic nut milk bags are made from organic cotton or a combination of cotton and hemp. Milk in bags — it's a kitchen staple in some parts of Canada. At home, the milk is placed in a pitcher and one corner of the polyethylene plastic is snipped off with scissors for pouring. I know that the milk bag isn't available in all of Canada. By the early 1980s, the metric system was fully adopted in Canada; in 1978, 4-liter packages of milk became the norm in Ontario [ PDF ]. In Canada, Milk Comes in Bags. For dairy enthusiasts used to the convenience of a resealable container, all of this might seem unnecessary—yet at least 75 percent of all milk sold in Ontario comes in this unique delivery system. Canada drinks its milk out of plastic bags because it's more cost-effective. By the late 1960s, glass bottles were still being used for milk, but officials knew they were causing a considerable amount of waste and expense: The heavy bottles were a pain to transport and broke easily. "In Detroit, milk comes in jugs.". 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