Is Japanese beef considered 100% grass fed? and how come the milk here is so delicious?

13 comments

1. One difference the milk tastes different to a lot of other countries is because of the way it is pasteurized. Most, not all, milk in Japan is pasteurized at a high temperature for a short period of time. Some (not all) of the more expensive milks use low temperature, long term pasteurization which tastes more like milk in Europe/Australasia/U.S. (?).
   The short term, high temperature pasteurized milk tastes sweeter.
   Other than that I think the price comes down to the cows.

   It is a matter of taste!

   Here are examples of a low temp pasteurized milk:

   https://www.takanashi-milk.co.jp/brand/ltlt

   https://www.seijoishii.jp/products/detail/3235

2. I heard from a friend who is in the supermarket business that’s US milk expiration dates are usually like 3-4 weeks, while Japan is like 1-2 weeks. I am sure the additional crap they put in US beef and milk leads to a worse taste.

3. Most j beef cattle are grain fed to provide the marbling and softer flavour. If you’ve ever had grass fed beef you’d notice the difference quite distinctly. Grass fed is redder, leaner and got a certain distinct flavour that screams beef

4. A large portion of beef in Japan comes from overseas btw, or so it’s told amongst japanese people (haven’t taken the liberty of looking up stats)

5. Milk taste is pretty subjective. I’m from NZ and Japanese milk tastes foul to me.

6. Japanese milk doesn’t taste good because it’s pasteurised at quite a high temperature.

   You can get low-temp pasteurised milk in must supermarkets for 3x the price but it’s so much better.

7. Oh god no the milk here tastes disgusting.

8. I don’t drink milk unless I can avoid it. Yuck.

9. I like Hakodate Milk. Reminds me of Misty Mountain’s Milk back in Australia. Really rich, creamy taste. Both of those companies are grass fed, but different breeds of cattle, so maybe it’s soil quality?

10. Beef cattle here is confined, so I’d bet there are much more antibiotics than Australian or South American beef.

11. Japanese milk sucks

12. The average Japanese milk is everything but delicious.

13. I’m guessing you come from somewhere where normal pasteurized milk is prevalent. One example place like this is the US.

    As someone else has mentioned, this is in contrast to Japan, where most milk is UHT (ultra high temp pasteurized). As the name suggests, a higher temperature is used for pasteurization.

    UHT milk is usually sweeter and creamier than normal pasteurized milk due to chemical changes that occur with the higher temperatures. Hence, why you think it’s more delicious.

    There’s a ton of marketing here (as you’ve guessed correctly), but despite all the “Hokkaido milk” marketing, as far as taste goes, there isn’t really anything special about Japanese UHT milk. If you’ve tasted UHT milk from other places, it’s basically the same taste.

    Here’s a nicely written article about UHT milk (among others): [https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170327-the-milk-that-lasts-forever](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170327-the-milk-that-lasts-forever)

    That said, not everyone likes UHT milk. (as is evident by some of the responses here) Some people are used to normal pasteurized milk from having grown up with it and find the different taste profile of UHT milk to be strange.

    Anyway, to sum everything up, it’s extremely likely that you’re finding the milk to be delicious not because it’s Japanese, not because it’s from Hokkaido, but simply because it’s UHT.