Pasture milk or what? In February / March 2022, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center examined a sample of 23 fresh milk products that had information about pasture (rearing), special feeding (e.g. “hay milk”) or animal welfare on the packaging. It turned out that pasture milk cannot necessarily be identified by the product name.

What exactly is grass-fed milk?

The statements about the length of pasture were different, worded vaguely or were completely missing. As a result, the origin of the milk is difficult for consumers to understand. This makes purchasing regional milk more difficult. Pasture milk is still a long way from “complete traceability”.

Pasture milk: Different information on the length of pasture, image: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center

Not all milk is the same: lack of transparency

In stores, consumers come across a variety of fresh milk that advertises pasture-raised milk or that suggests this. What makes matters worse is that the term “grazing” is not legally defined at all. A large number of private sector seals mean that research must be carried out before purchasing.

There is a desire for regional products, especially when it comes to milk. Since dairy cows on pasture are not an everyday sight in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, consumers are faced with the question of where the commercially available pasture milk comes from.

Pasture milk is not always recognizable by the product name

Of the 20 products that turned out to be pasture milk, nine had the term “pasture” in the product name, and four times the use of pasture was mentioned exclusively in information texts on the packaging. What was particularly confusing for consumers was that only half of the organic products mentioned pasture in the product name or text.

Different statements about the length of pasture are confusing

Statements about the duration of grazing could be found in the information text on the packaging. The grazing period was guaranteed for “at least 120 days for 6 hours” on six products. Four times the statement was rather vague, for example it was “with grazing” or “a lot of grazing”.

Difficult to find locally produced pasture milk

Statements about the origin of the milk were made seventeen times, in the product name, through information texts or seals. The north or northern Germany was mentioned eight times. You could also buy “regional Franconian” pasture milk in Rostock. Since an indication of origin on fresh milk is not required, the only information that can be used as the best information is the identity mark of the bottling dairy. However, it is not clear where exactly the milk comes from.

A QR code was printed on four products for traceability. During the research, however, this usually led to a radius around the dairy or to a group of dairy farms.

Seal diversity does not always contribute to transparency

Almost all products carried one to five seals for husbandry, feeding or animal welfare. The seal “Without Genetic Engineering” was found most frequently (15 times) in the market check. The ProWeideland seal was recorded three times and the Pro Planet label “For more animal welfare”, which has a similar claim, was recorded twice. Milk with the animal protection label from the German Animal Welfare Association was found five times. Here, however, only the premium level requires grazing in summer.

Informed purchasing is not easy when it comes to grass-fed milk

Informed shopping is not easy when it comes to grass-fed milk, Image: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center

For more information


The consumer advice center has made the detailed results report available download

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Source: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Consumer Center


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