Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Milk is forced through a fine valve at high pressure, smashing its fat globules. The figure is taken from Science Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a food fact?

Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Homogenisation stops cream rising to the top

Milk is forced through a fine valve at high pressure, smashing its fat globules Fresh milk separates because fat is lighter than water, so its globules drift upward over hours. Homogenisation pumps the milk through a narrow valve at high pressure, tearing the fat droplets into pieces about a micrometre across. Smaller droplets rise so slowly that the cream no longer gathers, which is why supermarket milk looks uniform. It sits in Mondo's food collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Science Museum

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Technology trivia

More facts like this

UHT milk is heated to 135 degreesA few seconds at that heat sterilises the milk so it keeps for months unopened Milk is an emulsion of fat in waterFat droplets, protein clusters and dissolved sugar all share the same liquid Pasteurisation heats liquids to eliminate harmful microbesControlled thermal processing destroys disease microorganisms without boiling liquid Rennet enzymes curdle milk proteins into firm cheeseChymosin cleaves kappa-casein to allow milk solids to aggregate into solid curds Churning cream causes a milk fat phase inversionVigorous shaking transforms an oil in water emulsion into a water in fat emulsion Rapid freezing creates smooth ice cream textureForming tiny ice crystals prevents a grainy texture in frozen dairy products

Tags: milk, dairy, homogenisation

Homogenisation stops cream rising to the top: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Milk is forced through a fine valve at high pressure, smashing its fat globules. The figure is taken from Science Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a food fact?: Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.