Milk is manufactured in two steps; production at the dairy farm and processing at the processing plant. Of course, Greenbelt's manufacturing of milk tool place mostly in the first step due to technological restraints. Today though, production begins with milking machines which extracts the raw milk from the cows. As the milk is extracted from the cows it travels into a tank where it is cooled to temperatures below 40 degrees fareinheight. This process is done under very strictly monitored sanitary conditions. These sanitary conditions are what classify whether milk is Grade A or not. Most milk bought today is Grade A. (World Book Encyclopedia, 459-464)
After the raw milk has been extracted, it is usually then sent to a processing plant. Here the odor, taste and appearance of the milk are tested and fat content, bacteria number, amount of milk solids and acidity are measured. After these aspects have been measured the milk passes through a clarifier on it's way to a refrigerated storage tank. This clarifier removes any dust or contamination that the milk may have gathered. Finally after all previous processes have been completed the milk is put through five steps to prepare it for sale. These five steps are separation or standardization, pasteurization, homogenization, fortification, and packaging. (World Book Encyclopedia, 459-464)