44 Comments Add your own

• 1. Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino  |  September 2nd, 2006 at 12:59

  A related article, although i dont have a picture is the iconic orange plastic container for these bags which was designed by my professor Philippe Lalande in the first years of his career in Quebec.

• 2. sarah  |  September 2nd, 2006 at 19:43

  Now all you have to do is find a “BEEP” container from the 80′s and I’ll be happy.

• 3. Federico Diaz Mastellone  |  September 4th, 2006 at 13:40

  Excellent !!!

  Really very interesting..

• 4. sarah  |  September 8th, 2006 at 08:34

  Hey Todd
  Sent you an e-mail with the information about Sofka and her father. My e-mail is being weird so I’m not sure you’ve received it. Can you let me know?
  Cheers
  SARAH

• 5. admin  |  September 8th, 2006 at 14:15

  No i didn’t what is up with your email. Lets get this offline, email me at my hotmail account.

  t

• 6. Maiwenn  |  September 18th, 2006 at 17:04

  I’m not sure this milk bag thing is true of all of canada.. although they are found in BC, I only know expatriated ontarians that actually buy them. BC however may be the only province wich still uses the glass milk bottle, wish is still returned to the store and washed for re-use. I beleive it is an organic milk co. who keeps this tradition allive. I think milk is interresting; because of it’s perishable nature it becomes a very local product, and breads local design solutions. For instance, I have not yet seen the big square plastic four litter jugs of milk sold in Toronto, yet they are evrywhere in Vancouver.

• 7. Anthony  |  September 30th, 2006 at 04:25

  i grew up in alberta, and when living in to, i couldnt deal with the bags of milk, half of it wouldend up all over he floor, so i ended up buying liter cartons…not very practical

• 8. Jason Cobill  |  October 3rd, 2006 at 08:11

  I grew up with bagged milk in Ontario and Quebec, but they don’t seem to be in use anywhere out west. I’m currently in Manitoba, and we’re using the square plastic gallon jugs.

• 9. bill shaver  |  October 18th, 2006 at 17:49

  Showed bagged milk to people in a marketing class in Cornel university, in new york & was regared as if i ws from outer space, a milk inspector even expressed his doubt, but was perplexed even more about the process of micro pore filtering, yes lactantica product( parmalait), it wa sfunny since its been the norm north of the border since 1993 & the baggies since 1970′s early. You think they’ll ever change. Ontop of this the picture on the carrying bag, pastor farm scene would alone sell the product, no one interested instead advocate make the farm milk 500 cows ! Typical ideas promigated around agriculture schools, canada too. never mind do somthing to increase consumption & advertize better, like what I see done by quebec farmers CO-OP ( patlq) oh you think they’d all do the intelligent thing instead of trying to re invent the wheel. Even visiting a new york state processor ?store owner, STEWARTS, & comenting on these things like 1 qt milk baggies & micro pore filtering & you get responses like usda won’t approve or mistified looks of confusion, .The microp pore filter milk lasts 25 days & tastes better, creamier & richer, you’d think they’d change the official word of pre treatment of mik to use less energgy to pasturize & remove more bacteria & viruses that can potentially harm people that we don’t know about or goes un reported.

  bill Shaver

• 10. Damian  |  December 7th, 2006 at 14:06

  Anybody know who makes these bags? I have a similar use in mind for transporting freshly purified drinking water home from a self-serve purification machine in a store.

• 11. E.J. Allen  |  August 2nd, 2007 at 11:39

  In Ontario and I believe also in Quebec the use of the 4 Litre jug is prohibited by provincial law for use as a milk container. The bagged milk arrives at the store 4 bags to a square milk crate, and many stores have shoots that are slightly angled with rollers allowing the bag milk to be loaded from within the backroom cooler and slide to glass doors that face the sales area of the supermarket.

• 12. Steph  |  October 11th, 2007 at 17:29

  I have been growing up on bagged milk for years,
  My friends in the US think im CRAZY for drinking it from a bag,they tease me alot. But i like the bag.

• 13. Angela  |  November 9th, 2007 at 14:39

  I don’t see why American’s, and possibly any other countries, think that Canadians are so weird for drinking bagged milk. I’ve grown up on it in Ontario, and it’s so natural to me that it seems weird NOT to have it, hahah! But bagged milk is a lot more convenient than milk in a carton or jug, in my opinion.

• 14. Alex  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 22:48

  Really, bagged milk is just as easy, if not more easy to pour than cartoned or jugged milk, and contrary to what some people have said, it’s pretty popular where I am in Ontario, although buying three bags in one isn’t really economic for one or two people. But then, maybe I’m just used to them because I was raised on them.

• 15. Linda  |  March 2nd, 2008 at 10:09

  I live in Alberta and I remeber growing up my mom use to buy milk in bags and freeze the ones that we did not use right away just took a bag out of the freezer when we needed a new bag, so does anyone know where to get bags of milk anymore?

• 16. Stacey  |  March 24th, 2008 at 23:34

  I have friends in the states and other countries that constantly tease me about bagged milk, but growing up in BC, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen any. Just the 4L jugs, really. Even I Find the idea of bagged milk funny because of that.

• 17. John  |  April 7th, 2008 at 05:42

  It seems like there’s some sort of milk border in canada between Manitoba and Ontario where going East from that point milk is in bags and going west they’ve never even heard of bagged milk. When my friend from BC came to stay in Quebec, she was flabbergasted by the bagged milk and started laughing at them any time we were in the grocery store. I on the other hand found the big 4L jugs of milk in BC strange and hard to pour.

• 18. Ken  |  May 11th, 2008 at 23:38

  BC definitely had bagged milk up until at least the late 1980′s, but it’s a thing of the past now. Maybe John’s friend is just too young to remember this era, or was even nonexistent at the time. Personally, I kinda miss it, but the jugs make a lot more sense.

• 19. Elise Kingston  |  May 19th, 2008 at 04:51

  Can anyone tell me when exactly Ontario started marketing milk in bags? I’m thinking it had to be sometime around 1976, but I can’t find a reference anywhere.

• 20. Dan Casciato  |  June 30th, 2008 at 16:37

  Seen bags of milk loads of times when visiting our neighbors to the north… Seems a much better solution to the new “square” jug just saw on TV which S’club is adopting… I would prefer the bags of milk…

• 21. Kevin  |  August 21st, 2008 at 16:09

  I’ve grown up on bagged milk all my life… I actually didn’t know that this was only local to Canada (or more specifically to Ontario/Quebec), and that people in other countries think that it’s a strange concept. I honestly thought it was the norm everywhere.

  And to Alex:
  How is 3 bags in one NOT economical? Much cheaper then buying 1 litre cartons all the time… man, I go through two bags (that being a total of 8 litres) a week… just me… all me… effin love my milk… especially in a bag!

• 22. James  |  September 16th, 2008 at 04:06

  Just moved to Quebec from BC, and grew up in Alberta, first of all 4 liters of milk costs about a dollar more in Quebec than out west, comparing Provigo to its equivalent Superstore; I’m not sure if that is due to taxation or the packaging, transportation, or what.

  The other thing would be if you are living somewhere with recycling services, how much of the plastic jug would be wasted? Are the bags also recyclable if you take the time to wash them out? Personally I’d be more likely to rinse out and recycle a plastic jug than a plastic milk bag. I’m not convinced that the jug is more wasteful than the bags, (not to mention the bag that encloses the smaller milk bags) and if the commenter above is correct that the 4L plastic milk jug is BANNED in Québec, that is simply ludicrous.

  Hating the bag.

• 23. Andrea  |  September 16th, 2008 at 07:02

  Out here in Atlantic Canada, milk in bags is quite common.

  First off, the outer bags is definitely recyclable as is. The milk bags themselves, when washed out, are a sturdy heavy plastic that is useful for quite a number of things. My grandmother always saved them.

  Second, in terms of being enviro-friendly, even if you did throw the bags out, it’s certainly less waste than tossing out a carton or jug. WAY lass waste.

  Milk in bags is convenient, as well as keeping less milk open for spoiling or spilling. So you could have less waste by using bags.

• 24. Blaise  |  October 8th, 2008 at 14:08

  I’ve lived in BC all my life and now I’ve been living in Ontario for 2 years.

  All I can say is milk bags suck. 4L milk cartons are better because they’re much easier to recycle, easier to handle (they don’t explode), and you don’t need a special milk jug which might tip over in the fridge.

  I don’t know how recycling milk bags works. So far all I see is milk bags being thrown out. In my honest opinion milk bags are worse. Just look at all the packaging: you’ve got your individual milk bags, and then the main milk bag to hold it all together. Compare that to ONE 4L milk jug and you can see how much more plastic is used.

  A lot of comments seem to be about recycling. I had the idea that recycling plastic bags was harder than solid plastic. Just look at all the shopping bags we’ve been wasting.

• 25. C. Laing  |  December 1st, 2008 at 09:11

  As a child, my mom used to buy bagged milk instead of the 4L jugs because it was cheaper in price. These days, we can’t seem to find the bags of milk anymore. I’m 20 years old now, and I live in B.C.

• 26. New Milk Jug « Atta&hellip  |  January 22nd, 2009 at 09:43

  [...] Canada, a “family sized” milk package comes in 4L bags? For my lonely Denverian reader, here’s a picture of a giant Canadian milk bag. (Canadians don’t have to click that. I know you guys [...]

• 27. Mike  |  January 31st, 2009 at 01:01

  Huh… I Googled upon this page when I remembered how my mum used to buy milk in bags when I was young (4-5 years old). We even have the special jug for the milk bag.

  Now I’m eighteen and the bags are nowhere to be seen in Vancouver..? I suspect it has something to do with the supplier of the packaging and ease of shipment/store handling.

• 28. Sanae  |  February 11th, 2009 at 19:16

  Manitoban here. Until now I kind of thought “milk in bags hur hur” was some weird stereotype Americans made up.

  4L jugs 4 lyfe, yo.

• 29. Patrick  |  February 20th, 2009 at 01:18

  I remember bagged milk from when I was a kid, but they stopped offering it in Calgary sometime in the nineties. Now I buy the four litre jugs, I can see why people find those awkward though; lifting and pouring a full jug takes a little practice.

  Funny that people find our milk bags strange! I don’t know about recycling them, but at my home they were reused quite a lot. The bags were good heavy plastic, nice for keeping all sorts of things
  (once they were rinsed out). For toys, sandwiches, or as makeshift pencil bags…

• 30. The CANADIAN DESIGN RESOU&hellip  |  February 27th, 2009 at 10:57

  [...] straightforward plastic jug facilitates the use of plastic milk bags, used in Canada since the 1980’s. This may seem odd; to drink milk from a bag but this system [...]

• 31. T-minus five days… &hellip  |  March 9th, 2009 at 01:41

  [...] planet, I find something strange there. Did you know that they buy their gallon (4 liter) milk in bags? BAGS! That is like the weirdest thing ever. But, okay…good for the environment. I’m [...]

• 32. Antoinette  |  April 15th, 2009 at 08:21

  It’s time for the rest of Canada and U.S to catch up with the provinces and other countries ( England , New Zealand, the Scaninavian countries & the others) who use mainly milk bags as the container of choice for milk.
  They use less plastic & taste better than the cardboard containers. The myth that plastic bags leak is only true when abused just as any container. I have used milk bags all my life and I love them……but the secret is to use the proper milk bag holder.
  The one to use is the Nevada milk bag holder with a lid. This holder covers the entire milk bag, while the lid keeps the milk colder. The other pitchers cause a mess…because 1/4 of the bag hangs out, sags & flops . .
  Don’t use a shoe to nail ,use the proper tool for the job.

  Milk Holder link: nevadaproducts@sympatico.ca

• 33. Sophie  |  April 16th, 2009 at 06:48

  I’m originally from New Brunswick and we had milk bags in our home while I was growing up. They are still sold in stores. In Quebec as well. I never realised it was a Canadian thing tho. My boyfriend, who is British, thought it was funny because he’d never seen those before.

  Just as “Andrea” stated above, my grandmother also saved them for all kinds of uses. They are very durable.

  The key to using them properly is the holder and the size of the hole you cut in the bag. If the hole is too big, it makes a mess, if too small, it just causes frustration as it pours out too slowly… it’s an art really LOL

• 34. Rene Olivier  |  June 24th, 2009 at 03:41

  I stumled upon this while doing a search for milk jug. Liquid Living has developed a new product that makes the use of sachets so easy without spilling a drop and the milk stays fresher longer. The developed tap instantly seals with the wall of a sachet and the dispenser is very user friendly to put in your fridge or to even mount on a wall.This will allow you to contribute to the environment by saving 75% plastic. Further, as the end consumer, you will save even more by buying sachets! See liquid living to see this milk jug.

• 35. Rachel  |  June 26th, 2009 at 12:08

  PLASTIC MILK BAG BED MATS
  sent to Third World Countries

  LET’S RECYCLE and MAKE A DIFFERENCE

  All you need to start is:
  Plastic milk bags
  (the outer bag which holds 3 smaller milk bags)
  1 pair of scissors
  1 – 9mm crochet hook
  (crochet single chain – very easy)
  and A GOOD OUTLOOK

  Mat sizes :
  Adult mat 36 x 65 inches : appx. 250 bags
  Child mat 30 x 45 inches : appx. 150 bags

• 36. Carl  |  July 5th, 2009 at 19:23

  I used to work at a milk plant in Ontario in university and ran the machines that produce 4L bags of milk. Incidentally, the clear plastic “bags” are actually called pouches (1.33L) and 3 pouches get popped into the outer bag. The machines are made by DuPont and are referred to as Pitcher Paks or by their model names. Each machine operator ran 2 Pitcher Paks plus the caser (puts the bags into the cases) and stackers (stacks the cases). When I worked there, the models were IS6 and IS7. From memory, DuPont makes the plastic for the pouches too. The machines are very efficient. When I started, the models had two filling heads and produced 90 pouches per minute. Now, the newer models produce 120 pouches per minute per filling head.

• 37. rita  |  July 28th, 2009 at 20:31

  Milk in plastic bags has been around in the United States too, my parents owned a small grocery store in West Virginia and they had it in their store too, and that was in the early 1980′s

• 38. Karen  |  March 2nd, 2010 at 10:01

  bags take up less space, pile them lying down on the bottom shelf….I buy 12 L of milk at a time,couldn’t do that with jugs…also, to keep the bag from sagging just cut a small piece of BOTH corners of the bag (when in the jug) to let the air flow through.

• 39. JD  |  March 12th, 2010 at 08:06

  Wow! You got to be kidding! How can the packaging of milk become such an important topic of discussion? As long as its not killing the planet (comparatively) or making people sick, they can sell it in fish bowls for all I care!
  So, how is that health care reform coming?

• 40. Ruth  |  April 1st, 2010 at 12:59

  Rachel (#35) Do you have a way of cutting the strips and also connecting the strips to form the ball of plastic yarn?

• 41. GIL COOPER  |  September 15th, 2010 at 18:39

  ALONG WITH YOUR MILK BAGS PICTURE WHY DO YOU NOT SHOW A PICTURE OF THE SPIKE MILK JUG WHICH OPENS THE FULL POUCH IN 3 SECONDS RIGHT INTO A BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED DRIPLESS MILK PITCHER,BEAUTIFULLY BALANCED ,CHILD MANAGABLE,TABLE APPROPRIATE.KITCHEN TOOL?????
  GIL COOPER
  DILCO INC.
  905 679 4900

• 42. Shoshana  |  December 9th, 2010 at 03:19

  I live in Metro Vancouver, I remember having the milk in bags when I was a kid (because I remember spilling it everywhere)… I must have been about 5 or 6, so thats 15 years ago. I don’t really remember the take-over of plastic jugs or cardboard cartons… So I haven’t the foggeiest WHEN it happened. Wonder why that was? Its kind of sad, somehow…

  I think that the bags must have been dying a slow death because I have other friends who have lived in Surrey their whole lives who think the idea of bagged milk is completely ludicrous and have no memory of it whatsoever. *shrug*

  Speaking of random old things like this, anyone else remember how when the toonie first came out you could pop the center out if you froze it?

• 43. SheilA  |  August 8th, 2011 at 20:25

  Dairyland doesn’t want to provide milk in bags anymore because they have to buy the milk back from the store when there is a leak. The plastic bags have a bigger chance of leaking than other packaging. HOWEVER, I would prefer it if they would bring the bags back in BC because they are much more efficient. They take less room in the fridge and they recycle beautifully. When you go through 4 litres a day, it’s nice to be able to actually keep two or three day’s worth of milk in the fridge, I can’t keep three gallon containers as easily as the bags… and I’d like to put less waste out. If only I could convince my family to drink water instead of milk…
  As to when they stopped selling it in BC, I think it was around 2000. I called Dairyland looking for the bags when they did it and it was just before my last child was born in 2001 so I’m sure it was 2000.

• 44. Milky, And I’m Back&hellip  |  August 14th, 2011 at 21:32

  [...] Americans don’t go to the grocery store and buy three small, slug-like bags of milk wrapped snug in a larger bag of milk. We drink our milk from plastic jugs, like normal people [...]

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