Did You Know Homogenized Milk Was Invented In Torrington?

Got milk? Does it taste good? You should thank Torrington Creamery, although it's not around anymore.

Get our free mobile app

I was doing some reading, and I found out during a Google search of 'Connecticut Firsts' that Torrington Creamery, formerly at 669 Riverside Avenue in Torrington, is credited with being the first to sell homogenized milk to the public in the United States? What the hell is homogenization, you ask? Good question, it's something that I've heard my whole life too.

Basically, Homogenization is a mechanical treatment of the fat that is in milk. You've heard the term 'The cream rises to the top', right? During the homogenization process, milk is passed through a series of tiny openings under extremely high pressure, this reduces the size of the fat globules (Cream) into tiny portions that are evenly dispersed throughout the milk. So, in homogenized milk, the cream doesn't rise to the top.

According to USDairy.com, before the 1930's, when homogenization finally took hold here in the US, consumers had to shake or mix their bottle of milk to try to achieve the consistency that we are used to today. But in 1919, Arthur G. Weigold and his Company Torrington Creamery were the first in the United States to homogenize milk, and sell it to the public.

According to sciencedirectassets.com, in 1919, Weigold made the decision to homogenize all of his milk sold to a local restaurant after a bad experience with non-homogenized milk there. It took over a decade for his product to catch the public's attention though. It was only after a visit to a local hospital, and favorable reviews of infants preferring to be fed homogenized milk, that homogenized milk truly began to be sold to the public here in CT, in 1932. Shortly thereafter, large dairies in Canada and Michigan adopted the process, and the rest, is milk history.

According to ctmills.org, Torrington Creamery got a good 50 years out of their innovation. After expanding numerous times through the 1930's-1960's, Arthur Weigold sold control of Torrington Creamery to Peterson Farms, Inc. in 1969. It was then sold in 1970 to the parent company of a name familiar to CT milk drinkers - Avery Green Dairy - which became Guida's Dairy Company in New Britain. Avery Green Dairy stayed in business in Torrington until 1985, when it closed for good.

102 years after Weigold's innovative thoughts, homogenized milk is the taste standard everywhere. But, if you want to purchase non-homogenized milk, you can. Some say that milk in it's natural state is sweeter. If you'd like to try and find some, click HERE for a list of CT Dairy Farms from CT.gov.