The Quest for Milk! – By: Samantha

After having lived here in Sweden for a few months, grocery shopping is going pretty smooth. But one thing I always have to be very careful with is buying milk! Here in Sweden, they have a variety of milk, which can be great, but can also make it very difficult for internationals like me to know which milk to pick and if you aren’t careful, you might end up with sour milk (filmjölk)!

So, to help you on your quest for milk, here is a short guide of the types of milk in Sweden.

Mjölk: this is the Swedish word for good old regular milk. There are four different kinds of milk:

⦁ Minimjölk: this is milk with the least amount of fat; less than 0,1%
⦁ Lättmjölk: lätt means light and is comparable to skimmed milk with 0,5% fat
⦁ Mellanmjölk: mellan means middle and this milk has 1,5% fat
⦁ Standardmjölk or just Mjölk: this is the fattest option of milk and has 3% fat
Filmjölk, also known as Fil: this is a Swedish fermented milk and is very sour. If you are looking for regular milk, avoid fil at all cost! But if you’re interested in fil, there are different flavors such as raspberry, vanilla, etc. Also, Fil comes in three fat options:

⦁ Lättfil: which is 0,5% fat
⦁ Mellanfil: which is 1,5% fat
⦁ Standardfil or just Filmjölk: which can be between 2,7 to 3% fat

Laktosfri mjölk: Sweden also has a huge variety of lactose-free products, including milk. Usually lactose-free products have their own section, so you don’t have to look for lactose-free milk between regular milk. When looking for lactose-free milk, just look for products which say Laktosfri. Lactose-free milk comes in the same fat options as regular milk. They also have lactose-free fil, but again if you are looking for milk avoid the word fil at all costs! Even if it says filmjölk, do not be fooled, it is still filmjölk!

Still confused? Take the quiz!