Which milk has less fat and less calories - skim or lite white?

Last updated 17/01/2024

There are a range of ‘fat-modified’ milks available in Australia. Regular or full fat milk has an average of 3.5% fat, reduced-fat milks (e.g. lite white) have at least 25% less fat than regular milk (approximately 2% fat) and skim or ‘fat-free’ milk has the least amount of fat with no more than 0.15%. Fat-modified milk is made by removing part or most of the fat in regular milk.

Reduced fat milk varieties will naturally have less calories than regular full fat milk as fat is high in energy and contains 9 calories per gram. Regular milk has 60 calories in every 100ml, while reduced fat has 47 calories and skim (fat-free) has 36 calories in the same amount of milk.¹

Skim (fat-free) milk contains both the lowest of amount of calories and fat compared to other dairy milks. This applies to fresh, powdered and long life milk varieties too.

The good news is that all types of milk, no matter the fat content, contain the same essential nutrients including calcium for bone health and protein for muscle growth and repair.

Research also continues to show that milk, cheese and yoghurt are not linked to weight gain - this applies to all varieties, including regular fat products. ^2,3,4