Christmas -themed foil milk bottle top from the United Kingdom. The red and white stripes show that it is semi-skimmed and the use by date is pressed into the foil

A milk bottle top is a lid to a milk bottle. They are usually colour-coded to show the consumer the different varieties of milk, especially the flavour or fat content. This colour-coding tends to vary between, but is usually consistent within, countries.

Countries

(these are all screw top plastic lids)

Blue top - Regular milk

Purple top - Reduced Fat milk

Light blue top - Low Fat milk

Pink top - Skim milk

Gold Top - Unhomogenized

Green Top - Light milk

(flavoured milks)

Pink - strawberry

Light Brown - coffee

Dark Brown - chocolate

These are used almost only for premium pasteurized milk. UHT packaging colours varies by brand.

Blue top - Regular (whole) milk

Red top - Semi-skimmed milk

Yellow top - Skim milk

Labelling colours vary from dairy bottlers:

Blue top - Skim milk or 2% milk

Purple top - 1% milk

Pink top - 2% milk

Green top - 1% milk

Red top - 3.8% or homogenized milk

White - chocolate milk

Yellow top - Homogenized milk or skim milk

Brown - Chocolate milk

Blue top - Whole Milk

Red - Reduced Fat

Dark Green - Low Fat

Light Green - Skim

Dark Green top - Whole Milk

Red top - Reduced Fat

Yellow top - Skim Milk

Silver top - 3.5g fat and 110mg Calcium

Green top - hi-calcium with 2.0g fat and 165mg of Calcium

Gold top - slim milk with 2g fat and 160mg calcium or milk full cream with milk re-added

Purple - Skim milk

Light blue - 2% milk

Dark Green - Whole milk

Light Green - Unpasteurized

Butterscotch - Half and Half

Red - whole milk (3.5% fat)

Dark blue - normal milk (1.5% fat)

Blue - light milk (1% fat)

Light blue - fat free milk

Red top - full fat milk

Blue top - half fat milk

Green top - Skim milk

Lavender top - Skim milk

Light blue top - 1% milk

Dark Blue top - 2% milk

Green top - Whole Milk

Light Green top -Buttermilk

Brown top - Chocolate Milk

Red top - Kefir

Blue top - Whole milk

Light blue top - 2% milk

Green top - 1% milk

Light green - Skim milk

Milk bags

Red spout - Whole milk

Green Spout- 2% milk

Blue spout - Skim milk

Blue top - whole milk

Red top - 2% milk

Green top - 1% milk

Pink top - Skim Milk

White top - creamer

Yellow top - Whole Milk

Green top - 2% milk

Blue top - 1% milk

Red top - Skim milk

Pink top - Whole milk

Yellow top - 2% milk

Green top - 1% milk

Blue top - Skim milk

Silver/Grey top - full fat milk - not homogenized

Blue top - Full fat

Light blue top -lite semi skimmed - 1.5% fat

Dark green top - trim - fully skimmed

Light green top - trim - Super skimmed

Yellow top - trim -added calcium

Orange top - Mega milk, packed with calcuim

Red top - fresh cream

Green top - Whole Milk

Blue top - Half Milk

Red top - Reduced Milk

Pink top - Low fat

Yellow top - Skim Milk

A purple-top plastic milk bottle

Plastic bottles

Blue top - Whole Milk (3.5% fat content)

Green top - Semi skimmed Milk (1.7% fat content)

Red top - Skimmed Milk (0.3% fat content)

Less Common

Purple top - Morrisons own brand, 'The One' brand and Waitrose own brand (1% fat content)

Gold top (not orange top) - Sainsbury's (1% fat content)

White top - Asda milk (5.5% fat content)

Glass bottles

Gold foil - milk from Channel Island (Jersey/Guernsey) breeds (about 5.2% fat) [ 1 ]

Silver foil - whole milk (about 4% fat - minimum 3.5%)

Red foil - Homogenised whole milk

Red and silver striped foil - semi-skimmed milk (less than 2% fat)

Blue and silver checkered foil - skimmed milk (0.1 to 0.3% fat)

Green foil - raw (unpasteurized) milk, giving rise to the name "green-top milk"

Gold striped foil on a green background - unpasteurized milk from Channel Island breeds [ 2 ]

Note: Blue Peter often had annual charity campaigns where children would collect aluminium bottle-tops to raise money.

Red tops - whole milk.

Light blue tops - skim milk.

Blue tops - 2% milk.

Purple tops - 1% milk.

Brown tops - chocolate milk.

Green tops - buttermilk.

White tops - Unhomogenized milk.

Black tops - Unpasteurized milk.

Strawberry Milk - Mauve - Available year round - colored top

Pumpkin Spice milk - Yellow-orange top - available from Late September until about November 15.

Egg Nog - Red Top- Available around Christmas

Light Egg Nog- Green top- Available a little past New Year, due to its lesser popularity.

Soy Milk- White Top - Usually in cartons, in a separate section or store

Benefits

The colour-coding of milk bottle tops helps consumers quickly to choose the product they want without having to look at labels. It also encourages consistency between regions.



