When folks around here heard about the Maple View milk recall recently most of them shrugged and figured,
"Oh, well, we can't buy that milk around here, anyway."
Those who tried the product, though, were probably dismayed.
I know I was and it was not because the milk was tainted.
It was because I know the product and the folks who produce it and they are first-class with a first-class operation.
That is part of the reason there was a recall.
The Nutter family business produces lots of milk products and they work hard to make sure they are healthy and wholesome.
It was their diligence in testing their product which brought the contamination to light and led to the pulling of all its milk products, except ice cream, from the shelves.
The ice cream was made from milk produced before the tainted batch showed up.
The Orange County dairy located just north of Chapel Hill near Calvander, sells its products in 46 stores across six counties.
It began producing milk again this week, according to Bob Nutter, co-owner of the milk farm.
The milk tested clean and will begin going out to stores in Maple View's trademark returnable glass bottles.
The milk was recalled when tests showed a level of aflatoxins above federal levels.
It came from tainted corn fed to the cows.
Aflatoxins come from mold that can cause cancer when ingested in large amounts.
It is doubtful, in my mind, if the milk was toxic enough to make anyone sick on a short-term basis.
I would not be concerned if I had consumed it, but I understand it is best to err on the side of caution.
Most of the tainted products (milk, cream and butter) had a sell-by date of Aug 25,
while the buttermilk had a Sept. 5 sell-by date.
The milk is splendid and the skim milk is better than most whole milk on supermarket shelves,
while the chocolate milk is amazing, as is the eggnog during the holiday season.
If you are one of those people who wonder whatever happened to good, old-fashioned buttermilk,
well, it is at Maple View Farm, or in one of their bottles,
so thick and rich it knock your socks off.
Maple View Farm is a family Holstein dairy farm located in Orange County just northwest of Chapel Hill.
It moved to its present location after selling a five-generation dairy farm in Maine.
Russ Seibert is the farm manager and oversees the land, crops and cows to produce the highest quality milk without the use of synthetic hormones.
Seibert and Nutter are co-owners of Maple View Farm, Inc.
Russ and his wife Kelly have a renewable20-year lease on the farmland and are working toward ownership of the herd.
Bob, now semi-retired, is the calf feeder and errand runner and his wife Chris maintains the farm records on the registered cattle.
Plant Manager Roger Nutter, Bob's son, is in charge of the on-site bottling operation,
while Muffin Brosig, Bob's daughter, is the office manager.
The ice cream plant and outlet is at the northeast corner of Rocky Ridge Road and Dairyland Road about 3.5 miles west of Calvander.
If you are up for a road trip and some excellent ice cream, grab a cooler and shoot down I-85 to exit 164 in Hillsborough.
Turn left onto Old Highway 86 and go under Interstate 85 and then under Interstate 40.
At the next crossroads, take a right onto Arthur Minnis Road.
Just before it becomes gravel, turn left onto Rock Ridge Road and at the stop sign, turn left into Maple View Farm County Store.
There you will find ice cream cones, shakes, floats, sundaes, banana splits and ice cream in pints in about a dozen flavors.
There are even a few no-sugar added flavors.
Store hours are noon to 10 p.m., seven days a week.
For more information, call the milk company at (919) 933-3600 or the country store at (919) 960-5535.