Both are Blue. Only One is Skim.

It’s simple enough.

Whole milk is red. 2% is a navy/dark blue. 1% is purplish. Skim is light/sky blue.

In the States.

In Canada, skim milk is navy/dark blue.

When you’ve condition yourself to the new milk color coding scheme, you go colorblind, as it were, when grocery shopping in the States. Navy/dark blue immediately registers as skim because that is how the brain has been trained. Reading the label, the 2% doesn’t quite register because the labeling is navy/dark blue. The brain decides that labeling is standard across industry, regardless of country.

The following morning, that 2% glares at you as you open the fridge and reach for the milk. At this point, it is too late to take it back.

Word to the wise: pause and read the label before purchase.