Anybody else having experiences with milk going bad on or before

[raccoon]

Anybody else having experiences with milk going bad on or before the sell by date, Since the pandemic?

I have. I attribute it to supply problems or maybe a shipment of milk being left out in the hot sun for several hours. Due to delivery problems.

[dem4decades]

1. I don't drink milk but yesterday I picked up a gallon for my son, 6 bucks. yikes.

I stopped by the local convivence store, If I knew he was going to need it I would have gotten it at Costco when I was there earlier.

[hlthe2b]

2. Refrigeration issues or milk left out too long by customers who fail to return it to the proper

case after changing their mind. also an issue There were instances with several Walmart locations several years ago wherein employees had not been trained to discard refrigerated foods, especially dairy and frozen meals-- that they found had been left out. These things happen, unfortunately. I always pull milk from the back of the refrigerated shelves and for those products that can be purchased as Ultrapasturized (e.g., half & half) a good option as they last longer. I find prices on dairy to be so widely varying that that is one product for whom I check for a Safeway or King Soopers (Kroger) weekly discount because that signals a rapid turnover and likely fresh supplies.

[bob4460]

3. Look under your refrigerator

Look under your refrigerator, you will have to pull the front trim off of the bottom to look, and see if your coils are dirty.

[mahina]

4. Oat milk costs less, stays fresh unrefrigerated till opened

Last edited Fri Jul 8, 2022, 01:03 PM - Edit history (1)

I like the Kirkland brand but you can make it at home for pennies. People put maple syrup or whatever you want to use for sweetener in it if you do use sweetener to make it more wake me up.

I haven’t bought milk in about a year. I always use it for my coffee and running out if milk was a problem. It cost about five bucks for a half gallon then. I have no idea what it costs now.

Just something to think about. I tried it out and I like it better.

[Wednesdays]

10. I was about to say...

Cow's milk is good for only about two weeks. Oat and almond milk is good for two months.

[Mosby]

26. Ultra pasteurized milk is shelf stable.

https://horizon.com/about-us/what-is-shelf-stable/

[Ohio Joe]

17. We switched to oat milk a few weeks ago, I love it

I tried it at a friend’s, who tries really hard to be a healthy eater, thought it tasted great. I don’t use a lot of milk… A splash in my coffee, once or twice a month a bowl of cereal… A cup here and there cooking but that’s it. It was an easy switch and I like it better in all three ways I use it.

[Croney]

5. Milk from our Whole Foods goes bad faster than from Shaw's or StopnShop.

We think they leave it unrefrigerated somewhere along the distribution line. We've learned not to buy milk there.

[Laurian]

6. I started buying organic milk because of this problem.

Organic costs more, but taking into consideration waste and inconvenience, I’m willing to pay the extra cost.

[jmowreader]

23. Unfortunately...

…a lot of organic milk us UHT which means it tastes weird.

[meadowlander]

7. Could be a witch

[Samrob]

8. Yes. Pointed this out months ago. I now buy organic milk which is super pasteurized.

Even Carnation evaporated milk turn bad almost a day after it's opened. But you know, regulations are bad for the economy. No one seems to be monitoring anything.

[Freddie]

9. Also do not store milk in the fridge door

Not quite as cold as the main fridge.

[Tetrachloride]

11. Picket line and Facebook

[Victor_c3]

12. As mentioned above, I thinks it's a refrigeration problem

I set my refrigerator to as cold as it can get without freezing everything. I never have anything spoil before the sell-by date. Usually, things shouldn’t spoil until a few days after the sell-by date.

If you can, get a thermometer. The temperature in your refrigerator should be 40 degrees or lower. (I grew up in a restaurant, my father used to always harp on and on about “legal refrigeration temperatures”)

[raccoon]

22. Fridge is very cold. A pitcher of tea shoved in the back

Fridge raider is very cold. A picture of tea shoved in the back Will acquire a large chunk of ice in it.

[Liberal In Texas]

13. We've been using milk marked "Organic" and they last a lot longer.

The sell-by dates stamped on the top are much longer than standard brands, like 2 or 3 weeks longer. I don't care really if the milk is "organic" or not, just that it lasts in the refrigerator much longer than regular types. We pretty much only use milk for tea or coffee and any recipes. Is it more expensive? A bit, but we're not throwing out half a carton that goes sour 4 or 5 days after purchase anymore.

[sir pball]

20. Organic milk is generally ultrapasteurized, regular is not

That's what makes it last longer, it's nothing to do with being organic. It's possible to find UP regular milk, but that's mostly the shelf-stable packages so there's little to no cost benefit.

It's awful for making yogurt or kefir, though.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

24. I don't buy milk as such, but I do buy half and half for my coffee.

The regular from a cow kind. Not organic. It's been ultra pasteurized for years. That should be the same where you live.

[gradmaster]

14. Fresh milk at Aldi.

I used to have this happen all the time until I started buying milk from our Aldi's. Has a very long "sell by" date and actually stays fresh for several days after the date! I've seen a Prairie Farms truck delivering. The cost is around $2.49 a gal.

[gab13by13]

15. I went to organic milk years ago,

and will drink nothing but from now on, just from the better taste.

[planetc]

16. It was my regrigerator at home, not the store's cooler.

When a quart turned before the best by date, I took it back to the store. They gave me a free bottle, mentioned that no one else had the same problem, and suggested maybe my refrigerator could be to blame? I found a thermometer, stuck it in the fridge, and discovered that it was at least four deg. warmer than the recommended 38 deg. The replacement bottle didn't turn until six days after the best by date. I went back to the store, paid for the replacement bottle, and thanked them for alerting me to a persistent problem.

Cow's milk, which I just put in my coffee, unless cooking. Flying off the handle at evil dairypeople is fun, but unenlightening.

[moonscape]

25. Very cool you went back,

told them, and paid.

[Hotler]

18. Always at the King Soopers (Kroger) be me. Even before the pandemic it would turn.

I stopped buying it and started buying the Meadow Gold on the shelf next to it. It never turned before the date. An employee at that store told me that the milk is delivered early and sits on the back dock for an hour or so in the sun before its brought in. If you look at the use by date on Kroger brand 2% milk it has a 6-month time period (wtf). I hate that store. I've moved on to the local
Safeway. Their milk doesn't have a 6-month use by date and it has yet to turn sour early.

[DeeNice]

19. I've noticed this too.

It seems like we’re using more than we used to, but in spite of that have had to toss out more of it due to it going bad.

[Trailrider1951]

21. Sometimes. In my experience, it depends on where you buy it and also the brand of milk

I live in Western Washington State. The small Safeway down the road from me is the worst. I now will not buy dairy products there, and their house brand is the worst. Walmart is almost as bad. The large, well-frequented Winco up near Sumner is the best. Their prices are the lowest in the area, and half the county shops there. It is always crowded, so there is plenty of turn-over of the stock. I moved up here from Texas five years ago, and the only thing I miss about Texas is my HEB grocery store.

As far as brands are concerned, I've found that DariGold is good up to a week or more past the sell by date. House brands are iffy at best, and some of the more expensive, organic brands turn sour around the sell by date. This holds true for other products like sour cream and cottage cheese as well. This could be due to the handling of the product during shipment as you suggested.

[Mosby]

27. Just an FYI to people on this thread

Don't drink out of the carton, because the backwash contains enough enzymes to turn the milk bad in just a few days.