Store bought milk going off fast

[the_whingnut]

Is it me or is the store bought milk going off faster than the dates on the jug? we have a gallon of milk in my fridge that smells off with a week until it is suppose to go bad. i know the fridge works its new and its not been left out. is something going on with quality control or is it a shift in feed for the milk cows. so far we have had similar issues with several brands of milk. any ideas?

 

[Hinotori]

I can't drink milk once it has any slight sour smell to it. (I blame Mom. We had real fresh milk a lot when I was a kid. Produce is the same way) I always make sure I get a jug that is the farthest from the lights at the store.

Yes, it does seem that store milk doesn't seem to make it to date now. Used to be that it could go a week over fine.

 

[Icu4dzs]

There can be several explanations for this but the most logical might be to look at how you are handling milk. Human skin is notoriously covered with bacteria and if not cleaned will contaminate everything in its path.
Even washing one's hands can not prevent contamination entirely.
Here is what I would suggest.
1. Handle milk exceedingly carefully: a) wash hands before touching the top.
2. Take the top off with one hand, pour the milk into a container and replace the top without touching the inside of the top or the top of the bottle/container.
3. (now this one is obvious but only directed at a select few): don't drink from the bottle...nuff said there.
4. Look for milk that is "ultrapasturized" which will last signficantly longer in the fridge. Out here we get it in 1 quart boxes rather than opaque plastic bottles.
5. Be certain that there are no "hitchikers" on your food in the fridge. Molds, etc. seem to grow faster on some things and having that in the fridge and in the circulating air of the fridge is NOT in your best interest.
6. Clean the fridge out with a dilute bleach solution on occasion. Yes, cleaning the fridge can be very useful in solving this problem.
7. Don't leave milk out on the table, counter or let it get warm. That is a BIG no-no. It invites all kinds of critters to infest your bottle.
8. Don't let the children handle the bottle. Keeping it sterile as much as possible should extend the life of your bottle of milk quite a bit longer.

An interesting result of sour milk is that it can be used to make "sour-dough" baked goods. You can read all about that somewhere else.

HOpe this helps...even if just a little

 

[Britesea]

I would not recommend using pasteurized milk that has gone "off"... you just don't know what kind of critters made it happen. Raw milk seems to be safer in that respect. Something I would add in the list of things to do to keep milk fresh is to make sure you have good circulation in your refrigerator. Some people jam so much stuff into their fridge that the air can't circulate properly, which means that the food in the front is going to be warmer than the food in the back; perhaps warm enough to allow bacteria to grow more quickly. If you have problems with ice forming at the back or bottom of your fridge, poor circulation is more than likely to be the cause.

 

[the_whingnut]

i'm having no issues with the fridge working or in air circulation nor am i man handling the milk. (mom would bust my ass if i was drinking from the jug) but over the last couple of monthes i've systematically had jugs of milk go bad about a week early. so much in fact i had the housing office replace the fridge twice. mostly with two brands the store brand at walmart and the store brand at stop'n'shop.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I think I'd be talking to the store managers and then buying my milk somewhere else. While you may be handling the milk correctly there's no guarantee that it's being handled so carefully by the shippers or the store itself. Take it back - if it's going bad before the date the store needs to know so maybe, just maybe they can change their actions. If enough people are having the problem and returning the milk - the just might get the hint.

 

[FarmerChick]

Found this on the internet. I also had some milk go south faster than the expiration date on the carton. not often, but it happened to me also.


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The reason the milk doesnt turn to cheese on the first day you get it is because it was pasturized. This process kills bacteria by heating it up.

The date on the bottle is the sell by date. That date is usually 14 days after pasteurization. This is basically a date in which the processor of the milk guarantees it to be fresh. Depending on how the milk is handled the milk could last much longer or much shorter.

So how should you handle the milk? Milk needs to be cold. Real cold. We keep our milk on the dairy at 40 degrees F. If you let the milk get warm the bugs become active and start turning your milk to cheese. So here are some tips to help keep the milk cold.

1. Buy the milk last when you are at the store
2. Put it in an insulated container like an ice chest
3. Go strait home, dont get your car washed or go to a soccer game and leave the milk in the car.
4. Keep the milk on a bottom shelf toward the back of the fridge. It is very convenient to keep it in the door but every time you open the door you are exposing it to warm air.
5. Take the milk out of the fridge, pour it in the bowl, then put it right back in the fridge. Dont leave it on the table while you eat the cereal.
6. Your nose is the only one who really knows when the milk is bad. I never open a carton of milk without smelling it. If it stinks, its no good. If it doesnt stink its good. Its that simple. Milk is one of the few substances in the world that tells you exactly when it goes bad. If you dont know what bad milk is supposed to smell like, take some milk, put it in the garage, come back in a couple of days and smell it.

 

[Britesea]

I agree that store personnel don't always take care of their inventory like they should. If you find that the frozen broccoli has frozen into a solid block, even the ones at the back or bottom of the store freezer, it's pretty much a given that the pallet of frozen veggies sat on the dock for long enough to start thawing and then refroze. Wouldn't surprise me a bit that they're not being real careful with dairy either. They're probably counting on the fact that most people don't bring something back for going bad after it was opened; after all, how can you prove that YOU weren't the one that left it out at room temperature for too long.

 

[Hinotori]

I have taken milk back to the store because it smelled well off when I opened it.

There was a news article about truckers turning off the refrigerated trucks to save gas a while back. Maybe a year or two ago? I don't know if it's still an issue.

I'm really thinking of signing up for milk delivery. There is a dairy out here that does it. I was totally shocked that they will deliver out in the country, but we're on their way to one of the towns south of us, so delivery is available.

Or I could just get off my butt and get pens and pasture set up for goats.

 

[Britesea]

Think hard about setting up for dairy animals. There's more to it than just feeding and milking them- you need to set up breeding schedules, and find a buck that will throw good milkers (with good tasting milk! This isn't always a given, especially with goats as the breeders used to just breed for quantity, not quality). You will need to decide what you are going to do with the kids- keep them (and figure out how you will house and keep them too), butcher them (which means either learning yourself or hiring someone to do that for you), or sell them (and hope you find a good market); this can be difficult because there are few domesticated animals that are cuter than a kid- and if you keep them all, well, I hope you have lots of land, money, and energy. You will need to research the pros and cons of keeping their horns, and if you decide to dehorn them- that is a trauma for both you and the goats. If you decided to keep your buck kids, you need to decide if you are going to keep one as a breeder; and if so, you need to come up with a place for him (trust me, you don't want that smelly old guy anywhere near where you are milking!); and the others will need to be castrated, and then you still need to figure out if they're pets or dinner or are you gonna train them to pull a milk cart?. They will need to have their hooves trimmed regularly. And then there is the time spent milking- twice a day for optimum health, comfort and yield.

Forget about vacations.