Timeline for Why did this gallon of milk stay fresh for so long?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 11, 2021 at 5:59 | comment | added | Chris H | @Heinzi, that's interesting, especially as I would have thought it's standardised across the EU. In the UK (and France IIRC, where UHT dominates) fresh milk always has a "use by" like almost all chilled products, but UHT/longlife has a "best before" | |
| Jun 11, 2021 at 5:56 | comment | added | Chris H | @FuzzyChef no. "Best before" is meant to be about quality, "use by" about safety. | |
| Jun 11, 2021 at 1:25 | comment | added | FuzzyChef | AFAICT, both kinds of dates mean the same thing, and they're equally untrustworthy. | |
| Jun 10, 2021 at 17:08 | comment | added | Heinzi | @ChrisH: Interesting. I just checked, and over here (Austria) milk has a best-before date (not a use-by date). | |
| Jun 10, 2021 at 13:54 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | @WhiteHotLoveTiger That's interestingly the most environment-friendly packaging, even though it is plastic, because of the little mass involved. Glass production, transport cost and cleaning make even deposit bottles worse, iirc. These plastic bags have been improved so they stand on their own, and there's some mineral filler in it to reduce the carbon footprint, by a company called Ecolean. Pretty neat. | |
| Jun 10, 2021 at 13:39 | comment | added | WhiteHotLoveTiger | @Heinzi Where I live in Canada, milk is sold in 1.33 L plastic bags. You put the bag in an open ended jug, cut a hole in one corner to pour it out, and then put the jug in the fridge with the open hole. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_bag#Canada | |
| Jun 10, 2021 at 13:37 | comment | added | Chris H | @Peter-ReinstateMonica here, milk has a use-by date, not a best-before. It's often one of the more forgiving use-by dates though, probably for the reasons you state (but occasionally not cautious enough, perhaps due to getting warm on the way home from the shop, or being left out of the fridge a bit much | |
| Jun 10, 2021 at 13:35 | comment | added | Chris H | @Heinzi they're also present in your kitchen, anyway | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 19:45 | comment | added | Perkins | @Heinzi The bacteria in your fridge coat the lid and the outside of the jug and when you do your open and close routine there is some probability of them migrating a bit. It's why for some kinds of lab work you'd sterilize the outside of the container before opening it. | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 19:44 | comment | added | Perkins | Note that it does also matter what kind of bacteria colonize your sample. If it's the right type then instead of sour, curdled milk you get yoghurt. | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 13:46 | comment | added | Heinzi | @mishan: Ah, yes, of course. Haven't seen those in a while around here... | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 11:50 | comment | added | mishan | @Heinzi What about the milk carton that does not have a screw and you have to cut off an edge to open it? image from google search | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 11:01 | comment | added | Heinzi | "and from the environment (that is, bacteria in your fridge)" Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I always (1) open the fridge, (2) take the milk carton from the fridge, (3) close the fridge, (4) open the milk carton, (5) pour out the amount of milk I intend to consume, (6) close the milk carton's screw cap, (7) open the fridge, (8) put the milk carton back into the fridge and (9) close the fridge. How would bacteria in the fridge enter the milk container? Or, in other words, why would I open my milk jug/carton inside the fridge? | |
| Jun 9, 2021 at 9:37 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | Certainly one factor you don't mention is simple variation between samples. The bacteria count after pasteurization may depend on the bacterial load before, and there are lactobacilli strains more heat tolerant than others. And then there is post-pasteurization contamination. The best-before date is a conservative estimate for these things as well. If your milk was processed first after the daily sterilization you may be in luck; the bbd is assuming it's the last batch ;-). | |
| Jun 8, 2021 at 23:14 | vote | accept | Jason P Sallinger | ||
| Jun 8, 2021 at 20:20 | history | answered | FuzzyChef | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
