How long can milk stay good?

[Larry24]

I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Martin Ban]

>If I bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table,
>unopenned, how long will it stay drinkable?

Why would you not put it in the refigerator? I assume that you
forgot to put it away and now want us to tell you if you
should still use it?

All milk has a sell by (use by?) date. Even if you keep milk
in a refigerator you know that it will still spoil if you keep
it too long after the expiration date.

If the milk sat a room temperature overnight, I would say that
you have at most 1 week to use it after you get it cold.

You can usually tell if milk has gone bad by looking at it (a
ring that sticks to the side of a glass or plastic bottle) and
by smelling it.

You say that your milk came in a plastic bag and you
bought three bags of milk. I think you will have to give
up on at least two of those bags unless you plan on
drinking a lot of milk.

I don't think that most spoiled milk has pathogenic
bacteria in it but it's kind of a crap shoot, just like
eggs. I can tell you from personal experience, it does not
taste good. I have learned to look for signs of spoilage
before I drink milk.

I don't know if you will read this because you wanted an email
response. Since I'm in AOL, I can click the send email box and
do both (post and email).

Marty B "You are what you eat"

[Jedilworth]

Milk is not sterile. Since I'm not a food microbiologist, I
only know that certain bacterial counts in pasteurized milk is
acceptable. What the counts are, I do not know. If kept
refrigerated, this low count will keep the milk palatable up
until the outdate (ideally). However, leaving milk at room
temperature causes the low counts of bacteria to multiply
faster since they are at a warmer temperature. Therefore, your
milk will have the higher bacterial count faster than
otherwise would happen in the refrigerator. Bacteria can
multiply in the cold, they just do so at a slower rate. That's
why refrigeration works, but only for awhile.

The only clue you will have is taste and smell, unless you're
running a micro lab in your kitchen. What country can one
purchase milk in plastic bags? I've never heard of this. Here
in the US milk is in plastic rigid containers, and smaller
sizes are in coated waxed cartons, although these are slowly
being replaced with plastic containers. Years ago it was in
returnable glass bottles. Milk tasted better then, I think.

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP) Microbiology

larry24 wrote:
>
> I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
> purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
> bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
> how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
> p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Hilite]

One way to find out if its still good is to cook some of it
and smell the aroma. The more bacteria, the worse it smells.

The quality of the milk depends on so many factors that you
have to test it yourself. Even the expiration date is just an
guideline.

On Thu, 07 Mar 2002 01:36:27 GMT, "larry24"
<larya24@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
>purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
>bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
>how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
>p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Charlesswa]

When the bags pop, they're bad.

"larry24" <larya24@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vuzh8.49782$aFN.44396@news1.bloor.is...
> I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
> purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
> bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
> how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
> p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Merlin]

Good vs bad are purely subjective terms...I've used sour milk
for waffles, sour buttermilk for flavor, and if you blend sour
milk with fresh fruit it tastes like yogurt. I milk my own
goats and put the milk in plastic zip-lock bags and freeze it.
Don't see why that wouldn't also work for cow
milk.

gerhardt "larry24" <larya24@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vuzh8.49782$aFN.44396@news1.bloor.is...
> I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
> purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
> bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
> how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
> p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Trotmw]

>Milk is not sterile. Since I'm not a food microbiologist, I
>only know that certain bacterial counts in pasteurized milk
>is acceptable. What the counts are, I do not know. If kept
>refrigerated, this low count will keep the milk palatable up
>until the outdate (ideally).

20 years ago the (U.S.) skim milk I bought would not last much
past the outdate and not infrequently didn't even make it
(smell test-wise) to that date. Now I have milk lasting 7-10
days past the outdate without any offness to the smell. What
are they doing to it?

[taurusrc]

I have seen sterilized milk in the market in plastic bags.
That milk is on the shelf and is not refrigerated. Is that
what you are talking about?

Read the label and let us know what kind of milk it is. Of
course canned milk does not need to be refrigerated either but
that is another ballgame.

Ora

On Thu, 07 Mar 2002 01:36:27 GMT, "larry24"
<larya24@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
>purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
>bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
>how long will it stay drinkable? Larry
>p.s. please respond via email larya@rogers.com

[Alpha Male]

"larry24" <larya24@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vuzh8.49782$aFN.44396@news1.bloor.is...
> I hope this is the right newsgroup for this question. I
> purchase milk in plastic bags, 3 bags per carry bag. If I
> bring it home then leave it on the kitchen table, unopenned,
> how long will it stay drinkable? Larry

Imo, the _Only time milk is "good" is when it's sucked
directly from the teat...and only IF the suckling is a calf.

[Jedilworth]

I read somewhere, though, that goat's milk is naturally
homogenized. Therefore, if this is the case it wouldn't
separate if frozen. I was under the assumption that cow's milk
would separate or the consistency somehow change with
freezing, as most cookbooks with directions for freezing
things don't recommend doing this with milk.

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP) Microbiology

Merlin wrote:
>
> Good vs bad are purely subjective terms...I've used sour
> milk for waffles, sour buttermilk for flavor, and if you
> blend sour milk with fresh fruit it tastes like yogurt. I
> milk my own goats and put the milk in plastic zip-lock bags
> and freeze it. Don't see why that wouldn't also work for cow
> milk.

[Jedilworth]

I don't know. I'm not a food microbiologist. Perhaps
transportation from the dairy is faster now, or refrigeration
is better along the way.

Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP) Microbiology

TrotMW wrote:
>
> 20 years ago the (U.S.) skim milk I bought would not last
> much past the outdate and not infrequently didn't even make
> it (smell test-wise) to that date. Now I have milk lasting
> 7-10 days past the outdate without any offness to the smell.
> What are they doing to it?

[Db]

JEDilworth wrote:

> I don't know. I'm not a food microbiologist. Perhaps
> transportation from the dairy is faster now, or
> refrigeration is better along the way.
>
> Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP) Microbiology
>
> TrotMW wrote:
>>
>> 20 years ago the (U.S.) skim milk I bought would not last
>> much past the outdate and not infrequently didn't even make
>> it (smell test-wise) to that date. Now I have milk lasting
>> 7-10 days past the outdate without any offness to the
>> smell. What are they doing to it?

Maybe his olfactory receptors have disintegrated in
those 20 years.

[Martin Ban]

>20 years ago the (U.S.) skim milk I bought would not last
>much past the outdate and not infrequently didn't even make
>it (smell test-wise) to that date. Now I have milk lasting
>7-10 days past the outdate without any offness to the smell.
>What are they doing to it?

My guess would be higher antibiotic levels.

Marty B "You are what you eat"

[Onealsnoaf]

lary my friend...lol we cannot afford for the fda too look out
for our health... any way you might think that sounds a bit
"paranoya"lol...so go to..www.notmilk.com this isnt the only
source ive heard this... my dad's a phd in holistic health im
in school for a bachelor in bio and nutrition..."clinical"...
thats like"goverment's" idea of nutrition...itsa piece of
papper soo i guess i have to have it... soo please do yourself
a favor and look intoo that whole "milk is good for you"
idea... thanks bro... frankie