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I have never done this, and I gently suggest you stop. Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? If the milk with the soonest expiration date

I have never done this, and I gently suggest you stop. Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? If the milk with the soonest expiration date was the only one available, would you buy it or just walk out without milk? A good rule to avoid tragedy of the commons situations is to think “what if everyone did as I do?”. This is a pretty classic example here.

smackay 8y ago
I do this and the main reason is that milk with the greatest number of days has also been on the shelf for the least amount of time and consequently has probably had fewer things happen to it - like the refrigerator door being left open and the milk being warmed (slightly). For other items I reach in and take items from behind the first row for similar reasons since the retailer may have put returned items (which might be slightly spoiled or damaged) up front. This is also the reason I never take the last item of anything. So there's more too it than simple expiration dates. Retailer subterfuge is also a factor.
loosetypes 8y ago
Thank you for your reply, I will try to adjust my behavior.
mijamo 8y ago
Depends where you live and your household consumption . In Sweden milk expires usually 3-7 days after you buy it. If you are alone and don't drink that much, it does make a big difference buying the one that expires in 7 days vs the one in 3-4 days (there is no discount except if it expires 1 day after purchasing)
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  > In Sweden milk expires usually 3-7 days after you buy it. What's the typical date on it, relative to purchase and expiration? In the US milk is usually given a sell-by of three weeks after pasteurization, and actually lasts almost a week beyond that. Though it depends some on fridge temperature, could... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15553644 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15553644 https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/65579/why-do-fridge-temperature-standards-between-us-and-other-countries-differ https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/65579/why-do-fri... https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12242 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12... huh.
- oasisbob 8y ago
  Very true. The last milk I bought was Darigold here in the US, and the sell-by date was sometime in March. I don't know what they're doing to extend its shelf life so much, but as a childless sometimes-uses-milk home, I love it, and couldn't care less about the exact dates.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Maybe you bought UHT milk? That has a shelf life of months.
    - oasisbob 8y ago
      Yup, learned something. thanks! Ultra pasteurized simply means that the milk has been heated under pressure at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time (280° for two seconds versus 167° at 15 seconds for standard pasteurized). - http://www.darigold.com/faqs http://www.darigold.com/faqs
dagw 8y ago
Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? Absolutely. Even when getting the milk with the farthest away expiration data I rarely end up finishing a whole carton of milk until 1 or 2 days after that date. Without those few extra days, half the milk risks getting poured down the sink. If the milk with the soonest expiration date was the only one available, would you buy it or just walk out without milk? If I didn't really need milk that day, I'd almost certainly skip it. If really needed milk I'd buy it and possibly end up pouring half of it down the sink because I almost never manage to use a whole carton of milk in 3-4 days
- lm28469 8y ago
  Milk goes bad much quicker once opened though, check if they have smaller bottles available. It's often more expensive per liter but at least it doesn't end up in the sink.
ginko 8y ago
>Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? The only thing I use milk for is in my morning coffee. I usually buy half liter cartons and even then I often end up with the milk going bad before I'm through with it. So yeah, I do.
- hopler 8y ago
  Why not buy creamer packets?
  - ginko 8y ago
    Because they taste terrible. Plus, I'm not convinced that this is environmentally friendly.
  - astura 8y ago
    I'd imagine because they like milk in their coffee, not creamer.
depthcharge 8y ago
To add to your point, I notice many people obey expiry dates in a strangely strict manner. I regularly consume dairy products (including milk) that are 5-7 days past their expiry date. If it looks/smells/tastes fine, just use it. I don't even remember a dairy product ever going bad in my fridge. I've heard people say they immediately throw away things like yogurt as soon as the expiry date passed, which I find totally ridiculous.
kalleboo 8y ago
When I was single, yeah. I regularly had to pour out milk I didn't have time to drink before it went bad. Now that I have a kid, I'm happy to buy the discounted short-expiration-date stuff since it'll be gone in 2 days no matter what.
- gmueckl 8y ago
  I also have this more general problem of struggling to use what I buy before it goes bad. Some of the worst offenders are items that are prepackaged, spoil too quickly after opening and are sold only in packages that are too large for my needs (e.g. cream).

smackay 8y ago

I do this and the main reason is that milk with the greatest number of days has also been on the shelf for the least amount of time and consequently has probably had fewer things happen to it - like the refrigerator door being left open and the milk being warmed (slightly). For other items I reach in and take items from behind the first row for similar reasons since the retailer may have put returned items (which might be slightly spoiled or damaged) up front. This is also the reason I never take the last item of anything. So there's more too it than simple expiration dates. Retailer subterfuge is also a factor.

loosetypes 8y ago

Thank you for your reply, I will try to adjust my behavior.

mijamo 8y ago

Depends where you live and your household consumption . In Sweden milk expires usually 3-7 days after you buy it. If you are alone and don't drink that much, it does make a big difference buying the one that expires in 7 days vs the one in 3-4 days (there is no discount except if it expires 1 day after purchasing)

Dylan16807 8y ago
> In Sweden milk expires usually 3-7 days after you buy it. What's the typical date on it, relative to purchase and expiration? In the US milk is usually given a sell-by of three weeks after pasteurization, and actually lasts almost a week beyond that. Though it depends some on fridge temperature, could... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15553644 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15553644 https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/65579/why-do-fridge-temperature-standards-between-us-and-other-countries-differ https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/65579/why-do-fri... https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12242 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12... huh.
oasisbob 8y ago
Very true. The last milk I bought was Darigold here in the US, and the sell-by date was sometime in March. I don't know what they're doing to extend its shelf life so much, but as a childless sometimes-uses-milk home, I love it, and couldn't care less about the exact dates.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Maybe you bought UHT milk? That has a shelf life of months.
  - oasisbob 8y ago
    Yup, learned something. thanks! Ultra pasteurized simply means that the milk has been heated under pressure at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time (280° for two seconds versus 167° at 15 seconds for standard pasteurized). - http://www.darigold.com/faqs http://www.darigold.com/faqs

dagw 8y ago

Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? Absolutely. Even when getting the milk with the farthest away expiration data I rarely end up finishing a whole carton of milk until 1 or 2 days after that date. Without those few extra days, half the milk risks getting poured down the sink. If the milk with the soonest expiration date was the only one available, would you buy it or just walk out without milk? If I didn't really need milk that day, I'd almost certainly skip it. If really needed milk I'd buy it and possibly end up pouring half of it down the sink because I almost never manage to use a whole carton of milk in 3-4 days

lm28469 8y ago
Milk goes bad much quicker once opened though, check if they have smaller bottles available. It's often more expensive per liter but at least it doesn't end up in the sink.

ginko 8y ago

>Do you really need those extra few days of milk expiration? The only thing I use milk for is in my morning coffee. I usually buy half liter cartons and even then I often end up with the milk going bad before I'm through with it. So yeah, I do.

hopler 8y ago
Why not buy creamer packets?
- ginko 8y ago
  Because they taste terrible. Plus, I'm not convinced that this is environmentally friendly.
- astura 8y ago
  I'd imagine because they like milk in their coffee, not creamer.

depthcharge 8y ago

To add to your point, I notice many people obey expiry dates in a strangely strict manner. I regularly consume dairy products (including milk) that are 5-7 days past their expiry date. If it looks/smells/tastes fine, just use it. I don't even remember a dairy product ever going bad in my fridge. I've heard people say they immediately throw away things like yogurt as soon as the expiry date passed, which I find totally ridiculous.

kalleboo 8y ago

When I was single, yeah. I regularly had to pour out milk I didn't have time to drink before it went bad. Now that I have a kid, I'm happy to buy the discounted short-expiration-date stuff since it'll be gone in 2 days no matter what.

gmueckl 8y ago
I also have this more general problem of struggling to use what I buy before it goes bad. Some of the worst offenders are items that are prepackaged, spoil too quickly after opening and are sold only in packages that are too large for my needs (e.g. cream).