Cows Milk Expiration

pharmacy

Quick question--with my first child I tossed a carton of cow's milk after one week of opening but now that #2 is switching to cow's milk I can't find where I got this info.  Is it necessary to toss it before the expiration date on the carton?  (Baby is 13 months now).

Thanks!

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pharmacy

Thank you! 

jnnfrrose6

I've never heard anything about tossing milk early.  We only toss when we get to the expiration or if it smells funny before then.  Honestly, we rarely make it to the expiration, though, based on how much DS is drinking.

RN2011

We buy Organic whole milk which seems to last longer before we had our DD.  We would throw it out if it smelled or tasted funny.  Now, we usually finish it before the expiration date.

minervacullen

Erin KM said:

I have never thrown out milk unless it smelled funny, regardless of the expiration date.

This. The nose knows.

valeriegp

We buy organic, which has a much longer shelf life, so we rarely hit the expiration date. But when we do we toss it 7 days after expiration. (I don't like milk, so it always smells a little off to me!)

RibbitGrl930

jnnfrrose6 said:

I've never heard anything about tossing milk early.  We only toss when we get to the expiration or if it smells funny before then.  Honestly, we rarely make it to the expiration, though, based on how much DS is drinking.

Yeah, this. I've never heard of throwing away milk early.

Crequito

RN2011 said:

We buy Organic whole milk which seems to last longer before we had our DD.  We would throw it out if it smelled or tasted funny.  Now, we usually finish it before the expiration date.

This.  Specifically DD drinks Horizon Organic brand WCM with DHA.  The expiration is always a month away but we go through 1-2 quarts a week.

opheliainwaders

minervacullen said:

Erin KM said:

I have never thrown out milk unless it smelled funny, regardless of the expiration date.

This. The nose knows.

Ditto. I asked my mom (a health inspector/environmental health specialist) and she doesn't throw it away unless it smells funny, and she's waaay more worried about food safety than I am!

ETA: also, the date on milk is generally a SELL-BY date, not a use-by date, so if you really want a rule of thumb, it's within a week of the sell-by date. But we never make it that far.

MattysGirl81

From my experience, the milk starts to taste funny about a week after opening it (even if it's not close to being expired). 

dkny155

We also buy organic and it def has a longer shelf life. We buy the gallon at Trader Joe's and we never make it to the expiration but i do have a friend that writes the date she opened the milk on the container and yes once it hits 7 days she dumps it.