In this type of business from time to time we do get calls/emails about dairy products going bad before their expiration date.
Whenever we are notified of issues with milk going bad before expiration – over 95% of the time it is due to the milk getting too warm – either after delivery before it is brought in or being stored at a temperature too warm.
This occurs largely because dairy products that are low temperature pasteurized (like ours) have a low tolerance for being stored anywhere the temperature is above 36 degrees.
While we do keep the milk cold in our warehouse and trucks once we deliver our milk it is up to customers to either grab it quickly from their porch/milkbox or use ice packs in addition to a cooler; then store in a fridge that is at least below 37 degrees (preferably closer to 33-36 F).
For reference: we keep our warehouse cooler between 32 degrees and 34 degrees F at all time and in the summer months we use up to 1,000 lbs of ice per truck.
Our milk does have trace amounts of natural bacteria by design as with any other milk that is not Ultra Pasteurized (UHT) and the reason milk goes sour is because the bacteria is always replicating. Keeping the milk stored at a cold temperature tremendously slows down this proces thus adjusting its potential shelf life.
It’s quite common to believe your refrigerator is cold enough (below 40F) because it feels cold. We have experienced refrigerators that feel cold even though they are 50 degrees which is cold compared to the ambient indoor temperature average of 65F+ in the home.
Very often when we have an issue and ask customers to check their temps in their fridge they are in the high 30s (around 37F – 39F) or even mid 40s. This will dramatically shorten the shelf life of dairy products along with any other perishable products.
Usually temperature settings on the refrigerator can be dialed back enough to get the ideal temperatures between 33-36 degrees; which would nearly double the shelf life of stored milk.
In addition, it is important to store your milk in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
Storing milk in the door can often lead to it being 3 or 4 degrees warmer than on the shelves and if your refrigerator is not in a climate controlled environment (such as a garage) there can be large fluctuations in temperature between the day and night and even the changing seasons.
All this is not to say we won’t refund you for your bad milk, but this important to consider when solving issues of our dairy products turning prior to their expiration since the issues are likely to keep happening in the future if the culprit is temperature and the storage temperature is not corrected.
