Can you drink milk past its expiration date?

There are lots of myths around ‘use by’ dates - at Arla, we’re looking to set a few of those straight and look to address food waste with our blog. Our dairy roots in the UK go back to 1864, so we know what we’re talking about when it comes to milk.

The question of use by dates has been bandied around kitchens for decades, and there are a whole lot of myths surrounding it, so at Arla, we have given some answers about whether it’s safe to drink milk past its expiration date.

Milk is one of the most wasted foods in the UK, with around 490 million pints wasted every year.

One of our priorities at Arla is reducing food waste, which is why we switched to a ‘best before’ date on our branded fresh milk. Milk can often last a few days longer than traditional use by dates, and it’s easy to check whether it’s still fresh with a quick look and a sniff.

How long does milk last after its use by date?

There is no way to tell precisely how long milk will last after its use by date, though it’s thought that unopened milk generally stays good for 5-7 days¹. Filtered milk like Arla Cravendale and Arla Big Milk can often last even longer, so long as it’s chilled and stored properly.

Source: Compiled from Healthline (2024), EatingWell (2024), Milk & More (2024), and general consumer guidance. Timescales are approximate and depend on storage conditions.

How long can milk be left outside the fridge?

Fresh cow’s milk should always be refrigerated, keeping its time spent outside the fridge to a minimum. The longest time milk spends out of the fridge will usually be after buying it from the supermarket, and you should aim to get it into the fridge as quickly as possible once you get home.

The Food Standards Agency recommends a maximum of four hours for any chilled food to be out of the fridge before it’s used. Of course, this would be a long time for milk to be at room temperature and could affect its freshness and lifespan. If you want to put out milk on the breakfast table, or for serving tea or coffee, put a small portion in a jug and keep the rest in the carton in the fridge.

How to tell if milk is bad or spoiled

It’s hard to say for sure how long milk really lasts, but we’d always recommend smelling or quickly tasting the milk before you discard it after its expiration date. It’s best to pour out a little into a glass to do this, so you can have a proper look and smell. It also makes it easier to check the colour and texture. Check the milk in this order:

Smell it

Milk that’s good to drink should have a mild, sweet smell. It’ll smell very unpleasant and sour if it’s spoiled. If the smell makes you recoil, it’s gone bad. If you’re not sure, you can do a few more tests.

Check the colour

Fresh milk should be a clean, white colour. If it’s gone a bit yellow-looking, it’s most likely gone bad.

Check the consistency

Swirl the milk around in the glass to check for any lumps that may be lurking at the bottom. Lumps mean the milk has curdled and is no longer safe to drink.

Taste it

If it smells fine and looks okay, take a little sip as a final test. If there’s any hint of sourness, it’s best to get rid of it. If it tastes like milk should, you’re good to go.

If it failed the first three tests - it smells bad and looks bad - there’s no need to taste it.

Your sense of smell and taste are your best friends here, and they’ll give you the best indication of whether the milk is okay to drink – if it doesn’t smell bad, look strange (lumpy or separated), and it tastes just fine, then you’re okay to drink it after the best before or use by date.

What is the best way to store milk?

Your best bet for enjoying your milk for longer is to store it properly. It’s hard to say exactly how many days milk can be stored, but here are some tips to help it last longer:

• To keep milk fresh for longer, put it straight into the fridge as soon as you get home.
• Maintain the right temperature in your fridge (Between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius).
• When using your milk, keep the time the bottle is out of the fridge to as little as possible.
• Always reseal the bottle or carton as quickly as you can.
• Only drink from a glass or a bowl, never directly from the bottle or carton.
• Consider freezing milk by putting it straight into the freezer. Be sure to transfer to a suitable container before freezing, and defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours.

Debunking milk use by date myths

There are plenty of myths and misunderstandings surrounding the use by or best before dates on bottles or cartons of milk, but the simple fact of the matter is, the best way to judge whether your milk has gone bad or not is the ever-reliable sniff test. Simply hold the milk up to your nose, and if it smells bad or doesn’t look quite right, then it has probably spoiled. If you can’t tell, just have a quick taste to be sure – it should be very apparent by the taste.

What’s the difference between use by date and best before date?

There is a difference between the use by date and the best before date on food products, including milk. ²

Milk use by date

The use by date tells consumers when a food item should be consumed or used by. It might not always be spoiled after this point, but the likelihood that it’s unsafe to eat is higher.

Milk best before date

A best before date tells you when a food item may start to lose some freshness or quality, but it can still be perfectly fine and safe to eat after that date.

Milk sell by date

A sell by date tells the retailer when an item must be sold by, not when it must be used. You’ll often see a sell by and a use by date together on eggs, but it’s rarely used for milk.

As a country, we discard hundreds and thousands of tonnes of milk each year, often because people trust use by dates over smell and taste. Discover how much food we waste annually with our blogpost, and for more information about milk and its benefits, visit our website.

References:

¹https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-long-is-milk-good-after-expiration-date#:~:text=While%20there%20are%20no%20set,3%2C%208%20%2C%209).)

²https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150415203336.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A&text= However%20after%20the%20use%2Dby,or%20removed%20from%20shelf%20life