So at Costco, a regular 4L bag probably expires in 1 week or 2.

For the past few years, Kroger has implemented a policy that milk sold has to be at least 10 days from expiration or it is sold for half price.Those who drink lots of milk might notice that different brands will taste differently. Costco milk seems to have a sell by date that's good for almost a month or at least 2 1/2-3 weeks and the milk stays good for the whole duration. I have had worked in the Canadian dairy industry for over 30 years, during this time I have supervised/managed and run state of the art laboratories in huge plants.

Nowadays, milk sold in paper cartons is typically ultra-pasteurized, while milk sold in plastic jugs is not. Mostly, I just use it for coffee.

Does my grocery store here sell poor quality milk or does Costco do something to it to make it last longer?It's probably because we sell so much of it that it's never in the store long enough to reach an earlier expiry date. Neither milk is ultra-pasteurized, but the shorter time spent waiting to be sold is a big factor.

Costco organic milk in the NJ warehouses is just nasty compared to the locally sourced non-UHT pasteurized organic milk at Wegmans.

We don't go thru a lot of milk.

You can check the dairy code to verify (use whereismymilkfrom.com) but I don't think there would be any taste difference.

The milk at other grocery stores has probably been there for a week or 2, while costco sells out daily.While we're talking milk, how about that upgrade to the bottles where they curve the front? I'm not aware of Costco selling UHT conventional milk, but milk is sourced regionally so it may vary.Late to the party but I work for the place that supplies Costco their Organic Kirkland brand. Organic milk, at its simplest definition, is just milk that comes from a cow that has not been treated with antibiotics and is produced under certain conditions related to sustainability and use of pesticides. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies.

The filtered version, over a month away. then, when you're shopping at a different store, you can check the codes to see if the milk is made by the same dairy.Are you talking about regular milk or organic? Here in Long Island, we get a gallon for ~$2.70(changes every other day). Somebody is Also a little LPT: to pour milk out of the Costco jugs without spilling, leave it on the counter and tilt.
Why does organic milk last so much longer than regular milk? Why does organic milk last so long? Occasionally I have milk in my cereal, or when I need it for making something. Milk bottles are different regionally.It is probably Ultra-pasteurized.

Dramatically extends shelf life, in my experience.Costco's milk is not ultra-pasteurized as it would have an even longer shelf date. The other answers are correct, nothing has been added to the milk. monica. Interstate dairy producers (who produce much of the milk you'll see) are required to put codes on milk bottles to identify the packaging plant. Higher pasteurization temperature does extend shelf life. SO depending on supply and demand the Costco warehouses could easily receive a pallet of milk only a matter of 14 days old, maybe less. Each production plants may have a different shelf life depending on their cleanliness standards, but the company I work for does a great job in quality.New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be castPress J to jump to the feed.

This is probably psychological, but do a blind test to confirm.Costco sells so much milk that you're most likely getting milk that was packaged within the last 1-5 days as opposed to 1-14 days at many other stores.

Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.© 2020 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology.Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology.Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at But for the last 50 or 60 years or so, milk that lasts not days, not weeks, but months and months without refrigeration has taken up a place on grocery store shelves. Costco sells so much milk that you're most likely getting milk that was packaged within the last 1-5 days as opposed to 1-14 days at many other stores.

Organic milk is often UHT pasteurized (meaning at a higher temperature) to make it last longer. Each level of complexity means temporary inventories which in turn result in older milk.Probably the same things that make the milk cheaper, make it fresher.I doubt that Costco has any special technology for extending milk life (besides pasteurization) or else everyone in the world would be crazy not to be doing it.What I really want to know is how they sell fucking delicious milk for so cheap.

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Neither milk is ultra-pasteurized, but the shorter time spent waiting to be sold is a big factor.Kroger stores, including those operating under regional brands, are very similar to Costco in that the milk will typically be very fresh. Picking the jug up leads to tears.What does this mean? it could count on how lots older the milk in the carton with the oldest expiration date is than the extra moderen carton of milk! Just wondering why is it that filtered milk seems to have an expiry date that's at least 2 weeks longer than "regular" milk. Craig Baumrucker, professor of animal nutrition and physiology at Pennsylvania State University, pours out an answer: June 6, 2008 If I buy milk from the Big Bird grocery chain that's here the sell by date is usually about a week from when I buy it off the shelf and it always starts going bad before I can finish it.


Every other grocery store sells it easily for more than $3.50 and doesn't taste half as good.Every other grocery store sells it easily for more than $3.50 and doesn't taste half as good.Costco milk is typically sourced from the same dairy that sells other regional brands.