Sarah Downs, RD: “Milk should never be left out at room temperature. Refrigeration is the single most important factor in maintaining the safety of milk.
In general, perishable foods like milk should not sit out of the refrigerator or cooler for longer than two hours. Cut that time down to an hour in the summer if the temperature reaches 90 degrees F. After that time frame, bacteria can start to grow.
In Europe and other parts of the world, another technique called ultra-heat-treated pasteurization, or UHT, is used. Milk is exposed to higher temperatures of 284°F for three seconds, decimating virtually all the bacteria and making it shelf-stable for about six months if left unopened.
Storing Fresh Fluid Milk: Milk should not be left out at room temperature. Pour milk to be used into a serving container and return the original container to the refrigerator. Do not return unused milk that has been sitting out to its original container where it could contaminate the remaining milk.
Refrigeration is the single most important factor in maintaining the safety of milk. Milk should be stored at 40° F or below. If stored above 40° F, milk will begin to develop signs of spoilage, including sour odor, off-flavor and curdled consistency.”
You may have heard shelf-stable milk also called “aseptic” milk, but the most important thing to know is shelf-stable milk doesn't need to be kept refrigerated. Amazing! And rest assured, if it's Organic Valley, you'll know it'll taste delicious too.
Milk being stored at room temperature.
French bottles of milk can be stored at room temperature for weeks and still be good to drink. Once you open the bottle though, it needs to be refrigerated and drank within a few days. That's because French milk is pasteurized at an ultra high temperature.
Believe it or not, most of the world doesn't refrigerate milk. But before you go nuts with worry about food poisoning, you should know that it's completely safe to drink. Turns out, the major difference lies in the method by which milk is processed.
Tools to Keep Dairy Foods Cold for Lunch and Traveling
Bags with a gel lining keeps milk, yogurt, and other dairy foods cool throughout the day if you freeze them overnight. Or use a bag with a thermal lining that simply reflects the cool temperature of the food back into the bag. For best results, toss in an ice pack.
Food held between 5oC and 60oC for less than 2 hours can be used, sold or put back in the refrigerator to use later. Food held between 5oC and 60oC for 2-4 hours can still be used or sold, but can't be put back in the fridge. Food held between 5oC and 60oC for 4 hours or more must be thrown away.
The FDA asserts that you should never keep unopened milk out of the refrigerator at room temperature for more than two hours. However, this window reduces as the temperature rises. This means that when the temperature exceeds 45°F, unopened milk can last up to an hour.
With that in mind, to maximise freshness and to ensure the long-life, make sure to store milk in the fridge as soon as you've bought it. You'll want to check that the temperature setting in your fridge is correct too – 1-4 degrees Celsius is just right, not too cold and not too warm.
Warm temperatures allow bacteria to grow, so storing milk in the door, where it will be consistently exposed, will only increase the odds of spoilage. Instead, the Dairy Council of California recommends storing milk in the back of the refrigerator where the temperatures are coldest.
Regarding milk, she advises: “Transfer milk to glass bottles. It will last twice as long. Glass gets and stays much colder than cardboard. Also, glass bottles are better sealed than cardboard containers, so they don't let as much air in.
Avoid keeping milk in one of the door's shelves. It's a tempting storage spot because it's easily accessible, but it's warmer toward the front, and temperature fluctuations caused by opening and shutting the door frequently make milk spoil faster.
You may not have realized that Europeans actually buy and store their milk outside of the fridge. The reason is a simple one: Europeans rely on a completely different pasteurization method. Canadian and American milk manufacturers utilize high-temperature, short-time pasteurization.
Freshly laid eggs need to be refrigerated immediately. Fresh eggs purchased from a farmers market need to be refrigerated as soon as you get home. Per USDA guidelines, eggs should be stored at 40 degrees F or below to help minimize the risk of Salmonella.
Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria. Raw milk can be contaminated with harmful germs that can make you very sick. In fact, raw milk is one of the riskiest foods. People who get sick from raw milk might have many days of diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting.
China, despite a growing interest in milk, is again near the very bottom, just above North Korea and Indonesia, where people basically don't drink milk. One last interesting tidbit is how milk consumption varies by age in a way soda and fruit juice consumption does not.
One of the main reasons milk tastes different in Spain is because it's UHT (Ultra High Temperature) or long-life milk, stored in cartons, instead of fresh milk stored in bottles in refrigerated sections of the supermarkets.
However, in many European nations, UHT milk is the norm. This milk is heated to double the temperature – 140C – for a mere three seconds. The high heat does its work almost instantly, killing all bacteria and most of the bacterial spores that can stand up to lesser temperatures.
Shelf-stable (aseptic) milk is milk that does not need to be refrigerated and can be stored at room temperature in your pantry for later use, says Julia Joseph, co-founder of Maple Hill Creamery.
Should You Leave Butter on the Counter? According to the USDA, butter is safe at room temperature. But if it's left out for several days at room temperature, it can turn rancid causing off flavors. The USDA does not recommend leaving it out more than one to two days.
The nutritional value of UHT milk and fresh milk are the same when it comes to the main nutrients in milk, such as protein, calcium and Vitamin D. UHT treatment may reduce the level of some heat sensitive nutrients such as vitamin C, but milk is not the main source of these nutrients in the first place.
As long as milk is kept cold, that low level of bacteria does not affect food safety, quality and taste. However, if milk is left on the counter between 4 °C et 60 °C, the number of bacteria can double every 15 minutes! Therefore, pour the amount of milk you need, and to store it right back in the refrigerator.