What makes Publix so wonderful?

[smitten]

Originally Posted by sebastiannight

You can't call these milk fresh. Fresh milk never stays fresh for 7 days after it has been opened. Maybe 3 days, then it gets sour. Unopened fresh milk stays refrigerated fresh for 5-7 days.
The milk from Fairlife seems to be lactose free.

Depends on what you consider fresh, I guess. I'm not talking about raw milk directly-from-the-cow. I'm talking about pasteurized/homogenized "fresh" milk people buy from the grocery store shelf. I regularly drink it at least 10 days after being opened with no "off" smell or taste. I have a sensitive nose and there's no way I would drink it if it smelled bad. How long it stays "fresh" after being opened depends on several factors, like the quality of the milk starting out, where it's stored in the fridge, how cold the fridge is and often the fridge door is opened. Those factors, and others, are different for different people.

[bmw335xi]

I drink my milk straight from the nip

[sebastiannight]

Originally Posted by smitten

Depends on what you consider fresh, I guess. I'm not talking about raw milk directly-from-the-cow. I'm talking about pasteurized/homogenized "fresh" milk people buy from the grocery store shelf. I regularly drink it at least 10 days after being opened with no "off" smell or taste. I have a sensitive nose and there's no way I would drink it if it smelled bad. How long it stays "fresh" after being opened depends on several factors, like the quality of the milk starting out, where it's stored in the fridge, how cold the fridge is and often the fridge door is opened. Those factors, and others, are different for different people.

10 days after beeing opened? That wouldn't be possible in Germany. Compared to other countries "fresh" milk in the U.S. is surely pasteurized at higher temperatures. You can see the difference also in the size of the milk containers, 1 liter compared to 1 gallon in the U.S. Fresh milk in a 1 gallon container? That's strange. "Fresh" milk in the U.S. seems comparable in shelf life to ESL-milk.

In Germany we have 3 kinds of milk:
-Fresh milk: stays unopened and refrigerated fresh for 5-7 days.
-ESL-milk: stays unopened and refrigerated fresh for about 2 weeks.
-UHT-milk: pasteurized at very high temperatures, stays unopened and UNrefrigerated fresh for about 4-6 month.

ESL-milk is fairly new for the German market. But it's now the most common milk. We also call them fresh milk, to differentiate them from the UHT-milk. But most people know that it's not fresh milk.

ESL milk taste nearly the same like fresh milk. But even our ESL milk doesn't last 10 days after opening.
UHT-milk taste very different than fresh milk.

[Captain-Obvious]

Originally Posted by smitten

Keep in mind when it comes to milk that, regardless of its "expiration date", it's freshness is only guaranteed for seven (7) days after it has been opened.

Sometimes you have to look really close at the fine print or even use a magnifying glass to find it on the container, but that statement appears on nearly all the milk I've ever seen sold in grocery stores. One exception I've recently found is Fairlife milk which I bought yesterday (Oct. 14) and it's expiration date is Dec. 21. It doesn't have that phrase on the container (yet) but it does state on its website that once opened, shelf life is the same as ordinary milk.

7 days is about average for any milk except Winn-Dixie's which in my experience could be sour when you get it home (far too often) to 3 days later in the best possible case ever.

[Captain-Obvious]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I drink my milk straight from the nip

Until your wife catches you.