To drink milk that’s a week out of date

[Unsure72]

I have a small bottle of milk with a use by date of 23rd May. I don’t want to bin it (I hate waste!) but was wondering if you think it’s okay to consume a week after it expired? I’ve had a sniff and it smells alright, although I’m not really sure what “off” milk smells like...

I'm not recommending this, but I use "off" milk to make very good, fresh tasting and light scones - the lactic acid in the milk reacts with the bicarb of soda that you add to the flour and acts as a very good raising agent.

I am definitely recommending this. Scones and pancakes are EXCELLENT made with off milk. Obviously not once it's gone green or lumpy. But if it's no good for tea, it's good for scones.

I've stopped drinking dairy milk but when I did I used to buy a pint just to have a small splash in a cup of tea - it would last for 2-3 weeks, often way past the use by date. I would smell it before using it, off milk has a very distinctive smell, if it smells ok it's safe to use.

Don’t throw food out just based on the use by date. If it hasn’t gone off then use it. It’s pretty obvious when milk has gone off because it tastes vile. Use by dates are always extremely conservative.

The sniff test is the only way to tell if it's OK or not. O always sniff milk before using, as sometimes the milk is in date but has still gone off!

Those saying bin it without sniffing - you wouldn't insist on drinking off milk because it wasn't past the use by date would you!

DH used to be a milkman. He knows about milk and dates. Sniff it and use if smells OK.

For the love of god, it's milk. Bin it and get a new one. Unless you are on the breadline??

I used to be a lab technician in a dairy, we tested (sniff, taste & micro) the processed milk every 2 days passed its use by until it was 20 days passed its date, it was very rare for it to be off even by day 20.
Even without this info, off milk is clearly off so you would know.

I went on holiday for over a week and forgot to put the open milk in the freezer before I left. I came home, thought 'bleurgh, this is going to be so off' but sniffed it anyway. It was absolutely fine so we had a nice cup of tea and used it on our cereal the next day.

If it smells all right, it’s good to go.

Do a sniff and sip test. I find that sometimes milk goes off really quickly, sometimes it is good for a couple of weeks after the date. Nothing terrible is going to happen to you if you sip a little and it is off. It just won't taste nice.

If it goes funny in tea I won't use it. (Assuming it still smells okay at that point.)

I've used milk 2 weeks after use by and it's been fine. But obviously I've also had milk a day or two past that's not. So you have to sniff and try in tea first I think.

Milk is funny stuff. I've had milk look and smell fine only to taste distinctly dirty, in my coffee - I find that, rather than sour, off milk taste like you'd imagine wet dog would taste.

If it pours it’s fine.

Just sniff it and see! I never go by food dates, I just sniff it or prod it to figure it out. People waste so much food unnecessarily! I ate a tin of rice pudding the other day that had a best before date of 2008. I’m absolutely fine!

I don't even look at the use-by date on milk - there are few foods more obvious when they've turned!

And I haven't had a proper stomach upset since 2009.

If it smells ok and it tastes fine it’s probably OK. Was it open and for how long? If unopened I would be more likely to drink it. But do you really want to risk riding the porcelain bus...

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO UNKNOWINGLY DRINK SOUR MILK!

Unless you have no sense of smell or taste.

Oh for the love of God, No!! Just no!!

It smells horrid if it's off, so if it doesn't, it's fine.

“But do you really want to risk riding the porcelain bus...”

We’ll see if you’re still laughing tomorrow OP😁

@Movinghouseatlast

Jesus. This is why there is so much unnecessary food waste in this country.

If it is off, don't drink it. It it isn't off, drink it.

It sounds like it was sealed, so unlikely to be off.

People, stop wasting your money and the earths resources.

^ This. Lots of sheep who blindly follow best before dates on this thread.

Definately throw it away...i once used milk for cereal that was 1 day past expiry. Within hours i got a really nasty reaction, lip swelled, bad throat tightening, and got really really hot. I sometimes get very slight reactions from cows milk but when i chanced it with day old milk it was full whack. Not suggesting that could happen to anyone else but for that to happen to me showed me it was obviously not a good idea.

Indie Did you sniff the milk or taste it first? Even in date milk can go off so always worth a sniff.

If it's off you'll definitely know! Try a bit.

Oh good grief, there are people who live alone who drink milk way over date. It's a guideline for shops, it's been pasteurised and if it doesn't smell or separate in a hot drink, it's absolutely fine.
PS The milk currently in my fridge is dated 23rd May.