Colleagues keep using my milk!

[Immo8]

I don't want to sound petty as in the grand scheme of things, milk isn't an expensive item and maybe I should leave this be, but it's really starting to grate on me...

Work in an office with around 30-ish staff, the majority are on shift work including weekends so people are in & out a lot. I work standard hours 4 days a week. The company provides tea & coffee but staff bring in their own milk etc. I buy a large filtered milk every month as it lasts and I only have a few cups of tea a day so makes sense.

However, over the last 6 months or so, people will ask me if they can 'borrow' some milk. I would never say no to someone asking but they NEVER bring in their own milk or buy one to replace mine that they've used over the weeks...

Today, I brought in a brand new milk, name on it, placed it at the back of the fridge so hard to find, and I've just gone to make a cuppa and it's been opened without asking, and a 1/4 of it has gone!

How do I word an email to my colleagues (if people think I should) that is polite and doesn't sound too petty?

I’d be inclined to add food colouring to the milk. I’d guess most ppl wouldn’t use pink or blue milk. But the downside is they may throw it out.

Nothing you can stop this unless you bring in a small flask of cold milk each day and keep it with you. It's bloody annoying though.

My current employer avoids this by providing milk centrally. But we're big enough to have it delivered and paid via account.

Try decanting your milk into an unbranded bottle and labelling it 'breast milk'.

I would email everyone, and politely point out that the milk is in fact yours, paid out of your own pocket. I would actually ask for a monthly contribution from everyone, towards the milk, so you are not out of pocket. I don’t think anything else will stop people taking your milk, as shocking as that behaviour is.

At my previous workplace, someone stuck a note on the door of the fridge saying something like " Please note, only the fridge is communal, NOT THE CONTENTS". Do you think something like this would be worth trying in the first instance?

Decant it into a different bottle (keep cup or something) that does not show what is inside.

Spit in it and put a note on the carton stating that you have done so 😁

You can buy the little capsules of milk like you get at hotels etc at b&ms and Amazon. You can keep those in your bag or at your desk so no one gets their mitts on them!
They'll probably work out a little more expensive, but if your currently providing milk for half the team they'll be worth it!

Decant it into a metal water bottle. Nobody will touch your water.

I’d start by writing PLEASE DO NOT USE MY MILK on the bottle.

Put a laxative in it

Just bring your own in everyday in a flask.

When i was a HR manager with a big company, we had this issue all the time in the shared fridge, and not only just with milk, but people's lunches. Baffles me how "normal" people think it's acceptable to just steal from others. I would leave my big bottle at home, and decant a daily amount into a plain, small bottle daily to bring in. It's more unlikely people will take from something with no label. Either that or buy a lockable box to keep it in. Look up Udder Lock caps. Now I own my own business, we supply milk as well as tea and coffee.

Why doesn't your boss provide milk - that is the crazy part to me. Really tight fisted ??

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UdderLok-Original-Milk-Bottle-Lock/dp/B0BRY5XRQM/ref=asc_df_B0BRY5XRQM?mcid=7b46dc649c6c3ee8ba168b4a003c923c&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696352643970&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17488523610650949117&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006631&hvtargid=pla-2247575491431&psc=1&gad_source=1
Here you go OP. £9.99.

Like these

Probably because there are so many different variations of “milk” that people want these days, it would be expensive and wasteful trying to have them all available.

I like some of the suggestions above. I would definitely label it 'breastmilk' in really big letters, and add 'special hormones added from childbirth placenta'. It's bloody awful that we are forced to do this. So many (not all) people are shits.

Keep it in a small cool bag. It will look like your lunch and people won’t go in there.

People who take other people's stuff, won't care about an email.

This is a good idea. Email everyone to say you notice your milk is being used by others and you’re happy to share, subject to a contribution to the cost.

You can also get locks to put on the caps. I would buy one of those

They're called udder locks

I really don't like the taste of those but thank you!

I like the suggestions of decanting into a bottle though!

I tried that and people still kept using it!