Can you drink milk after the sell-by date? Yes, and here's a guide!

People ask me about the milk sell-by date - including my own kids. I always tell them that it's a sell-by date, not a drink-by date ... and that the only way you can really tell if milk is sour is by the smell.

Now they don't have to listen just to me, but I can point them to this lovely guide from MilkMeansMore.org.

It even has a section on how to 'use up' milk which does not happen here, but I can totally see how it would in a house that doesn't have five really hungry people. : )

Writing a letter

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that impelled me to write a letter to the editor. 

As published, it reads:

  Retired agriculture and economics professor Ed Jesse says that organic dairy cows produce less milk because they can't be given antibiotics ("Got Milk? Spinoff Shows Lure of Organic," Marketplace, Aug. 9).

  Your readers, however, shouldn't take this to mean that antibiotics are found in traditional milk. On a traditional farm, sick cows on antibiotics are milked into a separate container, and the milk is dumped until the antibiotics are out of the cow's system.

  If a trace of antibiotics is found in a tank delivered to a processing plant, the entire load is dumped—yours and whatever other farms' milk is in the tank. You don't get paid and you are fined. The tainted milk never reaches the processing plant's tank.

  Consumers can be assured that all milk, traditional and organic, is antibiotic-free.

Carla Wardin
Evergreen Dairy Inc.

As the reporter also stated in the article, "Consumers are willing to pay much higher prices for products they perceive to be more healthy."  Perception is king, but when consumers know the facts, they can make a more informed choice.

Enjoy your milk today - and every day!  For me, opening the paper and seeing my letter made it one of the best breakfasts ever.