How Can You Tell If Milk Is Bad?
This is typically very easy to figure out – all you have to do is keep a check on its smell, texture, and color. A sour odor would indicate the presence of lactic acid which would mean that it has gone bad. Lumps or a yellowish color also indicate that the milk is spoiled now.
A couple of tests will help you distinguish between them. The first, and easiest, test for determining whether milk has gone bad is smelling it. Smell test, The simplest and most basic test to check whether or not the milk has gone bad is to smell it. If you kept breastmilk refrigerated or at room temperature, a smell test may be a reliable way of determining if your breastmilk has gone bad.
The scent of breast milk Breastmilk is easy to sway, so if there is a strange smell, that does not automatically mean that it is gone bad. Remember, although variations in scent are normal for breast milk, if yours smells rancid or sour, then it is likely gone bad.
| How to tell if milk has gone bad? | Shelf Life |
| If the milk tastes rancid or sour, then it is certainly not safe to consume. | Opened milk last for up to 4-7 days past its printed date. |
| If it is breastmilk then the easiest way to determine whether it has gone bad is smelling it. | Breastmilk lasts for only 4 days in the refrigerator. |
If you keep your milk refrigerated, and it tastes rancid or sour, it has likely gone bad and should not be fed to your baby. If this is generally not the case, but your milk does smell sour on one specific occasion, toss your milk because it has probably gone bad. If you are unsure if your milk is merely slightly sour, or has gone completely spoiled, the best thing to do is to toss it.
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If small amounts of your breastmilk do smell sour, you may know that it is common for breastmilk to develop that scent once frozen, but is still safe for your baby. To check whether your milk tends to pick up this scent, freeze a small amount of breastmilk for five days, then thaw and sniff. In moms who have breastmilk high in lipase, this enzyme may make the thawed milk smell acidic or soapy, although this is still completely safe (4).
If you are one of the rare people who finds your milk starting to smell or taste soapy, fishy, or metallic after some time has passed (which could be anywhere from just a few hours to up to 24 hours, and longer), you will want to follow calding instructions to turn off lipase and prevent any changes to the milk from happening in the future. If it seems like it takes more than a little bit for a soapy smell or taste to develop, then waiting until you are at home to scald may be okay.
Scientists in China have developed a way to determine whether or not that carton of milk is actually contaminated, without the smell test. The best way to know whether or not that carton of milk is bad is by sniffing, according to food safety expert Theodore Labuza.
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There are some telltale signs to look out for when trying to determine whether or not your carton of milk is no longer okay. That is why it is important to become familiar with other signs that can signal a carton of milk is no longer usable. If you open up a carton of milk and notice something different, that is a sign the dairy is no longer fresh.
While milk is a staple of many of our diets, it can be difficult to tell whether or not a carton of it is still fresh in your refrigerator. If you are constantly sniffing your carton/bottle to tell whether or not the milk is spoiled, chances are that you are getting a false representation of what milk really smells like, unless it is absolutely expired.
In reality, the best way to determine whether or not your milk is off is by putting a small amount into a clean glass. If you have a microwave, you can check if milk is still okay by pouring a bit onto your microwaveable glass and heating up your milk for one minute on a microwave. Assuming that you made sure that the pumping hardware was clean, once you pump or vent the milk, sniff it and taste it.
While pasteurization makes milk safer for consumption, that does not mean that you can safely leave your milk outside the fridge for long periods, especially once it is opened. According to Eat By Date, after opening, all milk will be good for 4-6 days after the print date, provided that it is refrigerated. Some data suggests that pasteurized milk needs to stay fresh 2-5 days after the date of sale, for 10-21 days in total.
According to the Dairy Council of California, milk may still be good beyond the sell-by date if it has been kept within the refrigerators interior temperature range, between 38degF and 40degF. As long as soured milk is stored correctly, it is still safe to consume your milk several days past the date it was dated. There is a distinct line between sour milk, which is still safe to drink, and spoilage milk, which is well past its shelf life or has not been refrigerated correctly. Even if an expiration date tells you your milk is safe for consumption up until that said date, there are all kinds of factors that could lead your milk to spoil before it is time.
If the milk has not reached the expiration date, but is already showing signs of spoilage, it may be because it was improperly stored. As long as milk has been refrigerated correctly, it should still be usable for a week after its labeled date–and perhaps for two weeks, depending on your fridges temperature. Sour, expired milk is not fit to be consumed, and you should avoid drinking it until it passes those tests.
It is a warning sign that the milk is not fresh or safe for drinking if it contains any lumps, or has a distinct yellowish colour instead of being pure white. There is a reasonable chance your milk is unsafe to drink if it is even a little yellowish or a light shade of white.
Even accidentally drinking milk that has turned slightly sour likely will not result in serious disease, because the pasteurization process eliminates most pathogens responsible for illness. Consuming unpasteurized, unspoiled raw milk may lead to more serious concerns, like food poisoning. Drinking a lot of spoiled milk causes upset stomach, leading to stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea (like food-borne illnesses). You risk developing food poisoning or diarrhea from the bacteria which has sprouted inside spoiled milk.
What happens if you drink bad milk?
Beyond an unpleasant taste, a small sip of spoilt milk is unlikely to produce any symptoms. Larger quantities of spoilt milk might upset your stomach and result in nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (like a food-borne illness). Most of the time, ingesting spoilt milk-related symptoms go away within 12 to 24 hours.
Can you drink expired milk if it smells fine?
The easiest way to determine whether the milk is safe to consume is to use your senses of smell and taste. If the milk does not smell, does not seem unusual (lumpy or separated), and tastes fine, then it is safe for you to consume.
Can you drink milk if it smells a little?
Your closest friends in this situation are your senses of smell and taste, which will give you the clearest indicator as to whether the milk is safe to consume or not. You can still use milk if it doesn’t taste or have an unpleasant odor. It’s okay to drink milk that has a slightly sour taste. You must consider whether you find it tasty enough to utilize, though. You should use sour milk for baking, not for pouring over cereal for breakfast.