The killer stopped HERE to peruse the Froot Loops!

[Food Lady]

WE FOUND THE CANADIAN!
I'm a Canuck as well. Grew up with bags of milk, but now I only get the jugs since I find them easier to handle, especially since I live alone. It's been decades since I or my parents got bagged milk I think.

no milk comes in bags and you do need to refrigerate.

Not necessarily a Canadian thing. I'm in Wisconsin and one of our major convenience stores owns dairies and bags its own milk. Of course we are very close to Canadaland.

I think part of what it is, is that, in the US, all "dairy" products sold in stores (stuff that includes milk or eggs, unless it's powdered) MUST be Pasteurized (farms can get around this), which requires that they be kept cold once the treatment is done, or they will spoil quite rapidly.

They are required to be kept cold by law, but the whole point of pasteurization is to keep it safe at room temperature, and the entire point of cheese--whether pasteurized or not--is just that. I don't get why the gov't. doesn't understand that. Not once, but twice I have forgotten a jug or bag of milk in the living room overnight and it did not spoil.

I have to say I remain baffled that milk is sold in jugs that leak if on their side. You would not think it would be exceedingly difficult to design a jug/cap that manged to retain that delicious, yet difficult to clean, substance.

That was my immediate thought.

[sirwired]

They are required to be kept cold by law, but the whole point of pasteurization is to keep it safe at room temperature, and the entire point of cheese--whether pasteurized or not--is just that. I don't get why the gov't. doesn't understand that. Not once, but twice I have forgotten a jug or bag of milk in the living room overnight and it did not spoil.

Normal pasteurization retards, but does not eliminate, spoilage; that would require either higher temperatures or longer duration of heating, both of which degrade the taste of the milk. You can leave normal milk out overnight, but it's subsequent shelf life in the fridge will be greatly reduced. (If you want shelf-stable milk, it's generally available in the baking aisle, next to the shelf-stable soy milks, powdered milk, etc.)

The reason pasteurization is legally required has to do with the inactivation of pathogenic bacteria. After pasteurization is complete, some harmful bacterial may survive, but by the time they become a problem, the milk will be undrinkable due to bacteria that do a better job surviving pasteurization.

And few cheeses are made with raw milk; in the US, the FDA has strict regulations on their production and/or importation (and would really prefer they not exist at all.) Most are made with milk that is pasteurized, and then cultured with the desired bacteria. Some cheeses are shelf-stable, some will spoil quite quickly if left at room temperature. Cheese made with raw milk requires much more care in production because improper culturing can cause rapid proliferation of pathogenic bacteria.

[Food Lady]

^Good points. I prefer cold milk. I think that's due to conditioning.

[WishfulSpirit]

Used to have milk delivered. Miss that. So convenient.

[apocolypse101]

Used to have milk delivered. Miss that. So convenient.

It's more expensive than going to the grocery store to get it, but like you said, it's WAY more convenient.

[notalwaysright]

My mom gets her dairy products delivered. It is more expensive than the cheap milk at the store but if you compare prices to the better quality milk in our area, it's a competitive price. I'll admit, when I moved away and started drinking regular grocery store milk again I was surprised at the difference in taste. Plus, this smaller place makes the best eggnog in the winter. I seriously got spoiled!

But back to the various trails of stuff that SCs leave in their wake... I also used to hate crunching over crackers and Cheerios left behind by babies and toddlers. Of course their parents would spend hours and hours staring at fabric and give the kid some snack which would end up on the floor. Arg.

[Food Lady]

I wish we had milk delivery here.

[ladyjaneinmd]

Used to have milk delivered. Miss that. So convenient.

When I was growing up, we just walked down the road a couple of houses and the farmer would milk the cow, pour the milk into our giant jug, then we'd walk back home and pour it into the pasteurizer.
I hate milk. Always did, always will. Nasty stuff.

[EricKei]

On milk spoilage rate -- I stand corrected Consider the latter part of my statement corrected for the next time this comes up.

I can't stand non-cold milk, either. As in, especially during our southern summers with our 85F over night low temperatures, I usually stick my milk jugs (that I just bought) into the freezer for a couple of hours as soon as I get home from the store; ideally, if the jug of milk is just beginning to form a small ice crystal or two, it's juuuuust right. Then, they go on the back wall of the fridge.

I know some people prefer their milk in the door (for convenience, I presume?), but that's the warmest part. I put frozen stuff there to defrost more rapidly.

As for bagged milk -- Only place I'd ever seen those was in high school; they served us milk at lunch that way. Unfortunately, it did nothing to protect the drink inside, as they were designed to be punctured with the "sharpened" plastic straws they use on drink boxes; thus, they were both completely transparent and quite thin. On a vaguely-related note, it's hard to find even plastic jugs here of the non-transparent variety (which supposedly block much of the fluorescent light, allowing the milk to last longer); most dairies still use the thin plastic jugs here.

[Minflick]

The milk I disliked the most EVER was warm whole milk an hour from the cow. Dear Gods, that was vile. I'm sure it's an acquired taste, and with any luck, I'll never need to acquire it!

[telecom_goddess]

Jeeze I would never put a milk jug on its side, that's just asking for trouble. I don't like to put soda bottles on their side either, I just don't trust it to not leak. I figure that's common sense.

[apocolypse101]

Jeeze I would never put a milk jug on its side, that's just asking for trouble. I don't like to put soda bottles on their side either, I just don't trust it to not leak. I figure that's common sense.

But common sense is anything but!

[Minflick]

I DO put soda bottle on their side, also wine and juice, at least in the cart in the store, because they're too tippy not to fall over, so I lay them down carefully before they fall. Milk - I no longer buy the gallon jugs because I don't go through it fast enough anymore. I've seen the drippy trails a time or two, but not a lot thank heaven!