Lifespan of Milk at Room Temp?

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While unloading, I accidentally left a gallon of milk in my garage for a few hours. Ambient temp was in the 80’s.

The milk tastes “fine” to me. Not fresh, but like milk that is a week old. I assume it is safe to drink for now, but I’ll monitor closely in case it deteriorates faster than expected. After this incident, I highly doubt it will last until the printed expiration date.

I always thought milk has a very short lifespan once out of the refrigerator. Perhaps not?
 
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We're all unaware of how many times that a shipment of milk might accidentally be left on a loading dock at the grocery store for a couple of hours, with temps in the 80s. You think they'd throw it all out...? Fat chance.
 
While unloading, I accidentally left a gallon of milk in my garage for a few hours. Ambient temp was in the 80’s.

The milk tastes “fine” to me. Not fresh, but like milk that is a week old. I assume it is safe to drink for now, but I’ll monitor closely in case it deteriorates faster than expected. After this incident, I highly doubt it will last until the printed expiration date.

I always thought milk has a very short lifespan once out of the refrigerator. Perhaps not?
Use it with confidence until it's chunk time.
 
I assume it is safe to drink for now, but I’ll monitor closely in case it deteriorates faster than expected.
To save a couple of bucks you want to risk food poisoning for you or your family? I do things that might be considered cheap, but that takes the cake. With a glass of milk no doubt.
 
I believe every half hour left out you loose about 1-2 day off expiration. I remember this from a high school job unloading and stocking dairy department at grocery store. If you buy organic it likely does not matter as much because they generally ultra pasteurize it so it has a much longer shelf life.
 
While unloading, I accidentally left a gallon of milk in my garage for a few hours. Ambient temp was in the 80’s.

The milk tastes “fine” to me. Not fresh, but like milk that is a week old. I assume it is safe to drink for now, but I’ll monitor closely in case it deteriorates faster than expected. After this incident, I highly doubt it will last until the printed expiration date.

I always thought milk has a very short lifespan once out of the refrigerator. Perhaps not?
You are fine, what others have posted are true regarding sitting out on loading docks ect.
Milk when bad simply tastes sour, you wont get poisoned.
If concerned you can also sniff the bottle when you open it and you will know right away if it is bad.
A mouth full of sour milk isnt a big deal and then you will know its time to throw it out.🙃
 
This thread reminds me of how my mother makes her famous meatloaf! Sour milk was just an ingredient, much like stale bread to use for breadcrumbs. I'll never forget seeing a cooling rack holding a handful of bread slices alongside a pint of whole milk just sitting at room temp in our kitchen.

4-5 days later, we had the most succulent and flavorful meatloaf in the Midwest!
 

I think your taste estimate of bacterial load by age of a week, is probably a bit high, but somewhere around 4 days of refrigerated bacterial reproduction probably occurred in those few hours?
Possible. It has been 4 days since the incident and the milk is still usable. With that said, it is definitely tasting a lot older than 4-day old milk.
 
One thing I noticed at the super markets in England/UK eggs are NOT refrigerated...at all...they just site out in a isle for sale...
 
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