Food - Drink
Why Organic Milk Often Has A Longer Shelf Life
By STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN
Organic milk comes from cows free from antibiotics or growth hormones, and while it has a nutritional profile akin to regular milk, including the similar amounts of calcium, potassium, and sodium, the shelf life of these two types of milk is not the same. Organic milk has a longer shelf life because of the special way it's produced.
Unopened organic milk has a shelf life of up to three months because it goes through an ultrahigh temperature (UHT) pasteurization process. The milk is heated to at least 280 degrees for two seconds to kill disease-causing microorganisms, while non-UHT dairy products are heated to at least 146 degrees for half an hour.
The UHT process means that the milk is much less likely to spoil or contain harmful bacteria, and because organic milk usually has a long way to go before reaching grocery stores, it needs this pasteurization to survive the trip. The heating process also makes organic milk sweeter, since high heat caramelizes the sugars in the milk.