Experts explained why sour milk began to be sold more often in stores

With the beginning of the warm season in many regions, milk buyers began to complain: on the shelves of supermarkets there is not expired, but already sour pasteurized milk. Especially often such a misfortune occurs with the products of relatively small, regional manufacturers. Why this happens, who is to blame for the early spoilage of milk and how to choose obviously not sour – found out “MK”.

The first “bells” of this kind this year were heard at Easter. “I rarely drink milk, but I bought it for Easter cakes,” says 30-year-old Evgenia. – Of course, I checked the expiration dates, the milk was on the refrigerator shelf, as it should be. However, at home it turned out that it was only suitable for pancakes – I had to first run for new, already “long-playing” milk for Easter cakes, and then bake pancakes for a whole week.

Such a phenomenon – not expired, but sour milk in stores – has been observed for more than a year, and in regional chain supermarkets the likelihood of getting into such trouble is even higher than in Moscow stores of the same chains. And one more pattern, established by a survey of several dozen people affected by souring: all known cases are associated with milk of not the most popular brands for chain stores.

In other words: those brands (there are only three or four of them in the whole country), which are present in every store of federal chains, are not noticed in such a case. And it is worth being interested in some original brand, as the probability of purchasing a sour product becomes serious.

“In the summer months I avoid buying local milk, I always come across sour milk,” says Yury, a resident of the village of Borisoglebsky, Yaroslavl Region. – It started, it seems, back in 2021, the sellers in the store don’t explain it in any way, if you get angry and go to change, then they change without a sound. But it’s very disappointing: I want to buy exactly local products, to encourage regional dairies with their own brands. And it doesn’t work.

At the same time, according to specialized experts, the storage and transportation of milk is theoretically well thought out and protected from souring. “Any goods with a short shelf life enter stores with at least 80% remaining shelf life,” said Maria Zhebit, public relations director of the National Union of Milk Producers (Soyuzmoloko). – This allows stores to sell fresh products longer. However, dairy products are extremely sensitive to the slightest change in storage conditions.”

According to the expert, in order for the buyer to receive goods of stable quality, it is necessary that the temperature regime is observed along the entire chain – from shipment at the factory, transportation in a refrigerator to layout in refrigerators in the distribution network. “Unfortunately, the human factor often plays a role,” suggests Maria Zhebit. “Employees are not always responsible for unloading, laying out goods, the temperature regime during transportation is not observed, the necessary conditions are not maintained on the shelves in stores.”

Simply put: if the milk is not expired, but already sour, the logistics and storage in the store are to blame (and most likely the latter). And now let’s compare two bottles of milk in the same chain store: one from the “federal” brand, which enjoys priority on the shelves, the other from another manufacturer, a smaller caliber. Which bottle will be cooled better and put in the refrigerator in the first place, and which one can be left on the pallet for an extra half an hour or an hour? ..

However, representatives of retail chains have their own explanations for the phenomenon. “The quality of raw milk, which directly affects the actual shelf life, depends on the conditions of feeding and keeping, as well as the health of animals, the sanitary conditions for obtaining raw milk, the quality of its primary cleaning, the speed and temperature of cooling, the conditions and time of transportation,” explained in one from food chains. In addition, the sanitary condition of the equipment and the hygiene of the employees of the dairy contribute. “Perhaps the largest producers have higher standards of work,” the network suggested, adding that they are trying to control the freshness of all batches of milk in real time.

– The consumer should pay attention to the structure of milk – whether the composition is homogeneous, color, whether there is a precipitate or a clot, – Maria Zhebit advises buyers, – It is important to report violations of storage conditions. This will help the business to work more efficiently, receive signals of failures in time and eliminate them.

Well, and absolutely reinsurance advice: if the season is hot, it’s safer not to take risks and buy sterilized milk: unlike pasteurized, it is stored without a refrigerator completely regularly, without suffering from it. True, in the opinion of many, it is not so tasty – but there is no risk of getting raw materials for pancakes instead of milk.