Milk Spoilage

October 2, 2004 6:02 AM

Does milk go bad faster if you drink straight from the container? [Moo inside]

Ok, so I lied, there's no more inside. I just couldn't resist the tagline.

posted by ssmith to food & drink (9 comments total)

It's certainly unhygenic, as you'd be transfering oral bacteria into the milk container's contents,
in addition to the germs, etc. on your lips gracing the rim of said container.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:10 AM on October 2, 2004

i'd say no (unless you're gargling with it, and then spitting it back in.) Milk doesn't last that long to begin with, and especially so if it's hot out. We never know how long it was sitting outside, or in a storeroom, etc, before it was put in a refrigerated case at a store.
posted by amberglow at 8:00 AM on October 2, 2004

I'd think it would last longer since it's remaining unrefrigerated for less time.

However, overall, especially with milk, this is an "ewwww" practice.
posted by shepd at 8:07 AM on October 2, 2004

I used to notice that my yogurt went bad really fast if I ate it with a spoon from the container. The variety I liked only came in quarts, and if I ate from it with a spoon it would seperate by the next day. I assumed I'd transfered bacteria to it which had begun breaking it down, just as they do in your mouth. Milk might be different. And drinking from the container might be different than double dipping a spoon.
posted by scarabic at 9:17 AM on October 2, 2004

If you get saliva into it, your saliva will work on the first step of digestion, which would make it go bad more quickly. Same thing that happened with scarabic's yogurt and anything else you eat from a container with a spoon (providing you put the spoon back in it after the first taste!)

I personally think this would be a fantastic science project, and if my son has one this year, I'm going to nudge him toward spitting in food and recording the results. Heh!
posted by headspace at 10:03 AM on October 2, 2004

I think it's night impossible to not contanimate the milk. And there's enough good sugars and proteins in milk to make it a very happy place for bacteria.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:49 AM on October 2, 2004

Next time you're at the store, try buying two (or more) of the same milk and drink both gradually over the course of a few weeks, using one for direct drinking and the other for normal decanting.

I'd think the bacteria from your mouth would accelerate the spoilage.
posted by shoos at 7:52 PM on October 2, 2004

human mouths are a cesspool of bacteria, at all depths. i wouldn't think you would need to gargle or anything to make it more probable. Also, while our saliva does have enzymes for breaking some foods down i would think it's nothing compared to introducing some bacteria into a jug of milk. our enzymes aren't replicating, those 5000 bacteria you backwashed into the milk can be 5 billion in no time, and they can make the enzymes too.
posted by rhyax at 1:08 AM on October 3, 2004

Does milk go bad faster if you drink straight from the container?

Mom? Is that you?!
posted by JollyWanker at 11:07 AM on October 3, 2004