Just how long can chocolate milk be left out before it goes rotten?!
Just how long can chocolate milk be left out before it goes rotten?
Just wondering b/c I left it out for a day and I didn't want to drink it but one of my friends says it has some sort of chemical in it that allows it to stay fresh longer than regular milk so I could have drank it? So is that true and if so for how long can it stay out for? (the one I'm reffering to is the nesquik chocolate in those bottles)
Answers:
have a look on the bottle...if it has UHT on it, its fine, UHT is ultra heat treated and doesnt need to be refrigerated at all, and will last for months(obviously till its opened, but even then for a long time)..if in doubt, drink it....why risk losing all that money when u could have sickness and the shits?
i wold say about a day ntil it starts to smell unless it's yoohoo. That could stay out for a long time.
You can usually tell if milk has gone bad by looking at it (a ring that sticks to the side of a glass or plastic bottle) and by smelling it. Chocolate milk won't be any different. If it's gone bad you won't want to drink it after a sip. I'd say your milk is fine. If its at cool to room temperature there shouldn't be a problem in 24 hrs. Some people even drink milk at room temperature so they buy it and keep it on the counter for a week. Why? I don't know - freaks I guess.
Milk is not sterile. Certain bacterial counts in pasteurized milk are acceptable. What the counts are, I do not know. If kept refrigerated, this low count will keep the milk palatable up until the outdate (ideally). However, leaving milk at room temperature causes the low counts of bacteria to multiply faster since they are at a warmer temperature. Therefore, your milk will have the higher bacterial count faster than otherwise would happen in the refrigerator. Bacteria can multiply in the cold, they just do so at a slower rate. That's why refrigeration works, but only for awhile.
The only clue you will have is taste and smell, unless you're running a micro lab in your kitchen.
Hope this helps :)
Take a whiff, sour milk doesn't smell very good!