I'm a sniffer.

In my experience it has been obvious when milk is bad, not that it lasts that long here. I never look at the date and probably always take a test sniff before drinking, unless it plops out of the carton and is sent directly to sink. Right now we go through about a gallon a day with the boys so no real risk of spoilage.

Even fresh milk smells "off" to me, so I go by the date on the carton. (The "in NYC" date which is about 2 days earlier than the regular date.)

Milk date #2 person here.

I have found that people in the U.S. tend to go a wee bit overboard when it comes to food safety. Heaven FORBID your eggs be even the slightest bit undercooked, or that you handle raw chicken without donning full Hazmat gear.

Thanks to this discussion, I started craving a glass of milk.

I am now drinking a glass of organic milk (sell by Jan 04 2009), AIFG.

Some 25 years ago, we noticed a fluffy white poodle approach a pack of loose dogs we had complained about it. As we desperately scrambled to get out the door to try to save the poodle, the pack killed it. The owner, who had been running after the poodle since it slipped out to door, arrived seconds later. I can still close my eyes and run the whole awful tape.

My current county's animal control is really aggressive, which I think is great.

"Sell by" dates deliberately have a lot of margin. On pretty much everything, I go by looking and smelling.

All of which is true except for when the dog runs out of their yard and is tearing between yards and I'm forced to keep Jas at a sit while the owners chase after their dogs and try to retrieve them.

And like I said, I get the stinkeye for having the temerity to walk my dog past theirs.

Sounds like Jas has a new mission, here, Barb. Get her the packback. Stuff it with flyers about the local leash laws. Hand out a flyer to every neighbor that gives you the stinkeye. Smile smugly and walk on.

I am a milk sniffer and taster. And I eat my eggs sunny side up when I cook because I tend to break the yolks. And I touch raw chicken! I've been known to sniff bacon and hamburger, too. You know why we have so little resistance to disease anymore? We purify everything, including our food. You gotta put bugs in your immune system to train them to look for bad stuff! Yeah, you may get a little sick, but it's a trade off. Strong immune system or rampant asthma, take your pick.

I had salmonella in my formative years (lost the WHOLE SUMMER between 3rd and 4th grade) so I am unfortunately, really weird about food spoilage. Almost 30 years later, I am now finally able to sniff (sometimes).

I figure if the milk doesn't currdle in my tea in the morning it's still good. I'm with Jessica in that it always smells off to me.

As far as leftovers are concerned, everything gets chucked 3 days after it was cooked.

Oh, it says "use until" here, with an expiration date. Maybe because we have enough controversies as is.

Unrelated, I can usually know by the smell about 2-4 days before the milk goes sour. I'm very sensitive to certain smells, hence, can't stay in a shoe store or a drugstore for a long time.