# Powdered whole milk 29 months past 'best by' date



## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

Found a can of Nido shoved to the back of the shelf today while I was organizing and rotating our food preps. 'Best by' date was 12/31/08. My first thought was 'gggrrrrr!' at the wastefulness, then I decided to open it and see what it was like. It smelled good, looked the correct color, was fluffy in texture, tasted normal dry, so I made up a pitcher. 

It was delicious. Taste just like the Nido I used the other day that was not outdated. I was very happy to know it had a significant shelf life beyond what the best by date was. Put it in the refrigerator and we will use it tonight. (We don't like it as strong as the directions say to mix it, so I always thin it down). 

So don't be afraid to try your way-outdated foods before you throw them away. Every penny counts these days.

Now I have to determine if some 6 year old ramen noodles are still edible....

ETA I forgot to mention that our food stores are in a large pantry that is basically our house temperature--maybe the mid and upper 50's during the coldest part of winter and then maybe upper 70's or very low 80's during the hottest part of summer.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

That is great news as I have a can of NIDO with "use by" July 2011. Mine is not kept as temperature stable as yours, but I really did not want to open it now since I can still get fresh milk on sale for $2.50 gal.


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Thanks for the info. I have just bought two #10 cans of powdered whole milk. 
I'll write a note to myself with a sharpie on the lids that the expiration date is + 3 years. 
Your right about cost I really hate to waste any of those preps.


~~ pelenaka ~~


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## oth47 (Jan 11, 2008)

Well,don't know about powdered milk,but a can of Luck's pintos from 2007 tasted fine a couple of weeks ago.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

I've used plain old dry, nonfat milk in 1 quart POUCHES from as long as 10 years ago. What I found was out about 8-10 years, you have a failure rate of about 1/3.....that is, the stuff is yellow, and lumpy ( you can actually feel the lumps in the pack )...my guess is the seals failed, but the other 2/3rds was fine. Get up to 4-5 years past "good by" date, and fail rate drops to about 1 in 10.

Milk in #10 cans, with O2 absorbers ( factory packed ), I suspect is good WAY longer than best by date.....I've got some from 1998 and it's still fine last can I opened to try. Not saying the nutritional value won't go down, but taste/texture when mixed is the same as fresh packed.


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

Last year I had some of the pouches of nonfat powdered turn yellow and lumpy, and I didn't even bother to mix some up because of the smell when I opened the pouch. Don't recall how long it was past the best by date, maybe a year? but it was horrible smelling. 

I figure we get more than adequate nutrition, so occasionally using something that is lower in nutritional value isn't going to affect us at all.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I've had Nido over two years past the "use by" date, which was stored packed sardine tight in an all-metal storage facility out in the blazing 110-degree 80% humidity Oklahoma summers and 0-degree ice coated winters...good as fresh when I opened it! I was amazed myself since it's whole milk, figured even nonfat would have gone bad under those conditions, lol. 

It may cost a little more, but I just haven't found anything that can come close, in my opinion. Of course, I don't drink much milk...I was allergic as a child and didn't outgrow it until my teens and just never did get used to the taste plain. But I do eat some on cereal, cook with it, put it in my hot tea, make hot cocoa mix, and do have the occasional glass of chocolate milk if it's icy cold.  So I'm really glad to know it holds up so well. I'm just now finishing up a can that I've had open for about two years, and it was good to the very last scoop!

I never throw out anything past the "use by" date unless it looks or smells demonstrably bad. Otherwise, I try a little bit of whatever it is first, and I've found very few things I've had to throw out, and none of them made me sick either!


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## julieq (Oct 12, 2008)

On a side note to this thread, is regular powdered milk available in your neck of the woods? I decided to add some to our preps as we're mixing regular store bought milk with raw goats milk for our bottle kids. We've checked the local grocery stores and Costco and the shelves are empty for some reason. One local grocery store did have a can of powdered milk for long term storage and I'm wondering if I should have just shelled out 20.00 and bought it?


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

Yes, here there is plenty of powdered whole and nonfat, and suddenly for some reason rafts of the shelf-stable 'liquid' milk in the little cardboard cartons. It seems to be targeted at hispanic customers everywhere I shop, so I'm not sure why that particular market is suddenly being targeted, but I occasionally buy that, too, although it gets used fairly quickly. I don't know how long it would be good in storage.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

If you don't like to consume things past their best by date, don't forget they may be perfectly acceptable for your animals...


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## Guest (May 13, 2011)

*ETA I forgot to mention that our food stores are in a large pantry that is basically our house temperature--maybe the mid and upper 50's during the coldest part of winter and then maybe upper 70's or very low 80's during the hottest part of summer.*

There you go. Storage conditions play a major role in how long things will keep.

FWIW, I've found much the same with dry whole milk kept in its original, unopened container.


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

I'm not a food storage expert, and I've never been sure how temperature fluctuation affects food quality, especially in foods that are sealed air tight. I know the cooler, the better, but I'm not able to provide constant 55 degree temps year 'round because where we live, there are no basements. I just try to store foods in such a way as to prevent temp fluctuations as much as possible.


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