Why is the expiration date on Organic milk, so much longer than the expiration date on regular milk?”
Most commercial organic milk is UHT pasteurized (280 degrees for 4 seconds). Regular milk is usually pasteurized at 160 degrees. The ultra-high-temperature pasteurization makes the milk very sterile, so it lasts longer. Ordinary pasteurization kills the bugs that make you sick but leaves the bugs that spoil milk. There’s nothing special about organic milk that requires UHT pasteurization. You can get regular-pasteurized milk, and UHT-pasteurized non-organic milk. But commercial organic milk is produced in only a few plants, so it has to be shipped further. That takes longer, and it would arrive later in the milk’s shelf life. So they use UHT. Some people think that the UHT doesn’t taste as good, since it’s practically cooked. And the old equipment works fine. So they don’t usually UHT regular milk.
