We use Walmart milk but I notice the freshness dates vary widely by store location. Unfortunately our closest one always has poor dates. Since Walmart has stated the milk is hormone free, I am surprised at the long expire dates. I think the milk I bought on Thursday expires Dec 19.
No. Milk shelf life mostly a function of how it is pasteurized. UHT(ultra high temp) will last longer. More likely to see it used for creams than milk in the US. Parmalat and Costco's organic milk use UHT. Sealed UHT milk can be stored at room temp, but that weirds out US consumers. HT-ST(high temp, short) is how most milk is pasteurized in the US. Or it was, I haven't kept track of what the biz does. For completeness, LT-LT(low temp, long time) is the pasteurization method you can do on the stove top. It's a batch process that can take up to an hour. The others are continuous. Microfiltered milk might last longer than pasteurized. There are naturally occurring preservatives in milk that pasteurization destroys. It alone isn't allowed by US law.
