# Quick Help please:Drinking Sour Milk **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398 "2004-05-27T19:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/1 "2004-05-27T19:14:56Z")
But who would drink sour milk anyway? And why and how? Me. I made some espresso and poured in what little half and half I had left. (exp date May 31) Usually I smell the cream first–not this time. I drink some of the coffee and it tastes awful, still, I drink a little more cuz I’m sleepy. (total maybe 1 oz.) I have a dentist appt. today and that makes my stomarch upset enough already-- will this make me sick? Did the temp of the espresso kill the bad germs? what (if anything) should I do? Help me out (quickly if possible). Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/2 "2004-05-27T19:22:50Z")
I think you might die. But then, I don’t know much about milk or medicine. But can I have your stereo if you do? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/3 "2004-05-27T19:27:15Z")
Nah. Some chick who lives across the bay already HAS my stereo and she won’t even talk to me. To clarify an earlier point: I drank about an ounce of espresso, not sour milk. I probaby had less than a teaspoon of the half and half. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/4 "2004-05-27T19:38:47Z")
Could I put dibs in on your monitor? Mine is starting to go. And I think if sour milk were a big concern, my homemade yogurt would be dropping people like flies. ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/5 "2004-05-27T19:39:19Z")
Since I couldn’t get you to state in a public forum that you’ll give me your stereo, I suppose I may as well try to be helpful. Googling on “sour milk” pulled up all kinds of recipes for sour milk. I also found out that Mongolians prefer their milk to be sour. So…I still don’t have any real information for you, but my guess is that you’re going to be just fine. Unless you die. In which case, can I have your car? ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/6 "2004-05-27T19:41:46Z")
I feel like I should point out that I’m not wishing death on you. In fact, I hope you pull through. You have none but my very best intentions. But let’s face it, if you die, you won’t need a car. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/7 "2004-05-27T19:48:22Z")
My cheapskate mom made my brother and me drink sour milk for days one time when we were kids. It wasn’t chunky, but it was definitely funky…err… “off”. She insisted it tasted that way because it was Spring and the cows had switched from winter food to grass. Right. I’m still alive, but it could be because I neutralized it with large doses of Strawberry Qwik powder, which undoubtedly contained many powerful chemicals, especially back in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/8 "2004-05-27T20:06:21Z")
As far as I can tell, drinking sour milk is fine. It just tastes bad. As somebody pointed out in a past thread (debating whether cow milk is the worst beverage on earth, IIRC), milk is one of the few products that _isn’t_ dangerous when it goes bad. So, unless it’s so old that it has molded over or something, sour milk is perfectly safe to drink. Gross, but safe. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/9 "2004-05-27T21:53:56Z")
Sour milk is not dangerous. In fact, if you have some milk that has soured, you can use it in your pancake batter. The milk has _soured_ not _spoiled_. Food that has spoiled contains bacteria that may harm you. The lactic acid in milk prevents growth of those bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/10 "2004-05-28T01:07:08Z")
To amplify-don’t confuse ‘soured’ with ‘spoiled’. Pasteurized milk or cream does not sour, because the micro-organisms that make it go sour are killed by the pasteurization process, along with the micro-organisms that can kill you. 🙂 To get it to sour, you need to put some of those micro-organisms back in, either from a previous batch of sour milk/cream, or from a culture of the micro-organisms you want to use. (Or, use unpasteurized milk, of course. This practice is not recommended by the International Society of People Who Don’t Want You To Ingest Things That Might Kill You. Bloody do-gooders.) This is what the ‘cultured’ on the sour cream, yogurt, and buttermilk you find in the supermarket-the manufacturers keep a batch of bacteria around and plop some into every batch for you! No need to thank them! They love doing that! If you have pasteurized milk or cream that’s gone bad, for the sake of all that’s holy, throw that stuff away! If you want to make your own sour milk/cream, cultured buttermilk is a good source of the micro-organisms you want. Unless you’re wanting to keep your own cultures-I hear they make affectionate and obedient pets! ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/11 "2004-05-28T03:49:46Z")
So… no car then? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/12 "2004-05-28T08:24:55Z")
Generally speaking, the fairly benign bacteria present in even Pasteurised milk will be the ones that make it go ‘bad’, raising the acidity and tying up the resources so that, in most cases, pathogenic bacteria won’t get a look in. I’d be _slightly_ more concerned if it was known that someone had drunk from the bottle and the milk had subsequently turned bad, because we could be talking about a different mix of bacteria - although they don’t do you any harm when they exist naturally in your mouth, take them out and ‘farm’ them, then put them back in large numbers and you could be in big trouble. But the chances are fairly good that what you drank was just rough, nasty yoghurt. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/13 "2004-05-28T10:27:44Z")
Warning. Milk is very dangerous. If you have any in the refridgerator, it must be disposed of at once. The following pathenogens can be found in milk (usually unpasteurised) YERSINIA ENTEROCOLITICA, CAMPYLOBACTER, ESCHERICHIA COLI, STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS, SHIGELLA, SALMONELLA. (from [http://home.coqui.net/myrna/food.htm](http://home.coqui.net/myrna/food.htm)). p.s can I have the TV ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/14 "2004-05-28T10:53:10Z")
It can also contain surprisingly high levels (as much as 90% by volume) of [Dihydrogen Monoxide](http://www.dhmo.org/). Consider yourself warned! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/15 "2004-05-28T11:19:09Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > I have a dentist appt. today. . . Well that was yesterday now. Guess it’s too late to help now. **Love Me** still with us? If not we’ll be round for the stuff OK 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/16 "2004-05-28T15:49:30Z")
But…but it’s not May 31 yet. The half & half carton wouldn’t lie, would it? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/17 "2004-05-28T16:56:03Z")
That must have been pretty old half & half to have a May 31st date on it. Usually it’s ultra-pasteurized and has 3 month expiration dates. Which is all moot after it’s opened of course. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/18 "2004-05-28T23:01:09Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > Warning. Milk is very dangerous. If you have any in the refridgerator, it must be disposed of at once. The following pathenogens can be found in milk (usually unpasteurised) YERSINIA ENTEROCOLITICA, CAMPYLOBACTER, ESCHERICHIA COLI, STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS, SHIGELLA, SALMONELLA. (from > [http://home.coqui.net/myrna/food.htm](http://home.coqui.net/myrna/food.htm)). > > p.s can I have the TV > [@](#): > > Outbreaks of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 have been associated with consumption of undercooked hamburgers and raw milk. > [@](#): > > The growth of Staphylococcus is favored by the high-sugar, salt, and protein contents found in dairy products, egg salads, fish, poultry, etc. Campylobacteria: > [@](#): > > Outbreaks due to raw milk have been described. > [@](#): > > Some outbreaks of yersiniosis have been caused by contaminated milk. Pasteurization destroys most of these bacteria and refrigeration retards their growth. If the milk is raw, unpasteurized, or has been sitting outside the refrigerator for a long time, these pathogens may reproduce. Pasteurized milk in the frig is not a danger, if it’s just a few days “sour.” I use that in my pancake batter, as many others do. Enjoy (and cross your fingers). ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-help-please-drinking-sour-milk/247398/19 "2004-05-29T13:55:43Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Campylobacteria: > Pasteurization destroys most of these bacteria and refrigeration retards their growth. If the milk is raw, unpasteurized, or has been sitting outside the refrigerator for a long time, these pathogens may reproduce. Pasteurized milk in the frig is not a danger, if it’s just a few days “sour.” I use that in my pancake batter, as many others do. Enjoy (and cross your fingers). Well, the cooking of the pancakes is going to kill a lot of microorganisms. You’re not holding it at a high temperature as long as for pasteurization, but the temperature is a good bit higher. Just don’t eat the uncooked batter. As if you’d want to. 😛 (This is the same basic reason you shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough, too, although there it’s mainly the eggs you’re worried about. Of course, the risk/benefit analysis there comes down much more in favor of going for it. Chocolate chip cookie dough … mmmmm … And it’s not like you were planning to live forever, right?)