# Taking the fresher stuff from the back of the shelf **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471 "2022-02-14T17:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/121 "2022-02-20T03:35:55Z")
Your link says: > What Is UHT, Or _Ultra-Pasteurized_, Milk? > Ultra-high temperature, or UHT, milk is _ultra-pasteurized milk_ that comes in sterilized containers. They seem to be treating them as synonyms, but apparently they are not. Or, I suppose, “Ultra Pasteurized” has a specific meaning when it appears as a label that’s not quite the same as the common meaning (which would include UHT). In short, yes, I was talking about UHT and I see that **thorny\_locust** was referring to something else. But given that your own link conflates the two, I’m not going to accept fault in the confusion 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/122 "2022-02-20T03:45:33Z")
If I’m reading this breakdown correctly, UHT and “ultra-pasteurized” are the same in terms of the pasteurization: [https://foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/sites/foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/CU-DFScience-Notes-Milk-Pasteurization-UltraP-10-10.pdf](https://foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/sites/foodsafety.foodscience.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/CU-DFScience-Notes-Milk-Pasteurization-UltraP-10-10.pdf) The difference is in the packaging, where UHT requires a hermetic seal (i.e., tetrapak, etc.) and totally sterile conditions throughout, but plain ultra-pasteurized uses conventional packaging. The result is that UHT is shelf-stable for 6+ months, while ultra-pasteurized requires refrigeration and lasts 30-90 days. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/123 "2022-02-20T06:31:05Z")
As a single person, I have been known to look at e-dates on highly perishable things, and conversely, when I was preparing food for the soup kitchen, I would take short-dated things because I knew they would be used almost immediately (and were often discounted). ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/124 "2022-02-20T16:30:08Z")
(Reply to: “Do I get any credit for being mildly virtuous because I’m not wasting food?”) > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Sure, give yourself a gold star. I’ve said from the beginning that people should look for expiration dates based on what they need. Reducing waste is a good thing. I might also suggest buying smaller quantities at a time, but if that means more driving to the store, that’s not necessarily a good option either. Thank you. I need all the gold stars I can get. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/125 "2022-02-20T16:41:48Z")
Well, the sell-by-February 23d quart of milk I scored from the back of the supermarket display is only about 1/5 consumed, so pretty soon we will be sniff-testing it before adding to cereal. If only I had long enough arms to reach into the back storage area… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/126 "2022-02-20T18:28:12Z")
I just bought some March 5 milk that we’ll finish this week, and some April milk that we’ll have next week. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471/127 "2022-02-20T19:34:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > But while you say you’re agreeing with that, you also seem to be saying that the store shouldn’t have the fresher milk on the shelf for me to choose from, because they should be controlling their inventory to force people to only buy the newer stuff. Maybe I’ve misunderstood that. – maybe it’s @bump I’m arguing with about that, not you. Sort of… what I’m saying is that stores will/should adjust to have the most recent expiration dates within the window of what people are choosing to buy, if there’s a consistent and clear pattern. For example, if stores find themselves selling out of the milk that expires 8 or more days from now, and they find themselves throwing away a lot of milk that expires in 7 days or less from now, then they need to adjust their inventory process to keep the shelves stocked with milk that expires in 8 days or more. How is probably up to the store itself- some can just adjust the delivery frequency, some can adjust how they place it on the shelves, and some can use discounts, etc… to move the sooner-expiring milk in a different shelf location. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-the-fresher-stuff-from-the-back-of-the-shelf/959471.md?page=6)