I think these little coffee creamers are a great invention and it appears to just be half&half. But why do you have to keep 1/2&1/2 in the fridge but these little mini’s can sit on the counter with no expiration date on them?
The letters UHP on the Mini-Moo cup stand for “Ultra-high Heat Pasteurization.” This prevents bacteria from growing in the cups. Milk products in cartons are generally pasteurized at lower heat.
There’s a general class of UHT (Ultra High Temperature) pasteurized products on the market. UHT pasteurization encompasses a range of temperatures and times of processing to create specified products.
Shelf-stable milks have been around for decades. They are even the norm (or at least extremely common) in many parts of Europe, though they haven’t caught on in a big way in the U.S. Some people complain that the process changes the taste of the milk a bit, which may be why many of the new products being introduced are “extreme” flavored milks.
You can also find UHT products in the dairy case. Most, if not all, organic and reduced-lactose milks are UHT processed because they don’t have the almost immediate turnover that “regular” milks do. By regulating the temperature and time, a UHT process allows them to increase the sell-by date by several times over “regular” milks and so can sit in the case much longer than normal.
New techniques are continually being developed by the dairy industry to reduce the amount of cooking time necessary for UHT milks and so also reduce the “cooked” taste. That may be one reason they are gaining popularity now.