Nine school campuses in the Dallas Independent School District will now offer shelf-stable milk instead of its usual pints. The new shelf-stable milk can sit unrefrigerated for months without going bad if it has not been opened.
Dallas ISD’s executive director of Food and Child Nutrition Services Michael Rosenberger explained that the decision to implement the new shelf-stable milk program was made due to the problems caused by the limited shelf-life of standard milk. He explained that traditional milk does not last in the case of winter breaks and other school breaks.
“We run into challenges, like after the two-week holiday. No fresh milk can last over that two-week period,” the director told CBS 11 News.
Dallas ISD also gives its students a week’s worth of food to take home during these breaks. Rosenberger said switching to shelf-stable milk will allow students and their families to take it wherever they may be going, as it does not need to be refrigerated.
He explained that shelf-stable milk — also known as ultra-high temperature (UHT), or aseptic, milk — lasts longer, but has the same taste, nutrition, and appearance as the milk Americans usually drink in their homes.
Matt Herrick, a spokesperson for the International Dairy Foods Association, said UHT milk is “literally the same milk” as the standard milk common in the U.S. The difference lies in the way the milk is pasteurized.
“It’s just packaged a little bit differently. The milk is heated to a higher temperature to kill certain bacteria so that it can be shelf-stable,” Herrick explained.
According to Dairy Discovery Zone, “Traditional milk is heated up to at least 161 degrees for 15 seconds to kill harmful bacteria in the milk. With UHT, it is heated up to 280 to 300 degrees for two to six seconds. Both methods of pasteurization ensure safety and freshness.”
“Another thing that makes aseptic milk last on the shelf involves the sterile packaging and sterile environment in which the packaging happens,” the site explains. “First, the bottles are produced on site; they are then sterilized so that they are absolutely clean. Secondly, the milk packaged in those bottles is in a sterile environment so that no bacteria or pathogens can contaminate the product. The combination of UHT pasteurization and bottling sterilization ensures that the milk lasts up to six months on the shelf without refrigeration.”
Though it is more expensive than fresh milk, the tradeoff is that because it takes a long time to expire, it is less likely to go to waste and can be ordered in large quantities.
Hence, Rosenberger said Dallas ISD is looking into the milk’s possible impact on overall expenses. The district is also exploring the potential that using shelf-stable milk could reduce electricity costs, as well as the need to build expensive refrigeration rooms in future kitchens.
He told CBS 11 the initial response to the new milk has been positive, and that students love it.
While its popularity in the U.S. has grown only relatively recently, ultra-pasteurized milk is common in countries like Spain, Germany, and France.