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REFRIGERATION

Food storage

How to store milk (pasteurised and packaged)

Pasteurised milk is one of the most perishable things a dairy booth, café or kirana stocks. Pasteurisation kills most bacteria but not all, and the survivors multiply fast once milk warms. Every hour above about 5 °C uses up shelf life, and milk that has warmed and been re-chilled will turn sooner than its printed date suggests. The goal is simple: get milk into a cold cabinet the moment it arrives, keep it at 0 to +4 °C, and sell or use it in strict date order. UHT (tetra-pack) milk is different: sealed packs can stay at ambient, but once opened they need the same cold handling as fresh milk.

  • Chilled0 to +4 °C

Do

  • Unload milk crates straight into the fridge. A crate left on the pavement for twenty minutes at 7 am in May can arrive at 10 °C or more before it is shelved.
  • Set the cabinet so the warmest shelf, usually near the door, reads +4 °C or below. Check with a probe thermometer in a glass of water, not just the display.
  • Rotate first-expiry, first-out. Load new stock behind old stock, and do a date check every morning before the shop opens.
  • Leave gaps between pouches and crates so cold air can circulate. Milk packed solid against the evaporator fan can freeze while milk at the front stays warm.
  • Keep milk on shelves away from raw meat, fish and strong-smelling foods. Pouches are thin and can pick up odours.
  • Once a pouch or carton is opened in a kitchen, transfer it to a clean covered container, label it with the time, and use it within the period your food-safety plan sets.

Avoid

  • Do not store milk in the door shelves of a reach-in that is opened every few minutes; it is the warmest part of the cabinet.
  • Do not boil and then cover hot milk tightly in a deep vessel and put it straight into a packed fridge. Cool it quickly in a shallow container first.
  • Do not stack pouches directly on the cabinet floor or against the back wall where ice can form.
  • Do not return milk to the cold chain after it has been left out for hours. Discard it.

In Indian conditions

Morning and evening milk deliveries in India often reach shops before staff do, and pouches can sit in crates in 35–40 °C heat. Agree a drop-off point in shade, or a lockable insulated box, with your supplier. Many neighbourhood shops still run old chest coolers that cannot hold 4 °C in May; an upright glass-door cooler with proper air circulation does a better job for a high-turnover milk line. During power cuts, keep the door shut, and if the outage runs long, move the oldest stock first rather than letting the whole lot warm. Monsoon humidity increases frost on evaporators; defrost on schedule so airflow is not blocked.

General good practice for commercial kitchens and shops. Where your FSSAI licence conditions or food-safety plan set stricter limits, follow those.