Trader Joe's milk going bad early

[Anonymous]

Cashier at TJ's commented on "what a deal" the big bag of clementines was as I checked out the other day... in my head, I thought "well, hope it lasts more than a few days"...

Nope. They started rotting three days after I bought them. If I buy them at Giant or Harris Teeter they last until we go through them (easily a week). So annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI shelf stable / ultra pasteurized milk doesn't last any longer than regular milk once it's been opened. (And it's no longer shelf stable.) I don't have any health objections to it but I think it tastes funny compared to regular milk, which is why I like TJS--they are the only organic milk that is NOT ultra pasteurized.

I'v never had a problem with it going bad in <1 week. Longer than that and I usually toss milk anyway.

That's not true. The store brands at Harris Teeter and Yes! are organic and not ultra pasteurized. I buy the gallon jugs all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cashier at TJ's commented on "what a deal" the big bag of clementines was as I checked out the other day... in my head, I thought "well, hope it lasts more than a few days"...

Nope. They started rotting three days after I bought them. If I buy them at Giant or Harris Teeter they last until we go through them (easily a week). So annoying.

Yeah, but that happens at Safeway too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been buying milk primarily at TJs in Rockville or Bethesda for about eight years and I've never had a container go bad earlier than I'd find normal - typically we buy on the weekend and finish by the next weekend, and it's always fine for the week. This is the non-organic, non-shelf-stable regular milk. Yes, if I keep a container for more than a week after opening it does turn. But that's my experience with every other place I've bought (non-shelf-stable, not ultra-pasteurized) milk, so I buy in amounts we can consume within a week. And I can definitely smell sour milk and have zero tolerance for its taste.

The PP complaining about Giant milk having gone bad despite having a March date - you realize that date is for un-opened containers, right? Once you've been opening and closing the container, the milk is going to spoil faster than when it was in sealed, nearly aseptic form.

I have read that milk has ' X amount of hours below 40 degrees C' before it spoils.
Sounds like someone isn't storing it at the right temp consistently

Storing at 40 degrees Celsius would DEFINITELY explain any spoilage issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same with their bread. I try and avoid buying bread at trader joes unless we will go through it in 2-3 days

We keep the bread in the freezer and take slices out as needed. They thaw quickly.

I shop almost exclusively at trader joes and only have a problem with a product once a year at most. Same odds as shopping at other stores. Am I just lucky?

You are just lucky. My milk from TJ's always went bad quickly. Not even 4 days. 2 of us who ate 1 of their products were violently ill, my nuts were bad, even had to return 2 types of fing candy recently. All the bad stuff recently were things I've bought there for years so it would seem something is breaking down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been buying milk primarily at TJs in Rockville or Bethesda for about eight years and I've never had a container go bad earlier than I'd find normal - typically we buy on the weekend and finish by the next weekend, and it's always fine for the week. This is the non-organic, non-shelf-stable regular milk. Yes, if I keep a container for more than a week after opening it does turn. But that's my experience with every other place I've bought (non-shelf-stable, not ultra-pasteurized) milk, so I buy in amounts we can consume within a week. And I can definitely smell sour milk and have zero tolerance for its taste.

The PP complaining about Giant milk having gone bad despite having a March date - you realize that date is for un-opened containers, right? Once you've been opening and closing the container, the milk is going to spoil faster than when it was in sealed, nearly aseptic form.[/quote]

Yes, I know, but the milk was only open for 6 days tops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

I absolutely disagree. For example, the kids yogurt is colored with beet juice! BEET JUICE. Not artificial coloring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

I absolutely disagree. For example, the kids yogurt is colored with beet juice! BEET JUICE. Not artificial coloring.

Yes, but it's still full of sugar. And probably nasty factory farm dairy.

All their snacks and cookies and convenience items -- same crap as at the regular store, just GMO-free (maybe...not really that important anyway) but still sodium-laced, with enriched flour, sugar, and other additives. Blech.

[Anonymous]

I've found it all depends on the particular TJ's store. At some, they have obviously left things out too long at some point. At others, they've done it right, and refrigerated items last.

I do notice all TJ baked goods don't last long, but baked goods are not supposed to last long, unless you dump a lot of preservatives into them, which I can do without. Just freeze them and use as you need to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

I absolutely disagree. For example, the kids yogurt is colored with beet juice! BEET JUICE. Not artificial coloring.

If you ever see anything on a TJ package that says "natural flavoring" that's MSG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

I absolutely disagree. For example, the kids yogurt is colored with beet juice! BEET JUICE. Not artificial coloring.

If you ever see anything on a TJ package that says "natural flavoring" that's MSG.

Is this for real?

[Anonymous]

We have never had this problem and I shop at TJs regularly. We do always keep bread in the freezer. I find that TJs products are less likely to have added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. than supermarket food, but you have to check each item.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot stand Trader Joes and honestly don't know why people shop there. We try to eat healthy, and it's basically a mecca of packaged junk food.

Are you kidding?! They actually use less artificial ingredients than most! And all of their dairy is hormone free. I have never had a problem with the milk. But I buy organic.

I'm not kidding. You can literally SEE the packaging -- it's all overprocessed junk. And their house brands are loaded with MSG.

I absolutely disagree. For example, the kids yogurt is colored with beet juice! BEET JUICE. Not artificial coloring.

If you ever see anything on a TJ package that says "natural flavoring" that's MSG.

Is this for real?

It can be. There are many other ingredients that produce glutamic acid when processed, and can often be listed as 'natural flavor' even if the producer didn't add monosodium glutamate to the product. This can be yeast extract, hydrolized proteins, modified food starch, chicken base, etc. which are all also acceptable as 'natural flavors.'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And about bread spoiling quickly: it's because they use fewer preservatives! Have you ever made your own bread? It molds very quickly.

This....

Ever wonder why Twinkies last forever?