Is milk still good after the expiration date?

The date on the carton is mostly about peak quality, not a safety deadline, a distinction the USDA stresses across nearly all foods except infant formula, which is the one genuinely regulated date. Milk stored properly and kept cold, ideally toward the back of the fridge rather than the door, often stays perfectly good for about five to seven days past the printed date, sometimes more. American milk is pasteurized, which kills harmful bacteria, so what eventually spoils it is the harmless souring bacteria that survive, and those announce themselves.

This is one of the few cases where your nose is a legitimate test. Unlike raw meat, where dangerous bacteria can be odorless, spoiled milk smells and tastes obviously sour and turns lumpy, giving clear warning well before it becomes a real problem, so the eternal fridge sniff is actually sound science here. Keep milk consistently cold, do not leave it on the counter, and trust the smell over the date. The one qualifier is raw, unpasteurized milk, which lacks that safety margin entirely and should be treated far more cautiously. Rethinking dates this way also cuts a lot of needless grocery waste.