Can You Drink Milk After the Use-By Date?
Written by Jordan Morley · Reviewed against FSA date labelling guidance · Last updated 28 October 2026
No. Milk has a use-by date, which is about safety, not quality. Don't drink it after the date. Within the date, a normal smell is a good sign; once opened, use it within the time on the pack.
Why the use-by date matters
A use-by date is a safety deadline. For milk and dairy the date reflects how long the maker has tested the product to stay safe and good, sealed and kept chilled as the label says. Past it, the maker no longer vouches for it. The date is how long the manufacturer has tested the food to be safe when stored as the label says. The FSA's advice is not to eat, cook or freeze food after its use-by date, since food can look and smell normal while it is unsafe. The date means 'up to and including' that day, provided the food has been kept as the label says. A best-before date, by contrast, is only about quality.
You can also check the calorie content of milk alongside its safety information.
The Morrisons change: what it did and did not decide
On 10 January 2022 Morrisons announced that from 31 January it would drop 'use by' dates from most of its own-brand milk and keep 'Best Before' dates, with the same duration as the old use-by. Its instruction was to look and smell: 'if you can see that it has curdled then it is not right' and 'if it smells sour then it may have spoiled'. It advised people with a smell or taste disorder to rely on the date instead. The change covered about 90 per cent of its own-brand milk (Morrisons, 10 January 2022). Check your own bottle: a bottle that still says 'Use By' is still a safety date.
| Who | What they said | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Morrisons | Best Before on its own-brand milk; use sight and smell; the date length is unchanged | Morrisons press release, 10 Jan 2022 |
| FSA (as quoted by Pinsent Masons) | Recommends sensory tests such as the sniff test only for foods with a best before date. 'If the product has a use-by date, the sniff test is not reliable.' 'People can't always smell the bugs that cause food poisoning' | Out-Law, Jan 2022 |
| FSA (as reported by the Chilled Food Association) | Told the BBC that sniffing is 'not an appropriate safety test' for foods that could cause food poisoning | CFA, 13 Apr 2022 |
| The Conversation | For pasteurised milk, spoilage microbes are harmless, so smell is a sensible check; raw milk should never be drunk past its date | The Conversation (undated) |
These do not contradict each other once you separate the two labels. Best-before milk: your senses are the test. Use-by milk: the date is the test.
Which label is on your bottle?
| Your bottle says | What it means | What to do after the date |
|---|---|---|
| Use By | A safety date. By law, use-by goes on foods that are highly perishable and likely to become an immediate danger after a short period (EU rules quoted by Out-Law) | Do not drink it. Pour it away |
| Best Before (for example, Morrisons own-brand since 2022) | A quality date. The maker has judged the risk low enough to leave the decision to you | Look and smell first; if curdled or sour, bin it. If you cannot smell, use the date |
| Unpasteurised or raw milk | Smell is not a safety test; spoilage is not the main risk | Never drink raw milk past its use-by date (The Conversation) |
Once opened
WRAP (reported by Which?, April 2020) says milk carries a use-by date and should not be used past it, and that keeping it in the fridge once opened extends its life. WRAP also produced a dairy date-labelling guide in 2012 that notes consumers need more information on how long dairy lasts after opening. We could not find a single UK-wide number of days for opened milk in the sources we read, so follow the 'use within' wording on your own carton.
Sources checked
Everything in the sections above was checked against these pages on 28 October 2026.
- Morrisons: Morrisons scrapping 'use by' dates from milk to help customers reduce waste (published 10 January 2022; change from 31 January 2022) — date and scope of the change; sniff-test wording; best before replaced use by
- Pinsent Masons (Out-Law): Morrisons' new milk labelling may not pass the FSA's sniff test (January 2022) — FSA on the sniff test and use-by; legal basis for use-by
- Chilled Food Association: Not to be sniffed at (13 April 2022) — FSA to the BBC: sniffing not an appropriate safety test; raw milk
- The Conversation: Why you can probably keep milk longer than you think (no author or date shown on the page text we read) — pasteurised milk spoilage microbes; raw milk caveat
- Which?: Is it ever safe to keep foods after their best before and use by dates? (published 3 April 2020, updated 9 April 2020; reporting WRAP advice) — WRAP: milk carries a use-by date; refrigerate once opened
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More storage essentials
Milk: the other answers on this site
| Question | Short answer (links to the full page) |
|---|---|
| In pregnancy | Safe |
| In the fridge (Milk (Opened)) | until the use-by date in the fridge |
| In the freezer | Yes — freezes well (best quality for 3 months) |
| Left out overnight | No — throw it away (limit about 2 h) |
Common questions
Can I drink milk on the use-by date itself?
Yes: the use-by date is the last day it is safe, as long as it has been stored as the label says (usually in the fridge at 5°C or below) and, once opened, used within any 'use within' time on the pack. The day after, it is past the date.
Does milk always sour before it is unsafe?
No. Sourness is caused by spoilage bacteria. Bacteria that cause food poisoning can grow without a change in smell or taste, so smell is not a safety test. Within date and stored cold, a normal smell is a good sign; past the date, pour it away.
Can I freeze milk on its use-by date?
Yes, as long as you freeze it on or before the date, not after. Freezing pauses the clock. USDA FoodKeeper suggests about 3 months for best quality. Defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours (FSA).
What is the difference between use-by and best-before?
Use-by is about safety: do not eat after it. Best-before is about quality: the food is often fine after it, just past its best. Check which one is on your label.
Is the sniff test enough to tell if milk is safe?
Only if your bottle says Best Before. The FSA, quoted by Pinsent Masons, says that if a product has a use-by date the sniff test is not reliable, because people cannot always smell the bacteria that cause food poisoning.
Why did Morrisons remove the use-by date from milk?
To cut waste. From 31 January 2022 it moved most own-brand milk to Best Before dates of the same length and asked shoppers to check for curdling and a sour smell.
Related answers
Primary source: FSA date labelling guidance.
General information only, not medical advice: see the medical disclaimer. Feeling unwell after eating something? Contact NHS 111 or your GP.