🛒 Shopper

The shopper is the last link in the chain that takes milk from the farm to the table. They pick a carton from the shop shelf, buy milk at a market or order home delivery. Their choices decide what dairies and farms will produce.

There is a date on the pack. It is important to tell two labels apart. “Use by” is a firm deadline: after it, the food should not be eaten. “Best before” is advice: after this date the taste may get worse, but the food is not necessarily spoiled. If milk has been stored badly, it can go off before the date.

To keep milk from warming up on the way home, it is best picked up at the end of your shopping. At home it goes straight into the fridge. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises putting perishable foods in the cold no later than 2 hours after buying them. In hot weather, above +32 °C, within an hour. At room temperature, the number of dangerous bacteria can double every 20 minutes. Interestingly, many supermarkets put milk and bread at the far end of the store. On the way to them, shoppers walk past other shelves.