Why it is not recommended to mix the milk of different days?
A vendor supplies a half liter of milk daily. Some times, due to variety of reasons, I arrive at a situation that I need to handle milk of 3 consecutive days i.e., 1.5 liter.
Elder and experienced members of my family asks me to deal each 1/2 liter of milk differently. But, they fail in providing a valid reason for not mixing them.
Is there any issue with mixing milk of different days and use them for my purposes?
Note that the milk is not too old. All the individual milks are edible.
Best Answer
Even when kept refrigerated, milk gradually spoils due to micro organisms. In case the first day's milk was on the threshold of spoiling, you are effectively bringing the third days milk also to that condition by mixing it with the first day's milk (which by now may have significant amount of microorganisms).
First day's milk bottle/vessel might have been retrived from the fridge, opened, and kept at room temperature (very short durations), and kept back multiple times by the time the third day's milk arrives. This gives microorganisms opportunity to enter and multiply even if the original milk was Pasteurized and sealed airtight in a sterile packaging.
In fact, curd is propagated by mixing fresh milk with leftover curd. Same with sourdough starter.
Pictures about "Why it is not recommended to mix the milk of different days?"
Quick Answer about "Why it is not recommended to mix the milk of different days?"
Mixing freshly expressed breast milk with already cooled or frozen milk is not advised because it can rewarm the older stored milk. It is best to cool freshly expressed milk before combining it with older, previously cooled or frozen milk.Can I mix milk from different days?
Milk from different pumping sessions/days may be combined in one container \u2013 use the date of the first milk expressed. Avoid adding warm milk to a container of previously refrigerated or frozen milk \u2013 cool the new milk before combining. Breastmilk is not spoiled unless it smells really bad or tastes sour.Can you combine two days worth of breast milk?
You should NOT combine your breast milk if: Different-day collection: You are collecting breast milk on a different day. It is not safe to add breast milk that you pumped today to a container of breast milk that you pumped yesterday or last week.Can I mix morning and evening breast milk?
When pumping breastmilk, it is important to label the milk with the date and time the milk was pumped. Only feed baby breastmilk pumped at a comparable time each day. For instance, morning breastmilk should be used in the morning, afternoon breastmilk in the afternoon and evening breastmilk in the evening.Can you mix breast milk frozen on different days?
If you collect breast milk on different days, you should not add it to already frozen breast milk. Breast milk collected on different days should be kept separate.The 411 on Combining Pumped Breastmilk! Fresh. Cold. Frozen.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Enric Cruz López, Monstera, Lachlan Ross, Dziana Hasanbekava