MyListResortHow long does milk last?
Track it in your list
The average American family of four throws away about $1,500 of food a year, per the EPA, and most of it is opened items nobody remembered.
Add the milk you actually bought to a MyListResort grocery list and set your own reminder from the table of kinds below, free. Or scan its barcode to add it without typing.
Track this for free← All foodsStorage tips
- Once opened, move it out of the can or packet into a sealed container and refrigerate it. The long window above belongs to the sealed pack, not to what is left in an opened one.
- Decant opened dry goods into airtight containers to keep pests and moisture out.
Every kind, and how long it keeps
| Kind | Fridge | Pantry | Freezer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk, canned evaporated or condensed | — | 12 months | — |
| Milk, lactose-free | — | — | — |
| Milk, plain or flavored | — | — | 3 months |
| Milk, shelf-stable | — | 6 to 12 months | — |
| Milk, ultra-pasteurized | 1 to 3 months | — | — |
Also here, and different enough to keep their own windows: Almond milk, Coconut milk, Coconut milk, canned, Powdered milk, Rice milk, Soy milk.
How can you tell if milk has gone bad?
- A rancid, paint-like or crayon smell from anything with oil or fat (nuts, oils, whole-grain flours). Rancid fat is the most common failure here.
- Off flavors, stale texture or a musty smell.
More on shelf-stable foods shelf life and storage.
Common questions
How long does milk last?
How long milk keeps depends on which one you have, so each is listed below with its own window. These are estimated quality windows from the USDA FoodKeeper, not food-safety determinations; follow the label and official guidance.
See how freshness tracking works, read the guide to tracking once-opened food, or see what a shared grocery list does for a household. There are also more household guides and a page for each kind of list, from chores to home maintenance.
Shelf-life windows come from the USDA FoodKeeper, published by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (public domain); we vendor the FSIS FoodKeeper dataset and refresh it in place. These are quality estimates, not food-safety determinations or guarantees: actual condition depends on storage and handling, and harmful bacteria may not have obvious signs. Follow package and official guidance; when in doubt, throw it out. See our food safety notice and terms.