How Long Does Oat Milk Last?

Oat milk is a non-dairy alternative to traditional milk that is produced by fermenting oat grains with added synthetic versions of certain vitamins and minerals.

It is important for you to be worried about it going bad because, when it does, the vitamins and minerals in it become inactive, causing it to lose its nutritious value. Furthermore, it may induce food poisoning.

Because I purchase oat milk in large quantities and take it with me when I travel, I often discover that some of the containers are just a little bit beyond their expiration dates. As a result, I have been tossing away a lot of it.

In certain instances, the date of expiration is not apparent, and because of this, I need to dispose of the milk before it has gone bad.

How long does it take for oat milk to go bad once it has been opened? Even if the milk’s expiration date has passed, is it safe for me to drink? How can I tell if oat milk has gone bad before I drink it? In this piece, I will address these questions and a few more like them.

What’s Oat Milk?

Oat milk is a kind of non-dairy milk that is produced by processing oat grains into a liquid.

It is a wonderful substitute for milk made from cows’ milk, and it is ideal for those who are vegan or who are sensitive to dairy products.

The milk is made by grinding oats into a finer consistency after first mixing the oats with water to create a paste.

Oat grains contain starch, which may be metabolized into other substances by adding enzymes.

After the activity of the enzyme, the components of the mixture are divided into solid and liquid states.

After that, the liquid is given a taste, heated so that it has a longer shelf life, and then it is combined with synthetic minerals and vitamins.

Oat milk has several advantages, one of which is that it does not include cholesterol, which is a major risk factor in the development of heart failure and is found in high quantities in dairy milk.

Second, drinking one cup of milk a day can help you meet your daily nutrient needs because it has the following proportions of essential nutrients: 100% of your daily vitamin B12 intake, 25% of your riboflavin intake, 35% of your calcium intake, 25% of your vitamin A intake, and 20% of your vitamin D intake.

How Long Does Oat Milk Last? Does Oat Milk Go Bad?

The fact that oat milk may go bad is the reason why producers specify that shelf-stable oat milk has a life expectancy of between six and twelve months in their packaging.

At the very bottom of the packaging that comes with each container is a date that indicates when it will go bad.

Expiration dates might vary from one manufacturer to the next due to variables such as the kind of packaging and the components that go into the product’s construction.

The milk kept in a pantry will stay fresh for anywhere between six and twelve months.

However, the milk may still be used 45 to 60 days beyond the day that it was supposed to expire; in certain cases, it can even be consumed three months after the date that it was supposed to expire.

Oat milk that is shelf-stable does not need refrigeration since it may be stored at room temperature.

However, milk that has been kept in the refrigerator may be used much beyond its expiration date.

Simply Oat believes that the milk will be good for consumption for at least an additional 60 days beyond the expiration date.

There is a refrigerated variant of oat milk that has a shelf life of between two and three weeks.

The producer will often print the “use-by” date on the product’s packaging.

The milk may be used safely for up to seven days after the expiration date has passed.

It is essential that the milk be maintained at a cold temperature.

It is essential to determine the variant of the oat milk you now own.

Inadvertently purchasing a shelf-stable product instead of a refrigerated one may result in significant financial loss due to the product’s premature decomposition.

After you have opened the container of shelf-stable oat milk, you will need to store it in the refrigerator and consume it within 5 to 10 days.

Because it blocks out light and germs, which are two factors that lead to milk going bad, the milk’s packaging plays an important part in protecting the milk’s freshness.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that you consume the opened oat milk within two hours of it being left out at room temperature or unrefrigerated; if you are unable to do so, you should throw it away.

After two hours, the milk may not show any signs of turning bad, but it might still have negative effects on your health.

These adverse effects on health might be caused by the presence of germs in the milk.

How to Tell if Oat Milk is Bad?

If the oat milk is spoiled, you may tell in a few different ways, including the following:

• To begin, you may determine by looking at the date it was manufactured. If the milk has been out of the refrigerator for more than four months beyond its expiration date, it has gone bad and should not be consumed.

• The second thing you may do is determine whether or not the container has become swollen. A container that has inflated due to the creation of gas inside the container implies that the container is being used to store gas. The generation of carbon (IV) oxide gas during fermentation is what causes the packaging to expand as a result of the process. The milk is likely spoiled if the container has become swollen.

• Determine the amount of time that the milk container has been left open. Even if it has been refrigerated, milk that has been opened and left out for two weeks cannot be considered safe to drink. In addition, the milk is likely to have gone bad if it has been exposed to room temperature for more than two hours without being refrigerated.

• To continue, one of the most reliable methods for determining whether or not milk is spoiled is to smell it. If you are used to drinking fresh oat milk, you are likely familiar with the aroma of fresh oat milk, which is described as having a nice scent. When it has gone bad, the milk, on the other hand, has a scent that is either putrid or sour.

• Check to see what color the milk is. The hue of regular oat milk is either white or cream, and it is always the same shade. If, after you have poured it into a glass, you realize that it is black or brownish in hue, you should not drink the milk. The fact that there are solid particles floating about in the milk is another sign that it should not be consumed in its current state.

• Last but not least, the flavor of the milk is a dead giveaway. The taste test need to be the very last one, performed only after all of the other tests have come back negative. The flavor of sourness is a strong indication that the oat milk is spoiled, since the majority of oat milk brands are sweet.

Conclusion

If you wish to avoid dairy products or are vegan, oat milk is a great alternative that you may use in its place. Cow’s milk is a common allergen for certain people.

Oat grains are used in its production, and its nutritional profile is improved with the addition of vitamin and mineral supplements that are man-made.

The shelf-stable milk may be stored for up to a year, while the milk that must be kept in the refrigerator has a shelf life of several weeks.

Even if the expiration date on your oat milk has passed by several days, you may still safely consume it, and it will still have the appropriate nutritional profile.

However, if it has been many weeks or months beyond the expiration date, you need to check to see whether it has gone bad by using the procedures that are indicated.