My boys love flavored milk. They would choose it over any other option offered to them, including highly sugared fruit drinks. Their favorite is strawberry but they also like chocolate and Lucas would even choose plain milk over juice. I’m happy with this choice, because I want them to grow up liking milk, but it also comes with some potential problems because of the need for refrigeration.
When I heard about shelf safe milk, which is milk that does not need to stay in the fridge, I wasn’t sure that I’d want to try it. The idea of milk not being refrigerated just grossed me out and I thought that there was no way that could be safe. After learning a little more though I realized how wrong I was about shelf safe milk.
First, it’s been around since the 1960’s so it’s not just some passing fad or idea that someone recently came up with. It’s Ultra pasteurized and in special Tetra Pak eco-friendly cartons. It’s also healthy! There are nutrients in the milk and it’s not filled with additives or preservatives which is great.
I then thought about all of the ways this milk could make life easier for us. Normally running out of milk would be an emergency in our family that would require a late night run to the store. The boys are not happy campers when they wake up and discover there is no milk for them to drink in the morning. We normally try to avoid running out of milk by getting gallons of it at a time. This makes fridge space tight in our home. The shelf safe milk doesn’t have to be refrigerated which would mean that we could store it in the cabinet to ensure we’d always have milk on hand and wouldn’t need to be making anymore late night trips and we’d have more fridge space, too. These would also be great for Lucas to have at school. I send him with juice boxes but I’d love to give him an alternative at school.
So after learning more and thinking about all of the benefits to shelf safe milk I think I’m going to get some to keep in the cabinet. Want to try it yourself? Check out the Milk Unleashed website to see where you can buy plain or flavored shelf safe milk. You can also connect with Milk Unleashed on Facebook and Twitter.
(Disclosure: This blog post is part of a paid SocialMoms and Milk Unleashed blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.)
I’ve been drinking shelf safe soy milk for years, and have recently started drinking shelf safe regular milk. It tastes just the same as other milk.