Anyone had bad milk from Costco lately?

[vhoffman]

Our local Costco is 10 miles one way, but I make the trip 2x week for the savings. The savings are especially significant on milk--about $1.30 a gallon less than local groceries.

However, lately the milk has had an off taste to it. Two gallons actually went bad and I poured them out, but in general there's something "funny" about the milk, a sort of flatness to it, like it lacks something. Also, I had two gallong today that had a funny texture, kind of like they were frozen, then thawed.

I'm saving 7 gallon jugs to take back tomorrow. I might reconsider buying milk there at all if its consistently bad. Since I mainly go there for savings on milk, perhaps I might look at cancelling my membership? I think you get a prorated refund. A 20-mile round trip 2x week is a lot for spoiled milk!

 

[ohiominnie]

A 20-mile round trip 2x week is a lot for spoiled milk!

How much are you actually SAVING if you're putting all this money into gas to get back and forth to Costco?

Can't speak for Costco milk b/c we only have one in our area and it's about 40 minutes away from us so not worth it.

Every once in awhile we get a "weird" gallon from our grocery store. Best I can describe it, it tastes a bit "plasticy."

 

[bfrosty]

Just to comment...

but we have been buying the Kirkland Vanilla Soy Milk for about a year or two at Costco. A great price at about $1/Quart considering the local grocer wants about $3.25/Quart.

The soy milk is not that hard to get use to, especially the vanilla. It is made from soybeans and is organic. Soy milk doesn't expire for like 12 months from purchase...so we never get the sour/plastic taste in our milk. Sorry..just had to mention it.

Think about it...the first guy that thought...hummm...lets squezze those things hanging off that animal and drink it!!! or natural milk from beans grown in the earths soil?

These statements come from a 22yr veteran of drinking vitamin "D" milk all his life, up until a few years ago.

 

[Nicolepa]

I don't usually buy milk at Costco. I find it is about $.50 MORE per gallon here. I will buy it if I'm at Costco already and don't need anything else from the grocery store.

I wouldn't know if it were off anyway. I'm allergic to milk so it's only my kids drinking it.

 

[musicdude]

we stopped buying milk over a year ago from Costco! It seemed to go bad a lot sooner than milk from the grocery, plus I was not happy when they started packing it in two gallon boxes. Then we got a batch that they had added sugar to by mistake, it was supposed to me chocolate or eggnog. When I called about it, they just said yeah they goofed bring it back and we will refund it. We decided we would go with the local dairy instead, which is a lot more, but all natural, hormone free, and I don't have to worry about strange things going into it.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I have a gallon in the fridge right now that went bad 3 days after i purchased it! This is not the first time, but the first couple of times, I just thought we were not drinking it fast enough.

I also have some cheese blocks that went moldy way before their time. I was just saying the same thing, that I will not purchase dairy items at Sams because they do not last as long as they should.

I hate to roll up in Sams with a used gallon of milk and some moldy cheese to return, but they are worth about $20! (Well not anymore )

We found Borden milk purchased at CVS went bad really fast too. When we purchase it at Krogers and other grocery stores, it is fine for a week to 10 days.

 

[seashoreCM]

How do they display the milk jugs? For bookshelf style cabinets is there a constant flow of cold air pouring out of a vent above the top shelf and down the front?

OT: I want to wring the neck of the person at my local Sam's Club who piles the meat so hight in the open tray refrigerated cabinet that the meat (yes it is plastic wrapped) is exposed to the 65 or so degree air in the general room atmosphere.

Every hour that food is not refrigerated properly detracts from its shelf life.

Proper care of food:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/food.htm

 

[dawnball]

We found that costco milk lasted a lot longer than regular grocery store milk for us. Never had a bad jug either. However, we stopped buying Costco milk 6 months ago or so because it would take us 2 weeks to finish the gallon (without it going bad) and that was just too much fridge space for us.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Costco milk as far as I know is produced by regional producers so it is one of those commodities that depend on the producer. Costco does not have a dairy BUT the problem must lie in the refrigeration unit. I think that you all should contact them with the problem b/c they do have a central supplier for refrigeration units.

 

[ntink]

I buy the 3-pack of Costco Organic milk that comes in the cardboard cartons and have not had a problem with it. Maybe there is a problem with the gallon milk storage as another poster suggested. They should have no problem giving your $$ back - many have commented on the excellent customer service.

Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? I find the milk prices there to be good also.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Just wanted to update, that I lived through the embarrasment and Sam's took back the bad milk and moldy cheese with a smile

 

[dec181981]

We go through about a gallon of milk a day so the savings really add up by using costco milk. We have also never had a bad gallon. Maybe it is a regional thing?

 

[ducklite]

My mom grew up on a farm, and she says that the milk will taste different for a week or two every spring and fall as the cows go from range fed to barn fed and back. But that will not affect the shelf life.

Around here the local CVS usually has TG Lee milk the cheapest, $2.49 a gallon. My Publix has a deal right now that a half gallon is $.99 with a $15 purchase (not including the usual, cigs, booze, and meds.)

Anne

 

[LisaNJ25]

BUT the problem must lie in the refrigeration unit. I think that you all should contact them with the problem b/c they do have a central supplier for refrigeration units.

That is my guess also... ibuy a lot of costco milk.. since we go though a gallon a day.. but I also buy in the same day its gets delivered. I know in my store the refrigerator tends to act up.. I am a flower vendor and the flowers are stored in the same fridge. I have been having problems with the water freezing in the flower buckets.

 

[summerrluvv]

I don't buy Milk at Costco, but I had a problem with CVS milk and I ALWAYS have a problem with Target milk. The Target milk has a funny odor to it and tastes weird every single time I buy it. Of course I don't buy it anymore.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

I buy the 3-pack of Costco Organic milk that comes in the cardboard cartons and have not had a problem with it. .

Same here. Can't beat the price anywhere. Our ShopRite sells a 1/2 gallon for 4.29 where as Costco 3 pk is 7.99. I have found that organic milk has a much better taste and lasts much longer than non organic. So for us, because we don't use alot of milk, this works out great. We never have to worry that the milk will spoil.

 

[kileybeth]

definitely depends on the region. even pricing does. also ditto the comment on a few weeks every spring/fall being a slightly different taste.

haven't gotten bad milk at our Costco but we run through it so fast
(1.5 gallons a day!) it would hardly get a chance to go bad.

my pet peeve? we have these truly awful containers to deal with. almost completely retangular shaped? they look like something that belongs in auto- motive section and are a nightmare for kids to pour out of.

best of luck. our local pharmacy (walgreens, formally happy harrys) has a good suppiler and is reasonably priced in a pinch. walmart is okay pricing too if I'm already there.

rarely ever buy from grocery stores and have gotten bad milk more than once at those stores.

pricing around here is all over the place week to week month to month, that and gas prices lately are just hoping up and down on a whim it seems.

 

[Stein]

We dumped them about 8 months ago.

The funny thing is that as I type, I hear our local dairy at my front door delivering our milk. It does cost a bit more than Costco, but we get incredibly fresh milk delivered to our door from a local guy who doesn't use any hormones and is actually a year into the organic certification process. I guess it takes a few years of feeding the cows organic feed before you can make the claim.

The best part of delivery is that you don't go to the store for milk and "accidentally" pick up $200 worth of stuff from Costco while you are there!

 

[OKWAnneMarie]

I buy the 3-pack of Costco Organic milk that comes in the cardboard cartons and have not had a problem with it. Maybe there is a problem with the gallon milk storage as another poster suggested. They should have no problem giving your $$ back - many have commented on the excellent customer service.

Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? I find the milk prices there to be good also.

I also buy the Costco (Kirkland) Organic milk and I love it. It has a long shelf life and we've never had a problem with spoiled milk.

 

[Chicago526]

It's just DH and I so we don't drink a lot of milk, so I splurge on a local dairy (Oberweiss for you in the Chicago area). The aren't organic but they are hormone free, but it's $3.50 a half gallon! But, the milk can last up to 2 weeks, so for a couple of slow drinkers, I figure we save money in the long run since we rarely have to dump it out because it went bad before we finnished it. Plus, it's just super yummy! I tried "normal" milk once about a year after switching to Oberweiss and I just about gaged, it tasted terrible!

Not sure what we'll do once we have kids, I hope we'll be able to afford the higher priced Oberweis (plus they deliver!) but it will just depend on our finances at the time, I guess!