Hagaon Hacham Mordechai Eliyahu z.s.l.

By: Dave Gordon

New York City’s Health Department rules currently forbid selling a fluid dairy product nine or more days after it was pasteurized – up to six days sooner than the industry standard – so many milk containers have two expiration stamps, a Sell By date and a Use By date. The department plans to end the stricter milk Sell By requirements, so cartons will have just one date. New York City is one of the few places in the country that has its own dating system for milk, with other cities and states relying on the processor to set the expiration date, which is generally 14-15 days after pasteurization. Part of the original reasoning of the regulation was that it took several days for milk to reach city stores and because milk bottles often sat on warm stoops after deliveries, two factors that no longer apply.