Milk: Why Does Freshness Differ Even with the Same Early Morning Delivery?

As non-face-to-face consumption has become a part of daily life, early morning delivery has established itself as a leading distribution channel for fresh food products. According to statistics released by SSG.com at the end of last year, milk was the top-selling item in newly added early morning delivery regions. Milk continues to rank high in search results on online malls such as Oasis Market as well.

With online consumption of fresh milk increasing, particularly through early morning delivery, imported sterilized milk products that can be stored at room temperature have also been distributed through a variety of platforms in recent times. While some consumers choose these products for their price competitiveness and storage convenience, others have raised concerns about a lack of product information and doubts about quality.

One consumer reported that upon checking imported sterilized milk purchased from an online mall the day after receiving it, the expiration date was less than four months away. In addition, some consumers commented in reviews that "the taste and aroma were not as expected," "the expiration date was shorter than anticipated," and "it was difficult to verify the production date because it was not indicated."

According to a study titled "Distribution Status and Quality Verification of Imported Dairy Products" conducted by the market research agency KMRI, consumers who had purchased imported sterilized milk cited "product damage and breakage (29.4%)," "unsatisfactory taste and aroma (24.8%)," "dissatisfaction with packaging (13.1%)," and "distrust of excessively long expiration dates (13.7%)" as sources of dissatisfaction.

Imported sterilized milk generally has a longer shelf life than domestic products. While imported sterilized milk has an average shelf life of about one year, the shelf life of domestic sterilized milk is relatively short at around 12 weeks. The domestic dairy industry explains, "Sterilized milk can experience quality deterioration, such as fat separation, after a certain period of time. To maintain consumer trust, we set expiration dates conservatively."

Differences were also found in quality comparison experiments. Domestically produced sterilized and pasteurized milk maintained acidification levels within the normal range, but some imported sterilized milk showed signs of hydrolytic rancidity. Domestic fresh milk is delivered to consumers within an average of two to three days after milking, and every stage?from cooling, collection, pasteurization, inspection, packaging, to distribution?is carried out under cold-chain systems at low temperatures.

The Korea Dairy Committee (Chairman Lee Seungho) stated, "Domestic milk is distributed in refrigerated conditions without exposure to outside air, so its freshness is systematically maintained and it is delivered to consumers within an average of two to three days. It is important to check not only the expiration date on the product label, but also comprehensive information such as the place of production, distribution environment, and storage conditions," and advised, "Considering these factors together when making a purchase can help in selecting fresh food products."