Why Walmart's Great Value Milk Seems To Expire Faster Than Other Brands'

Walmart's Great Value is a generic store brand that encompasses a multitude of products to compete with name brand counterparts. While there's no real difference between name brand and generic milk, as recently as four months ago, Redditors have reported that "Walmart brand milk comes off the shelf spoiled half the time, or spoils within a day." And it seems to be specific to the Great Value brand because, as one Redditor wrote, " I bought some [Great Value] heavy cream and it spoiled within a week. If I buy Land o Lakes cream it is good beyond best by date. I am not buying their dairy any longer. It concerns me how it is stored before it gets to the store."

Another Redditor theorizes, "I am 99% sure that Walmart has a logistics problem with how they store perishables in transit." Another customer came to the conclusion that "Walmart stores their milk in a warm environment for way too long." To that effect, we also attribute milk expiring before the labeled date to milk being exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which might be from improperly refrigerated trucks.

Many Redditors think the spoilage is due to poor manufacturing. According to one Redditor, "I discovered most of the plastic milk containers caps leak introducing air/bacteria into the milk from the processor, to the store shelf, to your home...They aren't sealed properly." Another Redditor responded, "mine always seems to fall over in the bag and leaks every single time."

While customers seem to have a lot of complaints about the Great Value milk and other dairy products spoiling well before the best-by date, there are other store brands with higher health standards. For example the extra benefit to buying milk at Costco is that Costco's Kirkland brand has its own set of rigorous food safety requirements and higher standards than many name brands.

Dairy products are highly perishable, so it's important to practice proper storage once you've brought your milk carton home. This means keeping milk in a sub-40 degree Fahrenheit fridge, towards the back of the fridge so that it doesn't get exposed to warm air every time you open it. Also, be sure not to leave your milk carton on the counter for very long after you've poured yourself a bowl of cereal, returning it promptly to the fridge after use.

Don't let Great Value milk dictate your feelings on the private label brand as a whole because we've found plenty of Great Value products that rival their more expensive name brand counterparts. Not all dairy is bad at Walmart, as the Great Value lineup of ice cream flavors have some real winners, like Cookies and Cream, Sea Salt Caramel, and Coffee. Plus, Great Value Hip Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches are the Walmart frozen dessert that's cheaper than the name brand without sacrificing flavor.