The milk in your fridge isn’t usable. No, it’s not expired, it’s just not very usable because there is no standard color code for milk caps.
I discovered this because in my house we keep two kinds of milk in the fridge, skim & 1%. I drink the skim milk and my wife drinks the 1%. I thought I memorized the cap color of my milk, but some mornings I poured the wrong milk. After realizing the problem was poor design and not poor memory I decided to investigate the confusion further.
I determined in the weeks we buy Wawa brand milk this means that I reach for the green capped jug while she reaches for the blue. But when we buy Lehigh Valley Dairy brand milk I have to remember my skim milk has a blue cap and the 1% has a purple cap. The confusion thickens if we purchased milk from multiple dairies in the same week.
A few examples.
RED: whole
WHITE: skim, 1%-chocolate, reduced fat buttermilk, half&half
GREEN: skim, 1%, 2%
PURPLE: 1%
PINK: skim, 2%
BLUE: 1%, skim
LIGHTÂ BLUE: skim , 2%
YELLOW: skim
BROWN: chocolate
When doing some quick Googling before starting this post I learned that there are actually groups that try to educate families about the cap colors of low fat and skim milk at their local grocery store in the hopes that they might give it a try.
This tells me that I’m not the only one confused by the many colors of milk. There needs to be a standard color code for the different types of milk. The only colors that seem to be ubiquitous are red and brown. I don’t care if the dairies self organize or if the USDA, the FDA or even the PTA steps in and mandates a standard color code for milk caps. I am tired of having to turn the jug and read the label when seeing the cap should be enough.
What color do you drink?
almond milk doesn’t have colored caps
more seriously, this is more of a problem of people not reading what they’re buying. and that might be the real issue.
to solely depend on any sort of so-called color scheme/convention could potentially lead someone to make a purchase they didn’t intend. especially because standards are simply not standard across all industries. and this goes beyond milk caps.
would you buy eggs without looking in the carton first for broken ones? produce without checking for mold? meat without checking the date? of course it happens sometimes, but this is standard procedure in a grocery store. why is milk an exception to inspection? (i just made that up!)
but this affects more than just the grocery store. would it be surprising if someone bought clothes without trying them on and they didn’t fit? measurements and sizes are not always, if seldom, equal.
standards are great, but slight deviations can be okay too; so long as there is adequate documentation! (i.e.: the label)
specifically for milk caps, maybe it should be printed on the cap regardless of the color. 1% is something that all milk manufacturers have to agree on. green simply isn’t.