There are few things as universally disgusting as a whiff of rotten milk. No matter how much you might've been hotly anticipating that nice bowl of Rice Krispies, a frothy cup of coffee, or those waffles, bad milk will kill your appetite in two seconds flat. Now, not everyone has allergies or digestive disorders related to dairy products, but a little spoiled lactose makes everyone intolerant.
Is it really unsafe, though, in addition to being gross? To figure this out, it's important to take a look at what spoiled milk actually does to your body, and assess whether it's ever worth the risk. And hey, honestly, while some websites might recommend you use it as a gross ingredient in your next dinner, or even just an insane eating challenge, your primary care doctor would prefer that you avoid touching the stuff. Here's why.
Bad milk does bad, bad thing
When you stop to think about it, it's pretty weird that adults humans drink the milk a cow produces, to say nothing of it being refrigerated, pasteurized, or allowed to mold for certain cheeses. Honestly, what are you, a baby calf? Nonetheless, dairy has become a big part of society, and that means you probably have a carton of milk in your fridge right now, which may or may not be sour. If it is, though, don't drink it. The likely result of gulping down enough rotten milk, as WellandGood points out, is a nasty bout of food poisoning. Why? Pathogens, of course. Even after milk has been pasteurized, according to the Journal of Dairy Science, bacteria continues to grow. Now, bacteria is everywhere, and there's even plenty of weird organisms living on your body right now, but as the milk sits there festering, the kind of salmonella and E. Coli that breed in old milk will eventually prove toxic to you. Most likely, this'll hit your gastrointestinal tract relatively quickly, and symptoms will include stomach cramping, loose stool ... and, of course, puking your milk-addled brains out into the nearest toilet. Not fun.
Most of the time, your body will recover on its own, though LiveStrong says it can take a few days before you truly feel like yourself again. Throughout the horrible process, you'll want to drink lots of fluids — preferably ones that aren't spoiled milk, natch — to avoid the dehydration that results from vomiting and diarrhea. Occasionally, though, spoiled milk consumption can be lethal, if the evil bacteria contaminating your milk prove vicious enough. Don't believe it? Back in 2008, NBC News reported that spoiled milk consumption had killed six teenagers at a boarding school in India. Flash forward to 2015, when eight more teenagers, these ones from East London, drank rotten milk and ended up hospitalized, in critical condition, according to TimesLIVE.
So if you take a sniff, and it smells rotten? Please, please, just throw it out.
Grunge
