Cold Milk Tastes Best! Strive for 35!
Milk is best served cold – at temperatures of 35 to 40°F. However, school milk is often served at much higher temperatures. Factors such as long lunch periods, coolers left open for easy access and insufficient ice replacement in non-electric coolers allow temperatures to climb, degrading milk’s flavor. By the time a student is ready to consume the milk, it may have been sitting in an open cooler or at room temperature for hours. While milk served warmer than 35°F might not be spoiled, it usually doesn’t taste as good. Kids love cold milk!
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- Check out the Cold Milk Fact Sheet which provides helpful tips on keeping milk cold during service and storage.
- Additionally, keeping milk cold and attractively merchandised are two critical components of the New Look of School Milk program.

- Milk Cooler Catalog – A variety of school milk cooler equipment from different manufacturers to help keep milk at the proper temperature and display milk attractively is featured.
- Also be sure to check out our milk quality checklist on storage, handling.