What happens if you drink spoiled rice milk?

Rice milk is a very popular dairy milk alternative for those that have allergies, only eat a vegan diet, or just don’t like the taste of cow’s milk.

Rice milk is so yummy, but when it goes on sale it is very easy to overbuy it. If you end up with a lot of rice milk coming close to the expiration date, you will need to know if rice milk goes bad after you open it, how to tell if your rice milk has spoiled, if you can freeze rice milk, and super easy ways to use up lots of rice milk before it spoils!

Does rice milk go bad after opening?

There are 2 main types of rice milk. One is considered shelf stable, and you will find it on a shelf on an aisle in the grocery store. The other has a fairly quick shelf life and you will find it in the refrigerated dairy section of a grocery store.

The shelf stable rice milk typically has a “best by” date and says to refrigerate after opening. The dairy section rice milk will have a “use by” date and needs to be stored in the refrigerator all the time even if it is not opened yet.

If you buy shelf stable rice milk, you can actually store it in your pantry or cabinet until you are ready to drink it. Once you open the container, then you want to keep it in the refrigerator.

The “best buy” date on a shelf stable milk has more to do with quality than expiration or spoilage. This date is really telling you that the flavor will be at its best before this date. After this date, the flavor and the quality of the rice milk will start to go down.

Unopened rice milk that is stored at room temperature can still be safe to consume past its expiration date, if doesn’t show signs of spoilage.

Rice Milk from the dairy section has a “use by” date that is usually marked on the package similar to the way cow milk is labelled. It typically can range from 21 days to 6 weeks after it was packaged.

Whether you use shelf stable rice milk or the kind that comes from the dairy section of the grocery store, they both recommend using the rice milk within 7-10 days of opening the package or carton.

To keep both kinds of rice milk lasting longer, always pour your milk into a glass or separate container when using it. If you drink rice milk directly from the carton, your mouth will introduce bacteria to the carton and make it spoil faster.

How do you know if rice milk is off?

If your shelf stable or dairy section rice milk has already been opened for 7 days, you may be wondering if it is still good enough to use in your cereal.

Just like with cows milk, the most common ways to test if the rice milk is still good is to sniff it and to taste it. Rice milk typically has a very non-smell similar to cooked rice.

The smell is very mild, and most people don’t notice it at all. If you sniff your rice milk and it has a very strong or acidic smell, then your rice milk has gone bad.

Rice milk typically has a very thin texture almost close to water, and a very mild sweet taste. If your rice milk seems much thicker than normal, then your milk has gone bad.

If your rice milk is showing signs of congealing or if you notice that the coloring is off, then more than likely it is not safe to drink.

Rice milk develops mold just like other milk alternatives, so if you see signs of mold, then definitely don’t use it.

Can you freeze rice milk?

Whether you can freeze rice milk is a highly debated topic. I am pro-freezing and by freezing rice milk you can use it in so many more than just cereal or a drinking it straight.

If you are not sure you can finish your rice milk before it spoils, freeze the rice milk using a clean ice cube tray. Once the ice cubes are frozen, then transfer the cubes into a freezer ziploc bag.

These ice cubes can be used in so many cool ways! My kids love fruit smoothies with rice milk ice cubes, and we also use them for rice milk shakes with chocolate sauce! (Spoiler- they taste like Frosties!)

Rice milk is awesome to make ice cream! If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still make rice milk ice cream by just freezing it in a Tupperware type container. The texture comes out similar to an Icee or Italian Ice style of frozen dessert.

The texture of thawed rice milk isn’t the greatest to use as milk you would drink or put on cereal, but it is perfectly fine to use in baking and cooking recipes.

By freezing rice milk, you can add at least another 3-6 months of use. This is great if you find yourself with an abundance of rice milk on your hands.

What can you do with a lot of expired rice milk?

If you feel like your rice milk has spoiled or showing signs of mold, then you should definitely toss it. It is not worth the risk of food poisoning.

If the rice milk appears to look, taste, smell fine, and shows no signs of mold, then you can continue to use the “expired” rice milk. Here is a fun list of ways that I use up a lot “expired” rice milk in order to make the most of it before it spoils.

1. Make Instant Pudding – typically making pudding uses up 2 cups of rice milk. It is a fun way to make vegan pudding because unlike other vegan milks, it doesn’t alter the flavor as much as almond or oat milk does.
2. Bake cookies, bars, or even a cake – rice milk is fabulous to bake with because it is a 1 to 1 substitute for cow milk. No complicated formulas needed to figure out how much to substitute, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of cow milk, you can use 1 cup of rice milk. Please note that rice milk is thinner than cow’s milk so it will give a less creamy texture.
3. French Toast – This is a great breakfast that can use up about 1-2 cups of rice milk. If your vegan, try using cornstarch to thicken the rice milk instead of using eggs. Then dip your bread and pan fry as usual.
4. Overnight Oats – I love to make overnight oats with rice milk and typically use about 1/2 cup for each serving. Overnight oats are also a great way to use up any fruit that has seen better days or clean out your pantry of dried fruits, chocolate chips, and other tasty add ons.
5. Soup or Stews – there are tons of recipes out there for soups like Chicken Pot Pie Soup and Vegan Corn Chowder that typically use 4 cups of rice milk.
6. Rice Pudding – Making rice pudding with rice milk is a super easy way to use up 1-2 cups of rice milk. There are so many fun versions that you can make too. You can go traditional with vanilla, cinnamon, and raisins, or you can go wild and use up old bananas for a Banana Foster type feel. I also love making a caramel sauce or adding fresh berries like blueberries and strawberries.

What happens if you drink expired rice milk?

As long as your rice milk has not congealed or grown mold, then drinking it will probably do nothing more than taste slightly off.

Most people are going to notice that the rice milk has spoiled when they pour into a cup or try to use it for a recipe.

If you were to drink a sip of spoiled rice milk, the taste will be so off-putting that you are unlikely to drink more. That one little sip is not going to hurt you or to make you sick.

If by some rare chance, you are drinking spoiled milk in large quantities, it will probably lead to an upset stomach and possibly diarrhea.

In general, as long as the rice milk still smells, tastes, and looks fine it is usually safe to drink and use in recipes.

If you are making homemade rice milk, you generally want to make sure you use it all within 3-4 days. Rice milk goes through a sterilization and pasteurization process in order to prolong its shelf life, and this can’t be done in a home kitchen.

If your curious about how regular rice holds up compared to its expiration date, check out “What happens if you eat expired rice?“. The answers may surprise you!