The NYC Health Department wants to end its age-old milk expiration date requirements, meaning cartons will have a later “sell by” stamp – and just one date.

City rules now say you can’t sell a fluid dairy product nine days after it was pasteurized – up to six days sooner than the industry standard.

That’s left many containers with two expiration dates, frustrating city residents who often dump seemingly unspoiled milk.

Health officials plan to unveil their proposal at a Board of Health meeting tomorrow. The City Council petitioned them to make the change earlier this year.

New York City remains one of the few places in the country – and the only city in the state – that has its own dating system for milk. Neighboring counties and other states rely on the processor to set the expiration date, which is generally 14-15 days after pasteurization, according to the Health Department.

The city’s reasoning was that milk took a few days to get to city stores or sat on warm stoops after deliveries, officials said. But both factors are rare now, they said.

If the city erases its rule, only the manufacturer’s date would appear on the carton.

Regardless of the expiration date, refrigerated milk is fine to drink until it spoils, officials said.

(Source: NY Daily News)