Yeah, of course, that goes without saying. The same applies to UHT milk after opening though, so I think the question was about before opening/in the supermarket…
Though I have noticed some dairy products here seem to last ridiculously long. I bought and opened a carton of cooking cream like 1 month ago, and it still seemed good when I used it in mashed potatoes at the weekend (this is in the refrigerator, albeit in an open carton). God knows what they put in that.
Milk never goes sour here! The technicolour white freaks me out a bit too.
It seems so, doesn’t it! Usually when I buy milk the expiry date seems something like 10-12 days ahead, and then even if I leave it in the fridge for way too long after opening it doesn’t seem to go bad…
That’s what’s known in Taiwan as 調味乳, and it’s definitely not the real McCoy. It usually has nasty additives like sugar and xanthan gum, and would never receive the Dr. Milker stamp of approval.
Presumably the milk processors are fitted out to do heat treatment ranging from pasteurisation all the way up to UHT, at their choice. Given the obvious cost of spoilage, it’s conceivable that they calibrate the heat treatment up quite a bit, maybe even towards the UHT range, especially in the Taiwan summer.
In Europe, ESL milk is already quite common along UHT milk. While the former still requires storage in the fridge, the latter doesn’t.
See https://me-trading.de/what-is-esl-milk-a-comprehensive-guide/
Just like fresh milk, ESL milk has to be stored in the fridge regardless of whether it is opened or unopened. This way ESL milk will last drinkable for up to 4 weeks (unopened). In contrast, fresh milk will last 6 – 12 days in the fridge and ultra high temperature (UHT) milk even 3 – 6 months.
Are there any brands in the regular supermarkets that aren’t UHT? Making ricotta cheese is difficult with UHT.
I’ve bought this brand at Santa Cruz health food stores which is HTST. It is not always available.
https://factory.fourways.com.tw/about/index.php
Yimei has that Californian import ESL milk they sell at Carrefour. But as this is a ‘new’ processing type, i.e since 2005ish I read in your link, I would be very sceptical that any Taiwanese milk processors have this equipment. Unless you can show me evidence to the contrary that is. 
I don’t think the UHT process is the problem (it’s just Ultra High Temperature), it’s the homogenization.
For a while now milk doesn’t turn sour, it turns bitter for some reason.
Be afraid, very afraid.