For example, if you store citrus (lemon, grapefruit, etc.) or strong-smelling vegetables or pickles, or seafood together with milk, these strong smells may transfer to the milk, causing an unexpected flavor.
Refrigerators store a wide variety of foods and ingredients, and have a complex smell profile.
It is important to understand the characteristics of the different foods you store.
And, it is even possible for smells to transfer to unopened milk.
Milk cartons are coated with polyethylene, but smell-causing particles can be small enough to penetrate these containers. So, it’s possible for milk to absorb refrigerator smells even when unopened.
Please be mindful that storing milk together with citrus (lemon, grapefruit, etc.) or strong-smelling vegetables or pickles, or seafood, or storing milk in the same place that these items were previously placed (if they have left a smell behind) may result in strong smells penetrating the milk packaging and transferring to the milk.