[barrkel]

It's definitely cultural, probably a combination of regulation and dairy industry history. In the Wikipedia article I link in another post this thread, Denmark just to the north consumes hardly any UHT, and Austria to the south-west consumes far less.

Micro-filtered milk lasts for a spooky long time. I've had it in tea and coffee a few days past its best before date, and it's still not soured - three weeks past purchase, IIRC.