Why don't the single serve coffee cream cups need to be refrigerated?

Question

It seems to me that it would be subject to the same bacterial/spoiling processes that the larger containers are.

And if it's that opening a container exposes the cream to contamiants (which I believe), then why do the larger containers have "sell by" and expiration dates whereas the little packets do not?

Answer

Those single serving 'creamers' have been manufactured using Ultra High Temperature (UHT) processing. According to wikipedia (the most reliable information source in the multiverse), milk treated by UHT has an unopened shelf life of 6 to 9 months.

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