Food Safety: A Guide to Expiration Dates on Pantry and Refrigerator Foods

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How safe is the already-opened food in your fridge and pantry? Use our guide to decide which foods to save -- and which to discard now.

From the editors of FITNESS magazine

The FITNESS Food Safety Chart

Most expiration dates printed on packages are intended primarily for store employees, so they know when to remove a product from the shelf. They don't necessarily indicate how long the food will keep once you've opened it. To find out whether it's safe to slather your sandwich with the last smidge of mayo that's been in your fridge for over a month, consult our guide.

After Opening...	It’s Good For...
pasta sauce	4 days
pickles	1 to 2 weeks
yogurt	1 to 2 weeks
sour cream	1 to 3 weeks
olives	2 weeks
eggs (in shell)	3 to 5 weeks
salsa	1 month
shredded cheese	1 month
butter	1 to 3 months
mayonnaise	2 months
salad dressing	3 months
cooking oil	4 months
jams, jellies	6 months
ketchup	6 months
margarine	6 months
mustard	1 year
maple syrup	1 year

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, May 2006.

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ashleymccoy4 wrote:

Wow, it turns out I've been keeping my food too long! We keeps pickles and salad dressings until they're gone, which can sometimes take a year! I'm definitely going home and cleaning out the fridge.

6/8/2012 01:21:05 PM Report Abuse