🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa060)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html","crawl_time":1771610324,"first_indexed_time":1674616121,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/article\/expiration-dates.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["The first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nThe first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains.\nCredit...\nJonathan Carlson\nJan. 24, 2023\nHave you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is\ntoo\nfusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep?\nHere’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates.\nFood product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.)\nLet’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about.\nVinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever\nwith little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but\nparcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever.\n(Same with grits versus instant grits.)\nFlour\nWhite flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age.\nWhole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months.\nThis is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.)\nBread\nShelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks\nin the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I\nslice and freeze\nmy fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.)\nBeans\nDried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years\nafter purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften.\nSpices\nWe all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless\nchicken paprikash\na crime).\nWhat about canned and jarred goods?\nAs a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic.\nSo long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years\n(or in the case of, say, Vienna sausages\nat least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar,\nis still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.)\nOils\nOils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible\n(as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them.\nHow do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick.\nAlso from the oil-and-vinegar aisle:\nSalad dressings will last for months or over a year\nin the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars).\nCondiments\nMustard lasts forever.\nKetchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief,\nmayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life\n, especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.)\nThe international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry.\nEggs\nWe all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to\nthe impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter\n. That’s because\nit takes a\nlong\ntime for eggs to go bad\n.\nHow long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date.\nThat’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that.\nMilk\nWe’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps.\nWant longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label.\nMilk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people\npreferred\nthe sweeter flavor of UHT milk.)\nBaby Food\nAnd as for\nbaby food\n— the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple.\nRest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nApril 15, 2020\n, Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Food\nCourtesy of Jikoni\nChristopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\nEditors’ Picks\nWarner Bros.\nMark de Blok\/Focus Features\nTrending in The Times\nRobert Jimison\/The New York Times\nIllustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy\nLee Cohen\nWest Wales Properties\nKo Sasaki for The New York Times\nPhoto illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\nYamil Lage\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nArden Wray for The New York Times\nAngelina Katsanis for The New York Times\nGeorge Douglas\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252Farticle%252Fexpiration-dates.html&asset=masthead)\n\nFriday, February 20, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\\|The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html\n\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.5k\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-sponsor)\n# The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow\nThe first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains.\n\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.5k\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/15\/dining\/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration\/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Jonathan Carlson\n\nBy [J. Kenji López-Alt](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/j-kenji-lopez-alt)\n\nJan. 24, 2023\n\n[Leer en español](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/es\/2023\/01\/28\/espanol\/caducidad-alimentos.html \"Read in Spanish\")\n\nHave you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is *too* fusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep?\n\nHere’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates.\n\nFood product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.)\n\nLet’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about. **Vinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever** with little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but **parcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever.** (Same with grits versus instant grits.)\n\n## Flour\n**White flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age.** Whole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months.\n\nThis is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.)\n\n## Bread\n**Shelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks** in the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I [slice and freeze](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/02\/24\/dining\/how-to-make-toast.html) my fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.)\n\n## Beans\n**Dried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years** after purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften.\n\n## Spices\nWe all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless [chicken paprikash](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/recipes\/1018068-chicken-paprikash) a crime).\n\n## What about canned and jarred goods?\nAs a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic.\n\n**So long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years** (or in the case of, say, Vienna sausagesat least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar,is still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.)\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/17\/multimedia\/17FD-JEON-promo-fkmb\/17FD-JEON-promo-fkmb-thumbLarge.jpg)Jeon Is a Korean Favorite for a Reason. Here’s Why.](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/article\/korean-pancakes-fritters-jeon-recipes)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/26\/multimedia\/26re-Hunt-BERKSHIRES-01-khtw\/26re-Hunt-BERKSHIRES-01-khtw-thumbLarge.jpg)She Wanted a Quiet House in the Berkshires for About \\$800,000](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/02\/19\/realestate\/berkshire-mountains-massachusetts-homes.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/technology\/personaltech\/18BIZ-TECHTIP-TOPART\/18BIZ-TECHTIP-TOPART-thumbLarge.jpg)How to Watch Free Live Television on Your Phone or Tablet](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/18\/technology\/personaltech\/free-live-tv-mobile-apps.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\n## Oils\n**Oils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible** (as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them.\n\nHow do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick.\n\nAlso from the oil-and-vinegar aisle: **Salad dressings will last for months or over a year** in the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars).\n\n## Condiments\n**Mustard lasts forever.** Ketchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief, **mayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life**, especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.)\n\nThe international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry.\n\n## Eggs\nWe all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to [the impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter](https:\/\/twitter.com\/kenjilopezalt\/status\/1244897822668816385?s=20). That’s because **it takes a** ***long*** **time for eggs to go bad**.\n\nHow long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date.\n\nThat’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that.\n\n## Milk\nWe’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps.\n\n**Want longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label.** Milk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people *preferred* the sweeter flavor of UHT milk.)\n\n## Baby Food\nAnd as for [baby food](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/guides\/57-how-to-make-baby-food) — the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple.\n\nRest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit.\n\nMore from J. Kenji López-Alt\n\n[![]()How to Cook With Plant-Based Meats March 3, 2020](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/03\/dining\/impossible-beyond-meat.html)\n\n[![]()Moo Shu, Now With Less Meat Jan. 27, 2020](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/01\/27\/dining\/kenji-moo-shu-mushrooms-recipe.html)\n\n[![]()The Best Biscuits? There Are a Few Tricks Dec. 16, 2019](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/12\/16\/dining\/kenji-biscuit-recipe.html)\n\n*Follow* [*NYT Food on Twitter*](https:\/\/twitter.com\/nytfood) *and* [*NYT Cooking on Instagram*](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nytcooking\/)*,* [*Facebook*](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nytcooking\/)*,* [*YouTube*](https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/nytcooking) *and* [*Pinterest*](https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/nytcooking\/)*.* [*Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice*](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/cooking)*.*\n\nA version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2020, Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nRead 2,517 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.5k\n\n***\n## More on Food and Dining\n### Keep tabs on dining trends, restaurant reviews and recipes.\n***\n- **Dinner Is Being Recorded:** As Meta smart glasses capture scenes in restaurants for social media, [service workers and customers are becoming captive participants](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/16\/dining\/meta-ray-ban-glasses-restaurants.html).\n- **King Cake Baby’s Origins:** Everyone, from longtime New Orleans bakers to king cake-loving tourists, [has an opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/09\/dining\/king-cake-baby-jesus.html)on the meaning of the king cake baby.\n- **Momofuku’s Dad Era:** The latest from David Chang’s restaurant supergroup — Super Peach, a 200-seat modern Korean spot in Los Angeles — [may be in a mall, but hear me out, our critic pleads](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/dining\/super-peach-restaurant-review-los-angeles.html).\n***\n**Eating in New York City**\n\n- **A Hot New Restaurant in a Theater:** One of the city’s most sought-after reservations, Wild Cherry, [sits inside an old West Village playhouse where it winks at the past](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/17\/dining\/restaurant-review-wild-cherry-west-village.html).\n- **Restaurant Reviews:** Cavaleras Social serves enchiladas suizas, [Chuan Bistro offers tastes of Chengdu alongside theatrics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/17\/dining\/nyc-restaurant-news.html), and more restaurant news.\n- **Friendship Built on Dim Sum:** In Brooklyn, two women [have forged a friendship](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/dining\/on-the-job-dim-sum.html) while serving baskets of dumplings at a cavernous dim sum restaurant.\n- **Favorite Rest****aurants****:** From \\$\\$\\$\\$ tasting-menu splurges to a celebrated Brooklyn sandwich shop, here are the places from our [2025 list of the 100 Best Restaurants](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/dining\/best-nyc-restaurants.html) in New York City that [Times readers](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/05\/dining\/reader-favorite-nyc-restaurants.html) and [local](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/06\/dining\/chef-nyc-best-restaurant-picks.html) [chefs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/06\/dining\/chef-nyc-best-restaurant-picks.html) prefer.\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [T-Shirts That People Wait All Year For](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/style\/wo-hop-lunar-new-year-t-shirt-chinatown-nyc.html)\n  \n  ![Wo Hop, which opened in Lower Manhattan in 1938, has included seasonal Lunar New Year T-shirts in its merchandise offerings since 2012.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv\/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- [Why Tiramisù Is the Perfect Dish for Experimentation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/t-magazine\/tiramisu-dessert-chefs.html)\n  \n  ![The mango tiramisù at Jikoni in London, made with rum zabaglione and topped with a Thai basil-and-coconut sugar.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/t-magazine\/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2\/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Courtesy of Jikoni\n- [This One-Pot Pasta Uses the Whole Can of Tomato Paste](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/dining\/this-one-pot-pasta-uses-the-whole-can-of-tomato-paste.html)\n  \n  ![Ali Slagle’s one-pot Cheddar tomato mac.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-copy\/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\n- [Should I Refrigerate Apples? An A-to-Z Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/article\/fruits-vegetables-storage)\n  \n  ![Learning to keep your produce the right way can help save money and reduce food waste.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/25\/multimedia\/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt\/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [My, What Flushed Cheeks Cathy Has](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/style\/wuthering-heights-makeup-blush.html)\n  \n  ![There is scarcely a minute in the film’s two-hour-plus run time when the character of Cathy, played by Margot Robbie, is not noticeably red, whether from sexual pleasure, annoyance, grief, envy or shame. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch\/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Warner Bros.\n- [‘Midwinter Break’ Review: Aging Together, Growing Apart](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/movies\/midwinter-break-review.html)\n  \n  ![Ciaran Hinds, left, with Lesley Manville in “Midwinter Break.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc\/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Mark de Blok\/Focus Features\n\n### Trending in The Times\n- [In Ukraine, Senators See War’s Impact and Press for Stronger U.S. Support](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/us\/politics\/senators-ukraine-visit.html)\n  \n  ![Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, on a tour of the Darnytsia power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was damaged in a Russian attack this month. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz\/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Robert Jimison\/The New York Times\n- [Is It OK to ‘Teach a Lesson’ to Strangers?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/02\/20\/magazine\/locker-lesson-hodgman-quiz.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/02\/12\/magazine\/Mag-Hodgman-1\/Mag-Hodgman-1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy\n- [Opinion: It’s Dangerous. Sometimes Deadly. I Won’t Stop.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/opinion\/tahoe-avalance-backcountry-skiing-risks.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/opinion\/20van-tilburg\/20van-tilburg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Lee Cohen\n- [\\$680,000 Homes in Wales](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/realestate\/wales-home-sales.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/realestate\/20WYG-Llandovery13\/20WYG-Llandovery13-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  West Wales Properties\n- [Fans Cheer on Lonely Baby Monkey at Japanese Zoo](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/world\/asia\/100000010721348\/baby-macaque-monkey-japan-zoo.html)\n  \n  ![Punch with his plush companion at Ichikawa City Zoo.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/00xp-punch2-qwlg\/00xp-punch2-qwlg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Ko Sasaki for The New York Times\n- [A.I. Isn’t Coming for Every White-Collar Job. At Least Not Yet.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/technology\/ai-coding-software-jobs.html)\n  \n  ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\n- [A New U.S. Blockade Is Strangling Cuba](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/world\/americas\/cuba-oil-blockade-trump.html)\n  \n  ![The oil tanker Ocean Mariner at the port of Havana last month. Cuba is facing the United States’ first effective blockade since the Cuban Missile Crisis.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt\/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Yamil Lage\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- [A College President With Ties to Epstein Is Also Seen as a Campus Savior](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/us\/bard-college-leon-botstein-jeffrey-epstein.html)\n  \n  ![Leon Botstein has been leading Bard College since 1975.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq\/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Arden Wray for The New York Times\n- [Another Winter Storm Could Hit the Northeast This Weekend](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/weather\/new-york-snow-forecast.html)\n  \n  ![Recent snow in Brooklyn. Is more on the way? Maybe.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf\/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times\n- [Opinion: Christians Against Empathy Aren’t Who They Think They Are](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/opinion\/toxic-empathy-christianity-trump.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/opinion\/french-newsletter-18\/french-newsletter-18-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  George Douglas\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-bottom)\n\n## Site Index\n[Go to Home Page »](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\nArts\n\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\nLifestyle\n\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\nOpinion\n\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\nMore\n\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### News\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\n### Arts\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\n### Lifestyle\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\n### Opinion\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\n### More\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### Account\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription)\n- [Manage My Account](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/account)\n- [Home Delivery](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/home-delivery)\n- [Gift Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift)\n\n- [Group Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX)\n- [Gift Articles](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift-articles)\n- [Email Newsletters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters)\n\n- [NYT Licensing](https:\/\/nytlicensing.com\/)\n- [Replica Edition](https:\/\/nytimes.pressreader.com\/)\n- [Times Store](https:\/\/store.nytimes.com\/)\n\n## Site Information Navigation\n- [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014792127-Copyright-Notice)\n\n- [NYTCo](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times)\n- [Accessibility](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015727108-Accessibility)\n- [Work with us](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/careers\/)\n- [Advertise](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/)\n- [T Brand Studio](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/custom-content\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy)\n- [Cookie Policy](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/privacy\/cookie-policy)\n- [Terms of Service](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893428-Terms-of-Service)\n- [Terms of Sale](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Canada](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/ca\/)\n- [International](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/international\/)\n- [Help](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us)\n- [Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-top)\n\nThe first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains.\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/15\/dining\/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration\/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nCredit...Jonathan Carlson\n\nJan. 24, 2023\n\nHave you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is *too* fusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep?\n\nHere’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates.\n\nFood product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.)\n\nLet’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about. **Vinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever** with little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but **parcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever.** (Same with grits versus instant grits.)\n\n## Flour\n**White flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age.** Whole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months.\n\nThis is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.)\n\n## Bread\n**Shelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks** in the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I [slice and freeze](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/02\/24\/dining\/how-to-make-toast.html) my fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.)\n\n## Beans\n**Dried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years** after purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften.\n\n## Spices\nWe all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless [chicken paprikash](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/recipes\/1018068-chicken-paprikash) a crime).\n\n## What about canned and jarred goods?\nAs a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic.\n\n**So long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years** (or in the case of, say, Vienna sausagesat least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar,is still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.)\n\n## Oils\n**Oils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible** (as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them.\n\nHow do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick.\n\nAlso from the oil-and-vinegar aisle: **Salad dressings will last for months or over a year** in the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars).\n\n## Condiments\n**Mustard lasts forever.** Ketchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief, **mayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life**, especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.)\n\nThe international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry.\n\n## Eggs\nWe all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to [the impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter](https:\/\/twitter.com\/kenjilopezalt\/status\/1244897822668816385?s=20). That’s because **it takes a** ***long*** **time for eggs to go bad**.\n\nHow long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date.\n\nThat’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that.\n\n## Milk\nWe’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps.\n\n**Want longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label.** Milk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people *preferred* the sweeter flavor of UHT milk.)\n\n## Baby Food\nAnd as for [baby food](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/guides\/57-how-to-make-baby-food) — the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple.\n\nRest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2020, Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n\n- ![Wo Hop, which opened in Lower Manhattan in 1938, has included seasonal Lunar New Year T-shirts in its merchandise offerings since 2012.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv\/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- ![The mango tiramisù at Jikoni in London, made with rum zabaglione and topped with a Thai basil-and-coconut sugar.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/t-magazine\/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2\/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Courtesy of Jikoni\n- ![Ali Slagle’s one-pot Cheddar tomato mac.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-copy\/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\n- ![Learning to keep your produce the right way can help save money and reduce food waste.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/25\/multimedia\/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt\/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![There is scarcely a minute in the film’s two-hour-plus run time when the character of Cathy, played by Margot Robbie, is not noticeably red, whether from sexual pleasure, annoyance, grief, envy or shame. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch\/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Warner Bros.\n- ![Ciaran Hinds, left, with Lesley Manville in “Midwinter Break.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc\/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Mark de Blok\/Focus Features\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, on a tour of the Darnytsia power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was damaged in a Russian attack this month. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz\/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Robert Jimison\/The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/02\/12\/magazine\/Mag-Hodgman-1\/Mag-Hodgman-1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/opinion\/20van-tilburg\/20van-tilburg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Lee Cohen\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/realestate\/20WYG-Llandovery13\/20WYG-Llandovery13-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  West Wales Properties\n- ![Punch with his plush companion at Ichikawa City Zoo.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/00xp-punch2-qwlg\/00xp-punch2-qwlg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Ko Sasaki for The New York Times\n- ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\n- ![The oil tanker Ocean Mariner at the port of Havana last month. Cuba is facing the United States’ first effective blockade since the Cuban Missile Crisis.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt\/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Yamil Lage\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![Leon Botstein has been leading Bard College since 1975.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq\/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Arden Wray for The New York Times\n- ![Recent snow in Brooklyn. Is more on the way? Maybe.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf\/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/opinion\/french-newsletter-18\/french-newsletter-18-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  George Douglas\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/expiration-dates.html#after-bottom)","meta_canonical":null}

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:

Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:

Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

1 month ago

🤖

ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	1.6 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html
Last Crawled	2026-02-20 17:58:44 (1 month ago)
First Indexed	2023-01-25 03:08:41 (3 years ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow - The New York Times
Meta Description	The first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains.
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT The first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains. Credit... Jonathan Carlson Jan. 24, 2023 Have you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is too fusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep? Here’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates. Food product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.) Let’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about. Vinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever with little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but parcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever. (Same with grits versus instant grits.) Flour White flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age. Whole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months. This is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.) Bread Shelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks in the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I slice and freeze my fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.) Beans Dried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years after purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften. Spices We all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless chicken paprikash a crime). What about canned and jarred goods? As a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic. So long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years (or in the case of, say, Vienna sausages at least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar, is still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.) Oils Oils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible (as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them. How do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick. Also from the oil-and-vinegar aisle: Salad dressings will last for months or over a year in the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars). Condiments Mustard lasts forever. Ketchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief, mayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life , especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.) The international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry. Eggs We all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to the impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter . That’s because it takes a long time for eggs to go bad . How long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date. That’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that. Milk We’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps. Want longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label. Milk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people preferred the sweeter flavor of UHT milk.) Baby Food And as for baby food — the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple. Rest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit. A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2020 , Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Food Courtesy of Jikoni Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Editors’ Picks Warner Bros. Mark de Blok/Focus Features Trending in The Times Robert Jimison/The New York Times Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy Lee Cohen West Wales Properties Ko Sasaki for The New York Times Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times Yamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Arden Wray for The New York Times Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times George Douglas Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252Farticle%252Fexpiration-dates.html&asset=masthead) Friday, February 20, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food)\\|The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html - Share full article - 2\.5k Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-sponsor) # The Food Expiration Dates You Should Actually Follow The first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains. - Share full article - 2\.5k ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/15/dining/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Jonathan Carlson By [J. Kenji López-Alt](https://www.nytimes.com/by/j-kenji-lopez-alt) Jan. 24, 2023 [Leer en español](https://www.nytimes.com/es/2023/01/28/espanol/caducidad-alimentos.html "Read in Spanish") Have you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is too fusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep? Here’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates. Food product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.) Let’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about. Vinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever with little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but parcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever. (Same with grits versus instant grits.) ## Flour White flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age. Whole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months. This is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.) ## Bread Shelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks in the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I [slice and freeze](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/dining/how-to-make-toast.html) my fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.) ## Beans Dried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years after purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften. ## Spices We all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless [chicken paprikash](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018068-chicken-paprikash) a crime). ## What about canned and jarred goods? As a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic. So long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years (or in the case of, say, Vienna sausagesat least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar,is still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.) ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/17/multimedia/17FD-JEON-promo-fkmb/17FD-JEON-promo-fkmb-thumbLarge.jpg)Jeon Is a Korean Favorite for a Reason. Here’s Why.](https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/korean-pancakes-fritters-jeon-recipes) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/26/multimedia/26re-Hunt-BERKSHIRES-01-khtw/26re-Hunt-BERKSHIRES-01-khtw-thumbLarge.jpg)She Wanted a Quiet House in the Berkshires for About \$800,000](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/19/realestate/berkshire-mountains-massachusetts-homes.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/technology/personaltech/18BIZ-TECHTIP-TOPART/18BIZ-TECHTIP-TOPART-thumbLarge.jpg)How to Watch Free Live Television on Your Phone or Tablet](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/technology/personaltech/free-live-tv-mobile-apps.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-pp_edpick) ## Oils Oils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible (as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them. How do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick. Also from the oil-and-vinegar aisle: Salad dressings will last for months or over a year in the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars). ## Condiments Mustard lasts forever. Ketchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief, mayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life, especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.) The international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry. ## Eggs We all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to [the impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/kenjilopezalt/status/1244897822668816385?s=20). That’s because it takes a *long* time for eggs to go bad. How long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date. That’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that. ## Milk We’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps. Want longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label. Milk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people preferred the sweeter flavor of UHT milk.) ## Baby Food And as for [baby food](https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/57-how-to-make-baby-food) — the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple. Rest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit. More from J. Kenji López-Alt [![]()How to Cook With Plant-Based Meats March 3, 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/03/dining/impossible-beyond-meat.html) [![]()Moo Shu, Now With Less Meat Jan. 27, 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/dining/kenji-moo-shu-mushrooms-recipe.html) [![]()The Best Biscuits? There Are a Few Tricks Dec. 16, 2019](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/dining/kenji-biscuit-recipe.html) Follow [NYT Food on Twitter](https://twitter.com/nytfood) and [NYT Cooking on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nytcooking/), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/nytcooking/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/nytcooking) and [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/nytcooking/). [Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/cooking). A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2020, Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) Read 2,517 comments - Share full article - 2\.5k * ## More on Food and Dining ### Keep tabs on dining trends, restaurant reviews and recipes. * - Dinner Is Being Recorded: As Meta smart glasses capture scenes in restaurants for social media, [service workers and customers are becoming captive participants](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/dining/meta-ray-ban-glasses-restaurants.html). - King Cake Baby’s Origins: Everyone, from longtime New Orleans bakers to king cake-loving tourists, [has an opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/dining/king-cake-baby-jesus.html)on the meaning of the king cake baby. - Momofuku’s Dad Era: The latest from David Chang’s restaurant supergroup — Super Peach, a 200-seat modern Korean spot in Los Angeles — [may be in a mall, but hear me out, our critic pleads](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/dining/super-peach-restaurant-review-los-angeles.html). * Eating in New York City - A Hot New Restaurant in a Theater: One of the city’s most sought-after reservations, Wild Cherry, [sits inside an old West Village playhouse where it winks at the past](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/dining/restaurant-review-wild-cherry-west-village.html). - Restaurant Reviews: Cavaleras Social serves enchiladas suizas, [Chuan Bistro offers tastes of Chengdu alongside theatrics](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/dining/nyc-restaurant-news.html), and more restaurant news. - Friendship Built on Dim Sum: In Brooklyn, two women [have forged a friendship](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/dining/on-the-job-dim-sum.html) while serving baskets of dumplings at a cavernous dim sum restaurant. - Favorite Rest**aurants: From \$\$\$\$ tasting-menu splurges to a celebrated Brooklyn sandwich shop, here are the places from our [2025 list of the 100 Best Restaurants](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html) in New York City that [Times readers](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/dining/reader-favorite-nyc-restaurants.html) and [local](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/dining/chef-nyc-best-restaurant-picks.html) [chefs](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/dining/chef-nyc-best-restaurant-picks.html) prefer. ## Related Content ### [More in Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [T-Shirts That People Wait All Year For](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/style/wo-hop-lunar-new-year-t-shirt-chinatown-nyc.html) ![Wo Hop, which opened in Lower Manhattan in 1938, has included seasonal Lunar New Year T-shirts in its merchandise offerings since 2012.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) - [Why Tiramisù Is the Perfect Dish for Experimentation](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/t-magazine/tiramisu-dessert-chefs.html) ![The mango tiramisù at Jikoni in London, made with rum zabaglione and topped with a Thai basil-and-coconut sugar.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/t-magazine/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Courtesy of Jikoni - [This One-Pot Pasta Uses the Whole Can of Tomato Paste](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/dining/this-one-pot-pasta-uses-the-whole-can-of-tomato-paste.html) ![Ali Slagle’s one-pot Cheddar tomato mac.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-copy/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. - [Should I Refrigerate Apples? An A-to-Z Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables](https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/fruits-vegetables-storage) ![Learning to keep your produce the right way can help save money and reduce food waste.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/25/multimedia/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) ### Editors’ Picks - [My, What Flushed Cheeks Cathy Has](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/style/wuthering-heights-makeup-blush.html) ![There is scarcely a minute in the film’s two-hour-plus run time when the character of Cathy, played by Margot Robbie, is not noticeably red, whether from sexual pleasure, annoyance, grief, envy or shame. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Warner Bros. - [‘Midwinter Break’ Review: Aging Together, Growing Apart](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/movies/midwinter-break-review.html) ![Ciaran Hinds, left, with Lesley Manville in “Midwinter Break.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mark de Blok/Focus Features ### Trending in The Times - [In Ukraine, Senators See War’s Impact and Press for Stronger U.S. Support](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/us/politics/senators-ukraine-visit.html) ![Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, on a tour of the Darnytsia power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was damaged in a Russian attack this month. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Robert Jimison/The New York Times - [Is It OK to ‘Teach a Lesson’ to Strangers?](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/20/magazine/locker-lesson-hodgman-quiz.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/02/12/magazine/Mag-Hodgman-1/Mag-Hodgman-1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy - [Opinion: It’s Dangerous. Sometimes Deadly. I Won’t Stop.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/opinion/tahoe-avalance-backcountry-skiing-risks.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/opinion/20van-tilburg/20van-tilburg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Lee Cohen - [\$680,000 Homes in Wales](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/realestate/wales-home-sales.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/realestate/20WYG-Llandovery13/20WYG-Llandovery13-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) West Wales Properties - [Fans Cheer on Lonely Baby Monkey at Japanese Zoo](https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000010721348/baby-macaque-monkey-japan-zoo.html) ![Punch with his plush companion at Ichikawa City Zoo.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/00xp-punch2-qwlg/00xp-punch2-qwlg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Ko Sasaki for The New York Times - [A.I. Isn’t Coming for Every White-Collar Job. At Least Not Yet.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/technology/ai-coding-software-jobs.html) ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times - [A New U.S. Blockade Is Strangling Cuba](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/americas/cuba-oil-blockade-trump.html) ![The oil tanker Ocean Mariner at the port of Havana last month. Cuba is facing the United States’ first effective blockade since the Cuban Missile Crisis.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Yamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - [A College President With Ties to Epstein Is Also Seen as a Campus Savior](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/us/bard-college-leon-botstein-jeffrey-epstein.html) ![Leon Botstein has been leading Bard College since 1975.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Arden Wray for The New York Times - [Another Winter Storm Could Hit the Northeast This Weekend](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/weather/new-york-snow-forecast.html) ![Recent snow in Brooklyn. Is more on the way? Maybe.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times - [Opinion: Christians Against Empathy Aren’t Who They Think They Are](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/opinion/toxic-empathy-christianity-trump.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/opinion/french-newsletter-18/french-newsletter-18-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) George Douglas Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-bottom) ## Site Index [Go to Home Page »](https://www.nytimes.com/) News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) ### Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) ### Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) ### Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) ### More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### Account - [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription) - [Manage My Account](https://www.nytimes.com/account) - [Home Delivery](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/home-delivery) - [Gift Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/gift) - [Group Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX) - [Gift Articles](https://www.nytimes.com/gift-articles) - [Email Newsletters](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters) - [NYT Licensing](https://nytlicensing.com/) - [Replica Edition](https://nytimes.pressreader.com/) - [Times Store](https://store.nytimes.com/) ## Site Information Navigation - [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014792127-Copyright-Notice) - [NYTCo](https://www.nytco.com/) - [Contact Us](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times) - [Accessibility](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015727108-Accessibility) - [Work with us](https://www.nytco.com/careers/) - [Advertise](https://advertising.nytimes.com/) - [T Brand Studio](https://advertising.nytimes.com/custom-content/) - [Privacy Policy](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy) - [Cookie Policy](https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Service](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893428-Terms-of-Service) - [Terms of Sale](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale) - [Site Map](https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/) - [Canada](https://www.nytimes.com/ca/) - [International](https://www.nytimes.com/international/) - [Help](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us) - [Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)
Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-top) The first thing you should know? The dates, as we know them, have nothing to do with safety. J. Kenji López-Alt explains. ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/15/dining/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration/15Kenji-Cover-Illustration-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Credit...Jonathan Carlson Jan. 24, 2023 Have you been reacquainting yourself with the forgotten spices and fusty beans from the depths of your pantry? How fusty is too fusty? When is the right time to throw something out? And what about fresh ingredients? If I’m trying to keep supermarket trips to a minimum, how long can my eggs, dairy and produce keep? Here’s the first thing you should know: Expiration dates are not expiration dates. Food product dating, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it, is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, more on that later). Not only that, but it has nothing to do with safety. It acts solely as the manufacturer’s best guess as to when its product will no longer be at peak quality, whatever that means. Food manufacturers also tend to be rather conservative with those dates, knowing that not all of us keep our pantries dark and open our refrigerators as minimally as necessary. (I, for one, would never leave the fridge door open for minutes at a time as I contemplate what to snack on.) Let’s start with the things you definitely don’t have to worry about. Vinegars, honey, vanilla or other extracts, sugar, salt, corn syrup and molasses will last virtually forever with little change in quality. Regular steel-cut or rolled oats will last for a year or so before they start to go rancid, but parcooked oats (or instant oats) can last nearly forever. (Same with grits versus instant grits.) ## Flour White flour is almost certainly fine to use, no matter its age. Whole-wheat and other whole-grain flours can acquire a metallic or soapy odor within a few months. This whiter-equals-longer rule of thumb is true for nonground grains as well. Refined white rice, for example, will last for years, while brown rice will last only for months. This is because unrefined grains contain fats, and fats are the first thing to go off when it comes to dry pantry staples. Tree nuts, typically high in fat, will go rancid within a few months in the pantry. (Store them in the freezer to extend that to a few years.) ## Bread Shelf-stable supermarket breads made with oils (and preservatives) can stay soft for weeks in the fridge, but the lean, crusty sourdough from the corner bakery will be stale by the next day and probably start to mold before the week is up. (I [slice and freeze](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/dining/how-to-make-toast.html) my fancy bread, taking it out a slice at a time to toast.) ## Beans Dried beans and lentils will remain safe to eat for years after purchase, but they’ll become tougher and take longer to cook as time goes on. If you aren’t sure how old your dried beans are, avoid using them in recipes that include acidic ingredients like molasses or tomatoes. Acid can drastically increase the length of time it takes beans to soften. ## Spices We all make fun of our parents for using spices that expired in the 1980s, but, other than losing potency, there’s nothing criminal in using them (unless you consider flavorless [chicken paprikash](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018068-chicken-paprikash) a crime). ## What about canned and jarred goods? As a rule, metal lasts longer than glass, which lasts longer than plastic. So long as there is no outward sign of spoilage (such as bulging or rust), or visible spoilage when you open it (such as cloudiness, moldiness or rotten smells), your canned fruits, vegetables and meats will remain as delicious and palatable as the day you bought them for years (or in the case of, say, Vienna sausagesat least as good as they were to begin with). The little button on the top of jarred goods, which will bulge if there has been significant bacterial action inside the jar,is still the best way to tell if the contents are going to be all right to eat. Depending on storage, that could be a year or a decade. Similarly, cans of soda will keep their fizz for years, glass bottles for up to a year and plastic bottles for a few months. (Most plastics are gas-permeable.) ## Oils Oils, even rancidity-prone unrefined oils, stored in sealed cans are nearly indestructible (as evidenced by the two-gallon tin of roasted sesame oil that I’ve been working through since 2006). Oils in sealed glass bottles, less so. Oil in open containers can vary greatly in shelf life, but all will last longer if you don’t keep them near or above your stovetop, where heat can get to them. How do you tell if your oil is good? The same way you would with most foods: Follow your nose. Old oil will start to develop metallic, soapy or in some cases — such as with canola oil — fishy smells. Don’t trust your nose? Put a drop on your fingertip and squeeze it. Rancid oil will feel tacky as opposed to slick. Also from the oil-and-vinegar aisle: Salad dressings will last for months or over a year in the fridge, especially if they come in bottles with narrow squeeze openings (as opposed to open-mouthed jars). ## Condiments Mustard lasts forever. Ketchup will start to turn color before the year is out, but will still remain palatable. Contrary to popular belief, mayonnaise has an exceptionally long shelf life, especially when it doesn’t contain ingredients like fresh lemon juice or garlic. (High concentrations of fat, salt and acid are all enemies of bacteria and mold.) The international aisle is a den of long-lasting sauces, pickles and condiments. I’ve yet to find the quality inflection point for oyster sauce, pickled chiles, chile sauces (like sambal oelek or Sriracha), fermented bean sauces (like hoisin or Sichuan broad-bean chile paste) or fish sauce. Soy sauce has a reputation for longevity, but I keep mine in the refrigerator to fend off the fishy aromas that can start to develop after a few months in the pantry. ## Eggs We all know what a rotten egg smells like, right? Why else would it be a benchmark for describing so many other bad smells? But how many times have you actually smelled one: Once? Twice? Never? Probably never, at least according to [the impromptu poll I conducted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/kenjilopezalt/status/1244897822668816385?s=20). That’s because it takes a *long* time for eggs to go bad. How long? The Julian date printed on each carton (that’s the three-digit number ranging from 001 for Jan. 1 to 365 for Dec. 31) represents the date the eggs were packed, which, in most parts of the country, can be up to 30 days after the egg was actually laid. The sell-by stamp can be another 30 days after the pack date. That’s 60 full days! But odds are good that they’ll still be palatable for several weeks longer than that. ## Milk We’ve all accidentally poured some clumpy spoiled milk into our cereal bowls. It seems as if our milk is perfectly fine, until it’s suddenly not. How does it go bad overnight? The truth is, it doesn’t. From the moment you open a carton of milk, bacteria start to digest lactose (milk sugars), and produce acidic byproducts. Once its pH hits 4.6, that’s when casein (milk protein) clumps. Want longer-lasting milk? Look for “ultrahigh temperature,” or “UHT,” on the label. Milk in these cartons has been pasteurized at high temperatures (275 degrees Fahrenheit: hot enough to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but bacterial spores as well), then aseptically pumped and sealed into cartons. Most organic milk brands undergo UHT. (Bonus: In the blind taste tests I’ve conducted, most people preferred the sweeter flavor of UHT milk.) ## Baby Food And as for [baby food](https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/57-how-to-make-baby-food) — the only food with federally mandated use-by dating — that expiration date represents the latest date that the manufacturer can guarantee that the food contains not less of each nutrient than what is printed on the label, or, in the case of formula, that it can still pass through an ordinary rubber nipple. Rest assured that, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, you’ll still be able to eat the baby food and gain some nutritional benefit. A version of this article appears in print on April 15, 2020, Section D, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Expiration Dates You Should Follow. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) ## Related Content [More in Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - ![Wo Hop, which opened in Lower Manhattan in 1938, has included seasonal Lunar New Year T-shirts in its merchandise offerings since 2012.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv/20ST-WOHOP-TEE-cglv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) - ![The mango tiramisù at Jikoni in London, made with rum zabaglione and topped with a Thai basil-and-coconut sugar.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/t-magazine/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2/20tmag-ppt-slide-5E2A-copy2-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Courtesy of Jikoni - ![Ali Slagle’s one-pot Cheddar tomato mac.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-copy/AS-One-pot-tomato-cheddar-mac-mvgl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. - ![Learning to keep your produce the right way can help save money and reduce food waste.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/25/multimedia/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt/13FD-PRODUCE-STORAGE-topart-group-vertical-ghkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Editors’ Picks - ![There is scarcely a minute in the film’s two-hour-plus run time when the character of Cathy, played by Margot Robbie, is not noticeably red, whether from sexual pleasure, annoyance, grief, envy or shame. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch/19ST-WUTHERING-BLUSH-pwch-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Warner Bros. - ![Ciaran Hinds, left, with Lesley Manville in “Midwinter Break.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc/19cul-midwinterbreak-review1-ptkc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mark de Blok/Focus Features Trending in The Times - ![Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, on a tour of the Darnytsia power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was damaged in a Russian attack this month. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz/20dc-odessa-codel-pbvz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Robert Jimison/The New York Times - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/02/12/magazine/Mag-Hodgman-1/Mag-Hodgman-1-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/opinion/20van-tilburg/20van-tilburg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Lee Cohen - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/realestate/20WYG-Llandovery13/20WYG-Llandovery13-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) West Wales Properties - ![Punch with his plush companion at Ichikawa City Zoo.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/00xp-punch2-qwlg/00xp-punch2-qwlg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Ko Sasaki for The New York Times - ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times - ![The oil tanker Ocean Mariner at the port of Havana last month. Cuba is facing the United States’ first effective blockade since the Cuban Missile Crisis.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt/20int-cuba-fuel-whqt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Yamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - ![Leon Botstein has been leading Bard College since 1975.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq/19nat-epstein-bard-folo-01-hvmq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Arden Wray for The New York Times - ![Recent snow in Brooklyn. Is more on the way? Maybe.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf/20wea-northeaststorm-photo-mljf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Angelina Katsanis for The New York Times - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/opinion/french-newsletter-18/french-newsletter-18-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) George Douglas Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/expiration-dates.html#after-bottom)
Shard	84 (laksa)
Root Hash	4566504020376537684
Unparsed URL	com,nytimes!www,/article/expiration-dates.html s443