How long expiration date

Staying It Safe. How to Avoid Waste. Freeze it. This even applies to milk, bread, cheese, and raw eggs crack and lightly beat them first.

Save that fruit. According to the NRDC, fruit is one of the most common items to be tossed prematurely. Fruits like bruised apples, overripe bananas, and citrus like oranges and clementines that have dried up can be used in various recipes.

Extend the life of produce. There are tricks for extending the shelf life of veggies, like wrapping broccoli in a damp paper towel, keeping celery in tinfoil instead of plastic, and putting asparagus in a glass with a half-inch of water.

Organize your fridge. Studies have shown that out-of-sight foods are often forgotten, so keep the most perishable items up front on the highest shelves. Certain foods last longest stored in the appropriate parts of your fridge, too. And if you really want to get proactive, keep a list of the items closest to expiration. Composting way-past-its-prime produce or packaged foods such as bread is a great way to recycle food without contributing to more waste.

Sharing is Nice. Dishes that contain seafood or uncooked ingredients, like mayonnaise, spoil faster; eat them within a couple of days. And don't let uneaten food linger on the counter for more than 2 hours. The longer a dish sits at room temperature, the more susceptible it is to bacteria growth. It's fine to put warm food in the refrigerator or freezer. But when handling a dish that will take many hours to cool fully-a huge stockpot full of stew, say-transfer it to several smaller containers first.

Meanwhile, leftover meals you freeze yourself should be tossed in 3 to 4 months. After that, they can become icy and start to take on the flavors of other foods in the freezer. Still concerned your food has gone bad? Consult our handy food storage guide, and find out how long almost everything lasts in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. You can even print out the version below and put it up on the fridge for future reference.

By Real Simple Editors June 16, Save FB Tweet More. Credit: Getty Images. Eat within 2 weeks unopened or 1 week opened when refrigerated; within 1 month when frozen.

Eat within 2 weeks unopened or 5 days opened when refrigerated; within 2 months when frozen. Eat within 6 months opened when refrigerated; can store in pantry for 1 year unopened.

Pin FB More. Eating healthy should still be delicious. Sign up for our daily newsletter for more great articles and tasty, healthy recipes. Another fermented food with high sodium content, pickles will keep in the fridge even opened.

All rights reserved. You can use it well past the expiration date, so long as it doesn't smell funny egg pasta can produce a rancid odour. Generally, dry pasta has a shelf life of two years, but you can typically push it to three.

If the leaves have wilted, just cut off those bits before use. When your greens are starting to decay though think mushy, slimy leaves , it's time to chuck. If the food gets freezer burn due to dehydration caused by oxidation it won't be very tasty. However, if you're feeling frugal, freezer burned food is still safe to eat. But as long as it doesn't smell funky the oils in the cookie may go bad over a long period of time and it doesn't crumble apart in your hand, then it's okay to eat.

For semisweet chocolate chips, they can be stored in the pantry for two to four months past the printed date, from six to eight months in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and from two to three years in the freezer. Milk chocolate will last up to eight months past the printed date in the freezer. Once it's been opened, both are good for three to four months in the pantry or six to eight months in the refrigerator past that date.

Natural peanut butter has a shorter shelf life—just two to three months in the pantry or three to six months in the fridge beyond its best before date.

It's perfectly normal for a natural separation of oil in your natural peanut butter.