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Refrigerator Storage Chartreproduced from US Food & Drug Administration Since product dates aren’t a guide for safe use of a product,
consult this chart and follow these tips. These short but safe time limits will help keep refrigerated food 40° F (4°
C) from spoiling or becoming dangerous. - Purchase the product
before “sell-by” or expiration dates
- Follow handling
recommendations on product.
- Keep meat and poultry in its package
until just before using.
- If freezing meat and poultry in its
original package longer than 2 months, overwrap these packages with airtight heavy-duty foil, plastic wrap, or freezer paper,
or place the package inside a plastic bag.
Product | Refrigerator |
|---|
| Baby Food Liquids
| | | Expressed breast milk | 5
days | | Formula | 2 days | | Whole Milk | 5 days | | Reconstituted evaporated milk | 3-5 days |
| | Baby Food Solids
- opened or freshly made | | | Strained fruits and vegetables | 1 day | | Strained meats and eggs
| 1 day | | Meat / vegetable combinations | 1-2 days | | Homemade baby foods | 1-2 days |
|
|---|
| Eggs | |
|---|
| Fresh, in shell | 4 to 5 weeks | | Raw yolks, whites | 2 to 4 days | | Hardcooked | 1 week | | Liquid pasteurized eggs or egg substitutes, opened | 3 days | | Liquid pasteurized eggs or egg substitutes, unopened | 10 days | Mayonnaise, commercial
Refrigerate after opening | 2 months |
| Deli & Vacuum-Packed
Products | |
|---|
| Store-prepared (or homemade) egg, chicken, tuna, ham, macaroni salads | 3 to 5 days | | Pre-stuffed
pork & lamb chops, chicken breasts stuffed w/dressing | 1
day | | Store-cooked convenience meals | 3 to 4 days | | Commercial
brand vacuum-packed dinners with USDA seal, unopened | 2 weeks |
|
|
Raw Hamburger, Ground
& Stew Meat | |
|---|
| Hamburger & stew meats | 1 to 2 days | | Ground turkey, veal, pork, lamb | 1 to
2 days |
|
| |
|---|
| Corned beef in pouch with pickling juices | 5 to 7
days | | Ham, canned, labeled “Keep
Refrigerated,” unopened | 6 to 9 months | | Ham, canned, labeled “Keep Refrigerated,” opened
| 3 to 5 days | | Ham, fully cooked, whole | 7 days | | Ham, fully cooked, half | 3 to 5 days | | Ham, fully cooked,
slices | 3 to 4 days |
|
| Hot Dogs & Lunch
Meats | |
|---|
| Hot dogs, opened package | 1 week | | Hot dogs, unopened package | 2 weeks | | Lunch meats, opened package | 3 to 5 days | | Lunch meats, unopened package | 2 weeks
|
|
| |
|---|
| Vegetable or meat-added & mixtures of them | 3 to 4 days |
|
| |
|---|
| Bacon | 7 days | | Sausage, raw from pork,
beef, chicken or turkey | 1 to 2 days | | Smoked breakfast links, patties | 7 days | | Summer sausage labeled “Keep Refrigerated,” unopened | 3 months | | Summer sausage labeled
“Keep Refrigerated,” opened | 3 weeks |
|
Fresh Meat (Beef,
Veal, Lamb, & Pork) | |
|---|
| Steaks | 3 to 5 days | | Chops | 3 to 5 days | | Roasts | 3 to 5 days | | Variety meats (tongue, kidneys, liver, heart, chitterlings) | 1 to 2 days |
|
| |
|---|
| Cooked meat & meat dishes | 3 to 4
days | | Gravy & meat broth | 1 to 2 days |
|
| |
|---|
| Chicken or turkey, whole | 1 to 2 days
| | Chicken or turkey, parts | 1 to 2 days | | Giblets | 1 to 2 days |
|
| |
|---|
| Fried chicken | 3 to 4 days | | Cooked poultry dishes | 3 to 4 days | | Pieces, plain | 3 to 4 days | | Pieces covered with broth, gravy | 1 to 2 days | | Chicken nuggets, patties | 1 to 2 days
|
|
| |
|---|
| Lean fish | 1 to 2 days | | Fatty fish | 1 to 2 days | | Cooked fish | 3 to 4 days | | Smoked fish | 14 days | | Fresh shrimp, scallops, crawfish, squid, shucked clams,
mussels and oysters | 1 to 2 days | Canned seafood
Pantry, 5 years | after opening
3 to 4 days | | Live clams, mussels, crab, lobster and oysters | 2 to 3 days | | Cooked shellfish | 3 to 4 days |
| | Pizza | | | Pizza | 3 to 4 days |
| | Stuffing | | | Stuffing - cooked | 3 to 4 days |
| | Beverages | | | Juices in cartons, fruit drinks, punch | 3 weeks unopened;
7 to 10 days opened | | Coffee, canned
ground, opened | 1 month | | Coffee, gourmet | 3
weeks in paper bag;
1 week in sealed container | | Coffee, instant, opened | up to 1 month | | Diet Soda (and soft drinks in plastic bottles), unopened
| 3 months from "best by" date | | Wine (red, white), opened | 1 week corked |
| | Dairy | | | Butter | 1 to 3 months | | Buttermilk | 7 to
14 days | | Cheese, Hard (such as Cheddar,
Swiss) | 6 months, unopnened;
3 to 4 weeks, opened | | Cheese Soft (such as Brie, Bel Paese) | 1 week | | Cottage Cheese, Ricotta | 1 week | | Cream Cheese | 2 weeks | | Cream - whipped, ultrapasteurized | 1 month | | Cream - whipped, sweetented | 1 day | | Cream - aerosol can, real whipped cream | 3 to 4 weeks | | Cream - aerosol can, non-dairy topping | 3 months
| | Cream, Half and Half | 3 to 4 days | | Eggnog, commercial | 3 to 5 days | | Margarine | 4 to 5 months | | Milk | 7 days | | Pudding | package date;
2 days after opening
| | Sour cream | 7 to 21 days | | Yogurt | 7 to 14 days |
| | Dough | | | Tube cans of rolls, biscuits, pizza dough, etc. | Use-by-date | | Ready-to-bake pie crust | Use-by-date | | Cookie dough | Use-by-date, opened or unopened |
| | Miscellaneous | | | Frozen vegetables, opened (freezer) | 1 month | | Marshmallows, opened (pantry) | 3 months | | Mayonnaise, opened
| 2 to 3 months from "purchase by" date (After this
time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.) | | Olives, jarred (green with pimento), opened | 3 months | | Peanut butter, processed
| 6 months; refrigeratr after 3 months | | Soy Sauce, bottled, opened | 3 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.) |
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