Expired Food: Spices
1-2 months past the expiration date
By expired foods, we’re also talking about salt, white flour, baking soda and powder, and sugar. Since there isn’t moisture in dry ingredients, they’re less sensitive to bacterial growth in general.
Salt especially never goes bad because it can’t support bacterial growth and is often used as a preservative since it’s good at preventing that growth.
You obviously shouldn’t eat any dry ingredients with an unnatural smell or signs of a pest infestation. And while Spices never actually go “off,” they DO lose their potency and flavor over time, so there isn’t much point in using old spices in your cooking.
Generally, whole spices stay fresh for around four years, ground spices for 3-4 years, and dried and leafy herbs for about a year. An easy way to check? Sniff your stock. If you can’t smell them, you won’t be able to taste them.
2 Responses
This was a great article. Learned a lot about keeping food. Mostly common sense but, still good to know for sure.
Wow! This article was EXCELLENT! I intend to type summary and send to others that I know would feel the same way. Thank you.