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[Infographic] What’s that smell? How long food really lasts in the fridge

December 16, 2012
By Melissa Valliant

Nobody likes guessing whether or not that week-and-a-half-old Brie is still safe to eat. And now you don’t have to. Print out this guide to storage times for refrigerated and frozen food and stick it on your fridge.

 

Illustration: Liam Gooley

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Comments (7)
Helen19
February 15th, 2012 at 8:01 pm

I printed this and posted it on my fridge AFTER I cleaned out all my expired food. Mayo – 2 months – who knew!

Cynthia
February 20th, 2012 at 11:09 am

I don’t totally agree with this. Part of the problem is people don’t keep their frig cold enough. Things last longer when they are kept cold. I think many of these dates are for optimum freshness for taste, not necessarily – you’ll get sick if you eat it.- Like Bacon in the frig for only 7 days. If the package is opened yes, but unopened much, much longer. The whole reason they smoked Bacon originally was to keep it without refrigeration for long periods, so one week doesn’t even make sense. Have kept mayo for over 2 months and never had a problem. Yet I don’t think Lunch meats last 1 to 2 weeks. If opened or sliced fresh from the deli I would say 3-4 days.

Melissa Valliant
February 20th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

Cynthia: Thanks for the comment. Our sources for this infographic are listed at the bottom and include the USDA, among others. We’re not saying that leaving these foods longer than these times would result in sickness, just that these are the accepted windows for optimal freshness. If you have any tips for storing food that we should know, we would love to share with our readers!

Lynn Tao
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:23 pm

I love love love the info given here – regardless of specific accuracy, this is a great list of guidelines!

However, I am humbly requesting that this be re-done. I’d love to pin this on to Pinterest but at its current state it looks really sad. Like my fridge is full of dead rotting food or something! Can we at least get some colors on this food? A good infographic has pretty AND useful graphics. Sorry to criticize but I really want to share this on all my social networks but as is it’s just not stylish enough. :)

verna
February 23rd, 2012 at 2:34 pm

For eggs. Is that from the day they are put in the fridge or from the sell by date on the carton.

paula klausner
March 8th, 2012 at 1:09 pm

This is helpful, but where’s the poultry (chicken, turkey, etc) information?

butterbean carpenter
December 22nd, 2012 at 7:39 pm

TO TELL THE TRUTH FOOD WILL LAST A LOT LONGER THAN THIS CHART SAYS!! WE DUMPSTER-DIVE AT OUR LOCAL GROCERS AND GET EVERYTHING FROM FRESH MEAT, EGGS, MILK, ICE CREAM, COTTAGE CHEESE, PRODUCE & VEGETABLES, PRE-PACKAGED PRE-COOKED FOODS, ETC..!!!
PROBABLY SAVE AT LEAST 50-60% OF OUR GROCERY COSTS!!

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