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Have you noticed these items have an expiration date on them?
Actually, they do not. This is a common misconception.
The ONLY packaged food sold with an expiration date on it is infant formula.
The date found on other packaged goods is a voluntary "Best Used By" date that primarily serves as a stock balancing aid, so stores can keep the oldest stock up front. And it's not a statement of safety at all, simply of quality.
Checking my pantry just now I found a bottle of salad dressing I bought before Thanksgiving but never opened. Its Best By date is still more than a year away.
Then once I've opened it, and kept it in the fridge, I would have no concern about using it 6 - 9 months or more later. That's a reasonable expectation, based on industry and government tables.
If you are not using up marinara sauce withing one week of opening it try buying a smaller size. Mayonaise and salad dressings last over a month for sure, if refrigerated. Refrigerated jams and jellies I am never concerned about. Have never gotten sick from food - and that is many decades.
Salsa and ketchup last quite a while (months), refrigerated, definitely the same w/ salad dressing, even have had some unopened yogurt and cottage cheese that go way beyond the 'use by' date that I've found in the back of the refrigerator but if they're bulging, forgetaboutit. An opened jar of tomato sauce maybe a week but if I thought I wouldnt be using it in the near future, would freeze the remaining in a plastic container (or even a leak-proof baggie).
Anything with vinegar, like salad dressing and pickles pretty much last almost indefinitely. The vinegar preserves it.
If marinara does not have any meat or dairy in it, that can keep quite a while as well, I have probably gone close to a month with tomato sauces open in my fridge just fine.
Dairy, other than hard cheeses, butter or yogurt seems to go off after about a week.
I agree, with one caveat. There are salad dressings that even the supermarket stores in a cold section that can go bad.
I have refrigerated peanut butter almost indefinitely. Peanut oil can go rancid, though, but I buy Skippy, and think a more 'natural' brand might not last as long.
It probably also depends on the temperature of your fridge. Mine will actually freeze foods in the back of the bottom shelf so bread and margarine usually go there.
Salsa and ketchup last quite a while (months), refrigerated, definitely the same w/ salad dressing, even have had some unopened yogurt and cottage cheese that go way beyond the 'use by' date that I've found in the back of the refrigerator but if they're bulging, forgetaboutit. An opened jar of tomato sauce maybe a week but if I thought I wouldnt be using it in the near future, would freeze the remaining in a plastic container (or even a leak-proof baggie).
Tomato sauce has a high acidic content, as does vinegar. I think it, so long as no protein is added, is safe for a longer time.
Mayonaise and salad dressings last over a month for sure, if refrigerated.
Guess what... something I recently learned in another thread here... Hellman's and other major brand mayonnaise varieties are shelf stable today, even after opening. IOW, you don't have to refrigerate it!
I know, kind of a mind blower, isn't it? But you can check it out on their web sites.
My grandmother used to make grape jelly w/ a layer of wax over it, I guess to help preserve it, I dont think it's done today (but I've never made any homemade jelly other than a strange recipe that I vaguely recall using tomatoes and strawberry jello and I think it tasted like strawberry jelly (wouldnt dare keep it too long or not refrigerate it though, lol)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerania
My grandmother used to take a few spoons full of jelly off of the top and eat the rest.
Salsa and ketchup last quite a while (months), refrigerated.
Ketchup yes, because it has so much vinegar, but salsa? I don't buy salsa but if it goes months without going bad (because of preservatives) that's pretty gross. I make salsa all the time and it's good for about 5-10 days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maggie2101
Of all the things you mentioned olives, marinara, sour cream, and cottage cheese are the only items I wouldn't keep for months or even longer.
Olives are fermented (which produces lactic acid) and/or cured with lye or brine, some are packed in vinegar (Kalamatas). As long as they stay submerged in the brine they should stay good for at least 6 months, and most likely far longer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD
Actually, they do not. This is a common misconception.
The ONLY packaged food sold with an expiration date on it is infant formula.
The date found on other packaged goods is a voluntary "Best Used By" date that primarily serves as a stock balancing aid, so stores can keep the oldest stock up front. And it's not a statement of safety at all, simply of quality.
This is true. These "best by" and "sell by" dates are also extremely conservative, no doubt in part to provide a large safety factor to prevent litigation and as an added bonus to increase sales by encouraging people to throw away perfectly good food so that they can go buy more.
As far as salad dressing goes, it depends on what it's made with. Most commercial varieties will last a very long time because of vinegar and/or preservatives, but there are exceptions, e.g. yogurt-based salad dressings.
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