Everyone goes to the grocery store, comes home with bags overflowing with the wonderful assortment of delicious foods we have bought, and then we proceed to put our variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products in the safety of the refrigerator. But just how long can we safely store food in the refrigerator and still maintain the level of freshness we would like? Obviously a large part of this depends on how fresh the food is when we purchase it, so the first step to fresher food is to buy only the freshest. Storage is also dependent on temperature; the refrigerator should stay at a temperature between 34 and 40 degrees F, any higher and foods will spoil rapidly.
The following food storage times are from the Office of Environmental Health; hopefully they are useful and allow you to enjoy a healthier diet while saving money by avoiding food waste:
Meat Raw ground meat: 1-2 days. Steaks: 2-5 days. Chops: 2-5 days. Fresh pork: 3 days. Raw roasts: 1-2 days. Smoked ham: 1 week. Stew meat: 1-2 days. Raw livers, raw heart, raw kidneys and other variety meats: 1-2 days. Broiled, fried or roasted meat and gravies made with meat stock: 2-3 days. Frozen packaged meats: 2-3 days. Cold cuts, opened: 3-5 days. Unopened, 4-7 days. Meat pies, cooked stews, casseroles containing meat, meat salads: 2-3 days. Sliced bacon, unopened: 2 weeks. Opened: 5-7 days.
Fish and Seafood Frozen fish: use immediately. Cooked fish: 3-4 days. Fresh fish: 1-2 days. Smoked salmon, etc: 1-2 days. Lox: 3 days. Kippered cod, smoked whiting: 6-7 days. Fish salads and sandwich fillings: 1 day. Bisques, broth, chowders, stews: 1-2 days. Shrimp, fresh (uncooked): 1 day. Crab, in shell: 2 days. Scallops: 1 day. Lobster tails, in shell: 2 days. Clams, in shell: 2 days. Shucked: 1 day. Oysters: 1 day. Dried or pickled fish: 1 week.
Poultry Poultry, frozen: 2 days after defrosting. Fresh whole poultry: 1-2 days. Fresh poultry cut in pieces: 1-2 days. Cooked poultry: 2-3 days. Duck: 2 days. Poultry stuffing: 1 day. Poultry Salads: 1 day. Poultry pies, stews, creamed dishes, and gravies made with poultry stock: 1 day.
Dairy Milk, homogenized or skimmed: 1 week. Pasteurized fresh whole or skimmed milk, sweet cream, flavored milk drinks: 10-14 days from sell by date on carton. Sour cream, buttermilk, cultured milk: 2 weeks. Sweetened & condensed milk (opened): 1 week. Evaporated milk (opened): 1 week. Whipped topping, aerosol can: 3 months. Prepared from mix: 3 days. Frozen: 2 weeks (once thawed). Yogurt: 7-10 days. Soft custards, milk puddings, cream and custard fillings for cakes and pies: 5-6 days. Natural hard cheese, semi-hard cheese, processed cheeses (cheddar, swiss, parmesan, bleu, etc.): 1 month. Mold on the outside of a cheese block may be trimmed off. Soft cheeses (cream, cottage, limburger, camembert): 1 week. Cheese spreads: 1 month.
Fruit Grapes: 3-5 days. Peaches, apricots, pears, avocados, nectarines, plums: 3-5 days. Melons: 1 week. Apples: 1 month. Citrus: 2 weeks. Berries, cherries: 1-2 days. Cranberries: 1 week. Pineapples, whole: 1 week. Cut: 2-3 days.
Vegetables Brussels sprouts, broccoli, dried peas, summer squash: 3-5 days. Cabbage, carrots, radishes, celery, parsnips, beets: 1-2 weeks. Head of lettuce (unwashed): 5-7 days. Washed: 3-5 days. Bib lettuce: 1-2 days. Mustard greens, spinach, kale, beet turnip, chard, collard: 3-5 days. Asparagus: 1-2 days. Peppers, cucumbers: 1 week. Tomatoes: 1-2 days. Cauliflower, eggplants, snap beans: 1 week. Corn, in husk: 1-2 days. Mushrooms: 1-2 days. Beans, lima, green, waxed: 3-5 days. Rhubarb: 3-5 days.
If you'd like to store food in the refrigerator for even longer, try an exciting new product called eggstrafresh®. Moisture loss and oxidation foster nasty odors, mold and bacteria, resulting in rapid food spoilage. eggstrafresh® helps provide increased freshness and flavor for all of your foods by reducing oxidation and retaining moisture. It also improves the taste, texture and natural color of all foods in the refrigerator as well as in the pantry!
by Mark Gold
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