Shelf Life and Expiry Lookup
How long food really lasts on the counter, in the fridge and in the freezer, plus batteries and household goods — and what the packet date means.
Figures follow standard US food-safety guidance for food stored properly. Dates on packages are mostly about quality, not safety — but when something smells off or shows mold, the calendar loses the argument. When in doubt, throw it out.
Most things have one home, not three options
Before any multiplier, the shape of the table says something. Of the 62 items here:
| Items | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| cannot sit out | 26 | 42% |
| cannot be frozen | 26 | 42% |
| have all three figures | 12 | 19% |
| shelf-stable and nothing else | 19 | 31% |
The three columns are not three options for each item. Most things belong to one, a few to two, and only a fifth of the list can genuinely go anywhere. "Where should I keep this" usually has one answer rather than a trade-off.
The freezer buys a median of fifteen times — and it is not uniform
Taking the 25 items with both a fridge and a freezer figure and comparing the midpoints of the stated ranges, the median gain is 15x. The spread around it is enormous:
| Item | Fridge | Freezer | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shrimp (raw) | 1–2 days | 6–18 months | 243x |
| Chicken (raw) | 1–2 days | 9–12 months | 213x |
| Fish, lean (cod, tilapia) | 1–2 days | 6–8 months | 142x |
| Ground beef (raw) | 1–2 days | 3–4 months | 71x |
| Steaks / roasts (raw) | 3–5 days | 6–12 months | 68x |
| Brown rice (dry) | 1 year | 18 months | 1.5x |
From 1.5x to 243x — over two orders of magnitude, and 7 of the 25 gain less than tenfold. The freezer is transformative for some things and nearly pointless for others.
| Category | Items | Median gain |
|---|---|---|
| Meat & fish | 8 | 71x |
| Leftovers | 6 | 22x |
| Fridge staples | 8 | 11x |
| Pantry | 3 | 2x |
The pattern is that the freezer helps most where the fridge helps least. Raw chicken gets one or two days in the fridge and nine to twelve months frozen; dry brown rice already gets a year, so freezing adds half as much again.
Which makes the rule short, and the exception interesting
If something has a fridge life measured in days, freezing is worth it and the gain is enormous. If it is measured in months, the freezer is a rounding error and the space is better spent on something with a two-day clock on it.
| Shortest fridge lives | Fridge | Also a top-five gainer? |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken (raw) | 1–2 days | yes |
| Ground beef (raw) | 1–2 days | yes |
| Fish, lean (cod, tilapia) | 1–2 days | yes |
| Fish, fatty (salmon) | 1–2 days | no |
| Shrimp (raw) | 1–2 days | yes |
4 of the five. I wrote "all five" first and the check said four, which is how the exception turned up — and it is worth more than the rule.
Fish, fatty (salmon) has the same one-to-two-day fridge life as lean fish and a fraction of the freezer life — 2–3 months against 6–8 months. It ranks 7th where lean cod ranks 3rd. That is not a data error: oil goes rancid at freezer temperatures in a way lean flesh does not, so the thing that makes salmon worth eating is also what limits how long it keeps frozen.
How to use
- Search for the item you are checking.
- Read the counter, fridge and freezer figures.
- Note whether the item is opened or unopened.
- Use judgement — the figures are guidance, not a guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 'best before' and 'use by'?
A great deal. 'Use by' is a safety date, and food should not be eaten after it. 'Best before' is a quality date — the food may be past its best but is generally still safe, and enormous quantities of perfectly good food are discarded because the two are confused.
What temperature should my fridge be?
At or below 4 degrees Celsius, which is 40 Fahrenheit, and the freezer at minus 18, which is 0 Fahrenheit. The zone between roughly 5 and 60 degrees Celsius is where bacteria multiply quickly, and a fridge running a few degrees warm shortens every figure in the table.
Does freezing food forever keep it safe?
Safe, yes, at a steady minus 18 — bacteria do not grow at that temperature. Quality is a different matter: texture, flavour and colour degrade through freezer burn and oxidation, which is what the freezer figures actually describe. Food past them is disappointing rather than dangerous.
Can I tell by smell whether food has gone off?
Sometimes, and not reliably. Spoilage bacteria produce smells and off flavours; several of the organisms that cause serious illness produce none at all. Food that smells fine can still be unsafe, which is why time and temperature guidance exists rather than relying on the nose.
How long can food sit out at room temperature?
Two hours as a general limit, and one hour above about 32 degrees Celsius. This applies to anything perishable, including cooked leftovers and anything containing egg or dairy. Refrigerating promptly matters more than the total time in the fridge afterwards.
Is this a substitute for food safety guidance?
No. These are typical figures for planning and for reducing waste, and they cannot account for how something was handled, stored or transported. Official food safety authorities publish current guidance, and anyone in a higher-risk group should follow it rather than a general table.
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