About & sources

Storage times on this site come from the FoodKeeper dataset published by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, developed with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute. The data is in the public domain.

Fridge and pantry times are for safety and quality. Freezer times are for best quality only: food kept frozen at 0°F (−18°C) stays safe indefinitely, but texture and flavor decline.

“From purchase” means from the day you bought it. “After opening” starts when the package is opened. “After thawing” applies to food thawed in the fridge.

These are guidelines, not hard rules. Food that was left out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C), should be thrown out whatever the chart says.

Affiliate links. Some pages include a small “Shop for this” box with links to Amazon. If you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. These links never change the storage times, which always come from USDA data.