Pre-stuffed, uncooked pork chops, lamb chops, or chicken breast stuffed with dressing
1 day
Don't freeze well
Soup & Stews
Vegetable or meat added
3 to 4 days
2 to 3 months
Meat Leftovers
Cooked meat and meat casseroles
3 to 4 days
2 to 3 months
Gravy and meat broth
1 to 2 days
2 to 3 months
Fresh Poultry
Chicken or turkey, whole
1 to 2 days
1 year
Chicken or turkey, pieces
1 to 2 days
9 months
Giblets
1 to 2 days
3 to 4 months
Cooked Poultry
Fried chicken
3 to 4 days
4 months
Cooked poultry casseroles
3 to 4 days
4 to 6 months
Pieces, plain
3 to 4 days
4 months
Pieces covered with broth, gravy
1 to 2 days
6 months
Chicken nuggets, patties
1 to 2 days
1 to 3 months
Pizza
Pizza
3 to 4 days
1 to 2 months
Stuffing
Stuffing--cooked
3 to 4 days
1 month
Beverages, Fruit
Juices in cartons, fruit drinks, punch
3 weeks unopened 7 to 10 days opened
8 to 12 months
Dairy
Butter
1 to 3 months
6 to 9 months
Buttermilk
7 to 14 days
3 months
Cheese, Hard (such as Cheddar, Swiss)
6 months, unopened 3 to 4 weeks, opened
6 months
Cheese Soft (such as Brie, Bel Paese)
1 week
6 months
Cottage Cheese, Ricotta
1 week
Doesn't freeze well
Cream Cheese
2 weeks
Doesn't freeze well
Cream--Whipped, ultrapasteurized
1 month
Doesn't freeze
Cream--Whipped, Sweetened
1 day
1 to 2 months
Cream--Aerosol can, real whipped cream
3 to 4 weeks
Doesn't freeze
Cream--Aerosol can, non dairy topping
3 months
Doesn't freeze
Cream, Half and Half
3 to 4 days
4 months
Eggnog, commercial
3 to 5 days
6 months
Margarine
4 to 5 months
12 months
Milk
7 days
3 months
Pudding
package date; 2 days after opening
Doesn't freeze
Sour cream
7 to 21 days
Doesn't freeze
Yogurt
7 to 14 days
1 to 2 months
Dough
Tube cans of rolls, biscuits, pizza dough, etc.
Use-by-date
Don't freeze
Ready-to-bake pie crust
Use-by-date
2 months
Cookie dough
Use-by-date unopened or opened
2 months
Fish
Lean fish (cod, flounder, haddock, sole, etc.)
1 to 2 days
6 months
Fatty fish (bluefish, mackerel, salmon, etc.)
1 to 2 days
2 to 3 months
Cooked fish
3 to 4 days
4 to 6 months
Smoked fish
14 days or date on vacuum package
2 months in vacuum package
Shellfish
Shrimp, scallops, crayfish, squid, shucked clams, mussels and oysters
1 to 2 days
3 to 6 months
Live clams, mussels, crab, lobster and oysters
2 to 3 days
2 to 3 months
Cooked shellfish
3 to 4 days
3 months
Note: These short but safe time limits will help keep refrigerated foods from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. Because freezing keeps food safe indefinitely, recommended storage times are for quality only. Storage times are from date of purchase unless specified on chart. It is not important if a date expires after food is frozen.
Sources:
USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service
The Food Keeper, The Food Marketing Institute
U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service www.fsis.usda.gov
fightbac.org, the website of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE), is a consumer food safety resource. Get free downloads on safe food handling information from Fight BAC!®.
The Partnership for Food Safety Education saves lives and improves public health through research-based, actionable consumer food safety initiatives that reduce foodborne illness.
PFSE unites representatives from industry associations, professional societies in food science, nutrition and health consumer groups, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration in an important initiative to educate the public about preventing foodborne illness.
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