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How Long Does Food Last in the Fridge After Opening?

By Papyrus Digital · Updated · 8 min read

Most cooked leftovers last 3 to 4 days in a fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below, according to the USDA. Opened deli meat lasts 3 to 5 days, raw chicken and ground meat 1 to 2 days, eggs in their shell 3 to 5 weeks, and opened hard cheese 3 to 4 weeks. When in doubt, throw it out.

Those times assume the food went into the fridge promptly and stayed cold. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency is stricter on leftovers: eat them within 48 hours. The tables below give the official US times, and the sections after them cover the UK rules, date labels and fridge temperature.

How long does food last in the fridge?

These times come from the USDA's cold food storage chart on FoodSafety.gov and the USDA FoodKeeper data, and assume a fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below. If a package says "once opened, use within X days", follow the package.

Dairy and eggs

Food In the fridge
Milk, regular pasteurized Follow the date on the carton
Milk, ultra-pasteurized, opened 7 to 10 days
Shelf-stable (UHT) milk, opened 5 to 7 days
Lactose-free milk, opened 1 week
Soy, almond, rice or coconut milk (refrigerated cartons), opened 7 to 10 days
Eggs, raw in the shell 3 to 5 weeks
Hard-boiled eggs 1 week
Hard cheese (cheddar, Swiss, block parmesan), opened 3 to 4 weeks
Soft cheese (brie, goat) 1 to 2 weeks
Cottage cheese, opened 1 week
Yogurt 1 to 2 weeks

Meat, fish and leftovers

Food In the fridge
Cooked leftovers with meat or poultry, soups, stews, pizza 3 to 4 days
Cooked rice, vegetables or potatoes 3 to 4 days
Egg, chicken, tuna, ham or macaroni salad 3 to 4 days
Deli meat, opened package or sliced at the counter 3 to 5 days
Deli meat, unopened package 2 weeks
Hot dogs, opened package 1 week
Bacon 1 week
Raw chicken or turkey, whole or pieces 1 to 2 days
Raw ground meat or ground poultry 1 to 2 days
Raw steaks, chops and roasts 3 to 5 days
Fresh fish 1 to 3 days
Fresh shrimp 3 to 5 days

Opened jars, sauces and condiments

Food In the fridge after opening
Jarred tomato pasta or pizza sauce 3 to 5 days
Jarred pesto 3 days
Commercial hummus 7 days
Jarred salsa 1 month
Soy or teriyaki sauce 1 month
Bottled salad dressing 1 to 3 months
Mayonnaise 2 months
Ketchup, cocktail or chili sauce 6 months
Jam, jelly and preserves 6 to 12 months
Mustard 1 year

Why are UK leftover times shorter?

UK and US agencies give different numbers, and both are official. The Food Standards Agency's chilling guidance says:

  • Keep your fridge between 0 and 5°C, and check it with a fridge thermometer once a week.
  • Cool cooked food and put it in the fridge within one to two hours.
  • Eat leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them if that will not be possible.

The USDA's leftovers guidance allows 3 to 4 days. Follow the agency where you live. If you are unsure which applies, the shorter limit is the safe one.

What do "use by", "best before" and "sell by" mean?

The same words mean different things in different countries.

United States. According to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), date labels are not required by federal law, except on infant formula. The common phrases mean:

  • Best if Used By/Before: when the product will have its best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
  • Sell-By: how long the store should display the product, for inventory. It is not a safety date.
  • Use-By: the last date recommended for use at peak quality. It is not a safety date, except on infant formula.

FSIS says that if the date passes at home, food should still be safe if handled properly until signs of spoilage appear. Infant formula is the exception: follow its use-by date.

United Kingdom. The FSA's guidance on GOV.UK treats the two dates differently:

  • Use by is about safety. Eating food after the use-by date could make you ill. You can still eat it later if you froze or cooked it on or before that date; cooked food should then be cooled, kept in the fridge and eaten within 48 hours.
  • Best before is about quality. After that date the food is usually safe but may not be at its best, and you can use sight, smell and taste to judge it.

European Union. The European Commission uses the same split: "use by" is an indicator of safety, and "best before" an indicator of quality.

In practice: in the UK and EU, treat "use by" as a hard deadline. In the US, the printed date is mostly about quality, so the storage time after opening matters more.

What temperature should your fridge be?

  • US: 40°F (4°C) or below, with the freezer at 0°F (-18°C) or below, according to FoodSafety.gov. FSIS recommends an appliance thermometer if your fridge has no built-in one.
  • UK: between 0 and 5°C, checked weekly (FSA).

Power cuts change the times. FSIS says foods held above 40°F for more than 2 hours should not be eaten, and its emergency guidance lists what to discard if the fridge has been without power for more than 4 hours, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, deli meat, leftovers, milk, yogurt and soft cheese.

Can you tell if food has gone bad by smelling it?

Not reliably. FSIS explains that two kinds of bacteria are at work. Spoilage bacteria make food smell, taste and feel off. The bacteria that cause food poisoning "do not generally affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food," so food can seem fine and still be unsafe.

That is why the time limits matter more than a sniff test. FSIS puts it simply: never taste food to decide whether it is safe, and when in doubt, throw it out.

How do you keep track of what is open?

Opened food has a short, invisible deadline that starts the moment the lid comes off. A few habits make that deadline visible:

  1. Write the opening date on the lid or packet with a marker.
  2. Keep short-life food at the front: opened deli meat, leftovers, raw meat and fish.
  3. Read the pack for "once opened, use within" instructions and follow them over any general chart.
  4. Freeze what you will not finish in time. FoodSafety.gov notes that food kept frozen at 0°F (-18°C) or below stays safe indefinitely; freezer times are for quality only. In the UK, you can freeze food right up to its use-by date.
  5. Set a reminder for anything that lasts longer than a few days. Jars and cheese last weeks, which is long enough for them to drift to the back of the fridge.

Food is the fastest-moving part of a household's dates. For how far ahead each kind of reminder should land, see choosing reminder lead times; for the slower dates, such as documents and home safety checks, see the family admin checklist. The wider system is in how to stop forgetting important dates.

How Deadlinr helps

Deadlinr has Groceries and Food & Dining categories, and you can scan a product's barcode to add it. Each item gets reminders 7 days, 3 days and 1 day before its date and on the day, at 9:00 AM, and you can change those per category. For short-life food, the day-before and on-the-day reminders do most of the work; for jars that last months, the earlier ones give you time to use them up. The Home and Lock Screen widget shows what is coming up next. See the food expiry tracker for more.

Sources

Questions? Answered.

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How long can cooked food sit out before it goes in the fridge?

The USDA says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour if the temperature is above 90°F (32°C), and to discard food left out longer. The UK Food Standards Agency advises putting cooled food in the fridge within one to two hours.

Is food safe to eat after the best before date?

Usually, if it has been stored properly, because best before dates are about quality rather than safety. In the UK and EU, a use by date is about safety, so do not eat food after it unless it was frozen or cooked before that date.

How long does an opened jar of pasta sauce last in the fridge?

The USDA FoodKeeper gives 3 to 5 days for opened jarred tomato-based pasta or pizza sauce kept in the fridge.

What temperature should my fridge be?

US agencies recommend 40°F (4°C) or below. The UK Food Standards Agency recommends between 0 and 5°C and suggests checking it with a fridge thermometer once a week.

Does freezing food make it last longer?

Yes. FoodSafety.gov says food kept frozen at 0°F (-18°C) or below stays safe indefinitely, and freezer times are for quality only. In the UK you can freeze food up to its use by date and should use it within 24 hours of defrosting.

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