Can You Eat Hard Cheese After Its Expiration Date? (2024)

FAQs

Can You Eat Hard Cheese After Its Expiration Date? ›

So long as you still like the taste, the cheese is fine. Just be aware that the flavor will intensify on most cheeses over time. If the small bite of cheese makes your tongue, lips or cheek tingle or burn, the cheese is bad (even if it passed the look and smell tests).

Hard cheeses stay safe to eat because of their low moisture content, which prevents bacteria from spreading as quickly. For example, Parmesan and pecorino have a shelf life of up to six months, and can stay good for two months past the expiration date.

In the worst instances, spoiled cheese can cause severe food poisoning. Consuming spoiled cheese will mostly affect your digestive system, causing you to experience gastrointestinal discomfort and loose stools. In severe cases, these symptoms may be accompanied by fever and chills.

Expired cheese, including Kraft Singles, may not always exhibit signs of spoilage, but this does not guarantee it is safe to eat. Dairy products can deteriorate in quality and may harbor harmful bacteria even if the package remains unopened.

If cheese smells bad with ammonia-like or sour odor, then it may be a good idea to throw it out. Unless you're very familiar with the smell of fresh cheese, regardless of the type, make sure to smell it when you first open the packaging. This will help you recall its original smell and identify spoiled cheese later on.

Unopened blocks of hard cheese last 6 months in the fridge (3). Soft cheeses last 1–2 weeks in the fridge after opening while most hard cheeses last 3–4. Hard cheeses generally don't require refrigeration but keep longer in the fridge.

Check your hard cheeses for signs of spoilage like a bad smell, slimy surface, dark spots, dryness, cracks or mold - if none of these signs apply, wrap them back up and put them back in the refrigerator.

Hard cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan can be stored in the refrigerator six months before opening the package and three to four weeks after opening. It can also be frozen six months. Processed cheese slices don't freeze well but can be kept in the refrigerator one to two months.

Canned goods and shelf-stable foods like boxed macaroni-and-cheese have greater latitude than their perishable cousins. Unopened, they can be eaten a year or two past their expiration dates, although there have been more extreme examples.

Can you use unopened mozzarella past the expiration date? ›

Unopened mozzarella can be expected to last beyond its 'sell by' date if kept refrigerated, typically staying fresh for 2 to 3 weeks for factory-sealed blocks and 4 to 6 weeks for refrigerated fresh mozzarella balls.

Cheese generally lasts between one to two weeks when stored in ordinary bags and containers, but using a vacuum sealer extends that length between four and eight months.

If you've ever pre-shredded a block of cheese and stuck it in a bag for future use, it tends to stick together and is not as easy to use in the shredded form. It also will go bad more quickly due to the extra surface area exposure to air and potential moisture build up, which can cause mold, fungus, and yeast to form.

So long as you still like the taste, the cheese is fine. Just be aware that the flavor will intensify on most cheeses over time. If the small bite of cheese makes your tongue, lips or cheek tingle or burn, the cheese is bad (even if it passed the look and smell tests).

Sprinkle dried cheese on any recipe that calls for cheese or add to storage foods that need the oomph only cheese can provide. Powdered cheese has a long shelf life of 10-15 years.

How long does cheese last in the freezer? Freezing cheese stops bacterial growth completely. Frozen cheeses should be used within six months of freezing and then used within two to three days of thawing.