Food storage guide: how long does food really last?
Milk, bread, eggs and pantry staples all keep for different lengths once opened — a single printed date can't cover every case. The tables below give fridge, freezer and pantry times for common foods, each range sourced to a named food-safety authority, alongside New Zealand's own rules for date labels and leftovers.
Storage questions come in two shapes — “what does the label promise?” and “the label is gone, how long has this got?” — and a useful guide has to answer both. New Zealand’s rules cover the first; the per-food tables below cover the second.
What do NZ date labels actually promise?
New Zealand law splits date labels by purpose: a use-by date is a safety line — eating past it is a risk, selling past it is illegal — while a best-before date only promises quality, and bread with a shelf life under seven days may carry a simple baked-on date instead. The distinctions carry real money: quality dates invite judgement, safety dates do not. The full explainer on use-by versus best-before covers each label’s rules.
How long does food keep in the fridge and freezer?
Cold slows spoilage; freezing pauses it. The ranges below come from the two standing United States references — FoodSafety.gov’s cold food storage chart and the FDA’s refrigerator and freezer chart — because New Zealand Food Safety publishes principles rather than per-food day counts. Fridge times assume 4°C or colder; freezer times are quality windows, not safety limits. Rows without a confident public source are left out rather than guessed.
| Food | Fridge | Freezer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh eggs, in shell | 4–5 weeks | Don’t freeze in shell | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
| Milk | 1 week | — | FDA refrigerator & freezer storage chart |
| Yoghurt | 1–2 weeks | — | FDA refrigerator & freezer storage chart |
| Mince and stew meat, raw | 1–2 days | 3–4 months | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
| Bacon | 7 days | 1 month | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
| Cooked meat or poultry leftovers | 3–4 days | 2–6 months | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
| Soups and stews | 3–4 days | 2–3 months | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
| Prepared salads (egg, chicken, tuna, ham, macaroni) | 3–4 days | Don’t freeze well | FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart |
Chart references: the FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart and the FDA refrigerator & freezer storage chart, both accessed August 2026.
How long do leftovers keep in New Zealand?
New Zealand Food Safety’s leftover rules run shorter than the imported ones, and the local rules win in a New Zealand kitchen: refrigerate leftovers within two hours of cooking, eat reheated-hot leftovers within four days, and give only two days to rice dishes and to anything eaten cold, like pasta or potato salad. The reasoning — including why rice is the strict case — is unpacked in how long leftovers really last.
How long do pantry staples keep?
Dry and canned staples measure their lives in months and years, with one twist: most dates on them are best-before dates, so the numbers below describe peak quality, not a safety cliff. The United States Department of Agriculture’s FoodKeeper data and shelf-stable food guidance supply the ranges. Once opened, air and moisture shorten everything — decant open packets into sealed containers and the pantry column stretches.
| Food | Pantry | Source |
|---|---|---|
| White rice, uncooked | 2 years unopened; 1 year opened | USDA FoodKeeper |
| Dried pasta | About 2 years | USDA FoodKeeper |
| White flour | 6–12 months unopened; 6–8 months opened | USDA FoodKeeper |
| Canned goods (vegetables, soups, meats) | 2–5 years, stored cool and dry | USDA FSIS shelf-stable food guidance |
Pantry references: the USDA FoodKeeper database and USDA FSIS shelf-stable food safety guidance, both accessed August 2026.
Does frozen food go bad?
Frozen food kept at −18°C stays safe indefinitely — the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is unambiguous on the point. Freezer ranges in any chart, including the tables here, describe when texture and flavour start declining, not when food becomes dangerous. A freezer-burnt chop is a quality casualty, safe to eat and better in a slow-cooked dish than in the bin.
Where do these numbers come from?
The strongest existing reference is the USDA’s FoodKeeper — built with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute — and comparison is fair: FoodKeeper wins on breadth, with hundreds of foods, while the guide here trades breadth for a New Zealand frame. Local date-label law, New Zealand Food Safety’s leftover rules and NZ-relevant staples sit beside the imported ranges, every row names a source, and unsourced rows are omitted.
Can an app watch the dates for you?
Marsonya reads printed dates with the phone camera, files whether each was a use-by, best-before or baked-on mark, and reminds before the deadline arrives — urgently for safety dates, gently for quality dates. Items without a printed date, leftovers included, can be logged by name with a chosen date. The guide to reducing food waste at home shows where date-watching fits among the other habits.