Does Pet food expire?
Does Pet food expire?
Dry food goes rancid faster than people expect, and the bag is part of the packaging for a reason.
Dry, unopened: 12-18 months. Opened: 6 weeks. Canned, unopened: 2-5 years
Dry pet food is coated in fat to make it palatable, and that fat oxidises once air reaches it — which is why an opened bag goes stale in weeks rather than months and why animals start refusing food that looks perfectly fine. Decanting kibble into a plastic bin is the common mistake: the bag has a fat barrier the bin does not, and old fat residue in the bin turns the next batch faster. Keep the food in its bag and put the bag in the bin.
How to store it
- Keep it in the original bag, inside the container.
- Wash and dry the container between bags.
How to tell it has gone
- A stale, crayon-like or paint-like smell. Animals notice before people do.
- Refusal to eat a food that was previously fine is often rancidity rather than fussiness.
"Use by" and "best before" are legally different. Use-by is a safety date and should be respected; best-before is about quality, and food is usually fine well past it. Where the two diverge matters, the page above says which applies.
Common questions
- Does Pet food expire?
- Dry food goes rancid faster than people expect, and the bag is part of the packaging for a reason.
- How long does Pet food last?
- Dry, unopened: 12-18 months. Opened: 6 weeks. Canned, unopened: 2-5 years
Related pages
- Does Eggs expire? Eggs stay usable for weeks past the date on the box, and the float test tells you about age rather than safety.
- Does Medicines expire? Most solid medicines keep much of their potency for years past the date — but a handful genuinely must not be used late.
- Does Petrol and diesel expire? Petrol goes stale within months, and ethanol blends go faster because they absorb water.
- Does Batteries expire? They self-discharge on the shelf, at very different rates by chemistry — and alkalines leak when flat.
- Does Wine expire? The great majority of wine is meant to be drunk within a year or two. Very little of it improves.
- Does Chocolate expire? It keeps far longer than the date. The white bloom on old chocolate is fat or sugar, not mould.
- Does Household bleach expire? It loses strength within months and eventually becomes salt water. This surprises most people.
- Does Paint expire? Unopened water-based paint keeps a few years; opened tins depend entirely on how well they were sealed.
- Does Honey expire? Does not expire
- Does Milk expire? Has a real expiry date
- Does Sunscreen expire? Unsafe or ineffective after the date
- Does Salt expire? Does not expire
- Does Frozen food expire? Indefinite if stored properly
- Does Canned food expire? Indefinite if stored properly
Sources
- US Food and Drug Administration — FDA (Public domain (US Government))