# Does almond butter expire?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 24, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710 "2012-03-24T20:30:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710/1 "2012-03-24T20:30:20Z")

</div>

I was looking for my little jar of Marmite the other day and couldn’t find it. ‘Someone’ has a habit of tossing things that are well beyond their expiry date. She says she doesn’t remember throwing it out, but I’ve been warned. (I told her Vegemite and Marmite _never_ expire!)

That’s when she mentioned having tossed an unopened jar of almond butter that was in the cupboard. For various reasons (one of which is that I tend to buy _large_ jars of peanut butter), I never got to eating it. It was past its ‘best by’ date by about a year, so it got thrown away. (I did turn it occasionally to allow the oil to circulate.)

Does almond butter expire?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710/2 "2012-03-24T20:32:33Z")

</div>

If it’s anything like peanut butter, it should be good well beyond it’s legally-mandated “Use by” or “Best by” date. If it’s bad, it would probably be rancid, and you could easily tell.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710/3 "2012-03-26T00:24:40Z")

</div>

I’ve found almond butter will go rancid in hot weather, much faster than peanut butter (but maybe I was just unlucky), so I would be careful tasting a year-old jar.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710/4 "2012-03-26T01:13:00Z")

</div>

Almond butter will last a long time if stored in a cool place. But I learned the hard way not to store it in cupboard next to the oven.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-almond-butter-expire/616710/5 "2012-03-26T01:52:19Z")

</div>

As noted above, almond butter can go rancid. On the other hand, it sounds like you never opened it, so a factory-sealed jar ought to last nearly forever. Once it’s open and the air gets in, it won’t last long, even in the fridge.