I am making a cake for tomorrow. About 3 months ago I made a different cake and used a can of frosting that says it doesn’t expire until 2/13. I put the closed container in the fridge when I was done.
Is it still good to use until 2/13, or does frosting’s best if used by date of 2/13 only apply to if it is stored unopened on a shelf? I know with a lot of foods the ‘use by’ date is for the unopened package, not for a half full package in the fridge (spaghetti sauce may not expire for a year, but I think a half full bottle that has been opened and kept in the fridge is only good for a week from the moment you open it, etc).
It isn’t so much spending the $1.50 on a new can, I don’t want to go out and buy another one in this snowstorm.
The date has nothing to do with food quality. It’s a marketing tool to move product. Very few food “expiration dates” have anything to do with food safety.
For most food products the expiration date is for when food loses it’s quality and not for going bad as in rotting or getting full of bacteria. Manufacturers don’t want you pulling out a ten year old box of crackers and think that they’re bad crackers because they were made poorly. They want you to know it’s because you had them in the pantry for 10 years.
However, some food products’ expiration date does indicate that it starts becoming unsafe because of rot or bacteria such as milk and meat.
I’m with Kayaker. Because of the amount of sugar in the frosting, it’s damned near indestructible. As long as there is NO mold on the surface, go ahead and frost the cake and forget about it!
Same here. When I was a kid, there’s no way an open container of frosting would have lasted in the refrigerator for more than a few days. I’d have eaten it, but today would find it far too sweet.
