# Peanut butter expiration **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 5, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003 "2022-09-05T15:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/1 "2022-09-05T15:48:05Z")
I just got my favorite smuckers natural. It seemed unusually stiff. I looked at the exp date and its Feb 2022. Eat, or no? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/2 "2022-09-05T15:51:09Z")
I walked there, in a slight rain. They said I can return it but damn. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/3 "2022-09-05T15:57:41Z")
As long as the container was sealed, it should be fine. It likely doesn’t have an “expiration date” but rather a “best by” date, meaning while it’s still perfectly safe to eat the quality may have declined. But if it was unopened and stored properly, even then I wouldn’t expect much of a drop off. Rancidity requires exposure to oxygen. So feel free to give it a taste and decide whether it’s worth the hassle of a return. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/4 "2022-09-05T16:09:02Z")
It didn’t smell perfectly fresh. I really need to read best by dates in the future. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/5 "2022-09-05T17:45:46Z")
If you have any doubts, take it back. It may not make you sick, but it’s at the end of its shelf life and you deserve better. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/6 "2022-09-06T16:57:52Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I looked at the exp date Ahhh, there’s your mistake. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/7 "2022-09-06T17:27:20Z")
I only looked because it seemed unusually stiff and unstirrable. And it was Best by date. It wasn’t best anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/8 "2022-09-06T23:32:42Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > … it’s at the end of its shelf life and you deserve better. For a moment there I thought I’d walked in on a dating thread. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/9 "2022-09-06T23:56:38Z")
im told that if you open Commerical PB and the oils at the top it’s usually bad …in fact that’s what usually goes bad in peanut butter is the agents/oils used to make it spreadable gets rancid … ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/10 "2022-09-06T23:58:04Z")
No, thats how Smuckers Natural rolls. I prefer it as theres no sugar. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/11 "2022-09-07T00:22:31Z")
Commercial PB has, among other chemicals. emulsifiers (similar to soap) in it to keep the oils from separating. Eventually, if left for long enough, they’ll separate anyway. But it can do that without going rancid, since rancidity is caused by reaction with oxygen. Of course, if it’s been sitting around long enough to separate, chances are the seal on the jar has broken down and air has gotten to the PB anyway. Real PB (defined as that without those chemicals) is just ground up peanuts. Maybe with salt, but nothing else. It always separates no matter what. As said above, unless it’s rancid, it’ll still be good to eat. Try using a powered mixer to stir it up if it’s too hard to do by hand. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/12 "2022-09-07T00:31:34Z")
I returned it today and gor a fresh jar at Meijers. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/13 "2022-09-07T07:04:49Z")
Nut butters gone stiff? Take off the lid and give the jar 30 seconds in the microwave (or a few minutes in a pan of hot water), voila, easy to stir and reconstitute. (I’d keep the outdated jar, I’ve eaten much older peanut butter but you returned it so too late.) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/14 "2022-09-07T11:57:00Z")
Yes. I recently finished a jar that was over a year past it’s best before date. And apart from tasting a bit … stale, it was ok. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/15 "2022-09-07T12:06:46Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > It always separates no matter what. After I get mine all stirred up, I keep it in the fridge - no separation! And it’s pretty easy to smoosh it against the side of the jar to make it easily spreadable. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/16 "2022-09-07T12:12:49Z")
I find the “unusually stiff” somewhat disturbing. Sealed jar or no, evidence would indicate that it has been slowly drying out, which means it is past its peak or even stale. Take it back. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-expiration/971003/17 "2022-09-07T18:26:08Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > It always separates no matter what. > > After I get mine all stirred up, I keep it in the fridge - no separation! Well, OK, reducing the temperature will slow the separation considerably. It’s not something I need to do, since I eat lots of PB and an open jar only separates a little bit between uses. I just stir it up a bit and it’s good.