# Refrigerate after opening **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461 "2004-10-27T16:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/1 "2004-10-27T16:06:47Z")
Why does my jar of Kosher dills have “refrigerate after opening” on the label? They’re _pickled_ for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/2 "2004-10-27T16:37:17Z")
The brine they’re sold in may not have enough salt or acid in it to suppress bacterial or fungal growth. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/3 "2004-10-27T18:03:08Z")
Refrigerating also keeps them nice and crisp. Mmmm…cold dill pickles… ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/4 "2004-10-27T18:21:03Z")
‘Refrigerate after opening’ labels mean something about the safety of the food if it’s not kept cold. If it was just to make them crunchy, it’d say ‘For an even crisper pickle, store your \ Kosher Dills in the refrigerator’. Probably it’s because the brine used to make Kosher pickles won’t prevent bacteria from growing at room temperature. The brine is water saturated with NaCl; it’s very salty, but some bacteria could still grow in this environment. One might also wonder why pickles are called Kosher, since pickles with pork or pickles with beef and cheese would be nasty and there are no animal ingredients, not even byproducts like gelatin or rennet. It’s apparently just because these pickles were associated with delis that served Kosher foods. Like a lot of foods that don’t contain animal ingredients, Kosher pickles might have a certification mark (Kosher parve, meaning the food contains neither meat nor dairy products) anyway because of the number of processed foods that contain animal-derived products that aren’t immediately evident. Kosher salt, incidentally, is so named because it is especially suitable for salting meats in a Kosher fashion (so as to remove all traces of blood). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/5 "2004-10-27T18:37:18Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > since pickles with pork or pickles with beef … would be nasty Can I just assume that you have never had Texas BBQ? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/6 "2004-10-27T19:19:03Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > One might also wonder why pickles are called Kosher, since pickles with pork or pickles with beef and cheese would be nasty and there are no animal ingredients, not even byproducts like gelatin or rennet. If for example, the machine that slices the cucumbers were lubricated with animal fat,the pickles wouldn’t be parve or neutral. It it were pig fat, it wouldn’t be Kosher. If non-Kosher foods were processed in the same room the pickles wouldn’t be Kosher. Of course, things bought at Circle K foods are not necessarily Kosher. ;j ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/7 "2004-10-28T14:10:22Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > One might also wonder why pickles are called Kosher, since […] pickles with beef and cheese would be nasty… No, that would be a cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/8 "2004-10-28T19:13:38Z")
There is a difference between Kosher and Kosher Style. To be labeled Kosher the product preparation has to be approved by a Rabbi. Kosher Style is the same without the approval. Many food products are labeled “refrigerate after opening” to extend the shelf life after opening. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refrigerate-after-opening/271461/9 "2004-10-28T22:02:24Z")
Or someone ate a pickle from a jar they had sitting in the back of the pantry for some unknown number of years and subsequently got a settlement out of the pickle company.