# Soy Sauce - Refrigerate after opening?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 29, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880 "2003-11-29T07:31:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PlasticVirgil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@PlasticVirgil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlasticVirgil)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/1 "2003-11-29T07:31:39Z")

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Does one -really- need to refrigerate soy sauce after opening? It says so on the label, but I’ve seen the stuff sitting out on countertops at restaurants time after time.

Second off, does soy sauce have any sort of expiration date? Would I be safe If I ate soy sauce that had been sitting in my cupboard for say . . . . a year and a half?

( it’s late, I don’t want to go to the store, rice is all I have but this soy sauce issue is making me wonder )

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**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/2 "2003-11-29T07:39:07Z")

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no need. not sure why but probably the high salt content. Regardless, soy sauce has been around a heck of a lot longer than refridgeration. No one in China I’ve ever seen has put the soy sauce in the fridge

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**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/3 "2003-11-29T07:43:05Z")

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I don’t have a cite but I have never refrigerated the stuff. I buy it in gallon tins that I store in my cabinette and I keep a dispenser bottle of it on the back of my stove for cooking. I live in the tropics so if it were going to go bad it would probably be here.

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**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/4 "2003-11-29T12:07:22Z")

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It’s already fermented, and loaded with salt, and it’s been around a lot longer than refrigeration…

For more info:

[KIKKOMAN](http://www.kikkoman-usa.com/_pages/foodservice/index.asp?loc=102)

[Here,](http://www.cooking.com/advice/adgloss.asp?GlossType=ingr&Item=Soy+sauce) they say tha soy sauces keep indefinitely.

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/5 "2003-11-29T14:25:41Z")

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I think I’ve seen ONE case of soy sauce going bad and that was more due to the assorted crud that was dropped into it. Seeing as its a fermented product it can’t really get MORE bad.

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**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soy-sauce-refrigerate-after-opening/215880/6 "2003-11-30T01:42:19Z")

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My wife keeps the soy sauce in a cabinet next to the oven. When I need a dash, I just grab the bottle and sprinkle away.