Are your spices outdated?

A "Best By" date makes identifying outdated spices easy. But, what if there is no "Best By" date. The second number to lean on is the product code that can sometimes be found on the container. For some brands, this code can be used to find the date the spice was manufactured.


Brands like McCormick use both the “Best By” date and the product code. McCormick's website has tons of awesome information about spices (including recipes). There is also a place where you can enter a product's code along with the city of manufacture to to find it's manufacturing date.

Quick freshness guide: (http://www.cozi.com/)
Ground Spices: 2-3 years

Whole Spices: 3-4 years

Blends: 1-2 years

Herbs: 1-3 years

Extracts: 4 years – except for vanilla extract which lasts indefinitely

Signs of aging: faded color, lack of aroma, and diminished flavor.

To make the issue of aging spices a little easier, use a permanent marker to put an expiration date on your spices as soon as you buy them. If you fill your own spice bottles (hippie), put a piece of tape on the bottle before writing the expiration date on it.

As spices age, they lose their flavor, aroma, color and vibrancy. You don't want to add flat flavor to a food you worked hard to make!! So, throw out your old herbs and spices, and make sure to clearly mark all spices when you buy them!!

Have a spicy hump day!!!