Food Storage & Shelf Life Charts From Months To 25+ Years

I’ve invited Laurie Neverman of CommonSenseHome.com to share this helpful information with our readers, because we both want you and your family to thrive!

Beat rising food costs by shopping now for long shelf life foods. These long lasting foods are ranked from those that last the longest – decades – to those that last for weeks.

We recommend that you keep a mix of long shelf life foods – dry goods, canned goods and other foodstuffs. If you can afford it, freeze dried food has the greatest shelf life and adds variety to meals.

Stock what you eat. Stockpiling a bit of food can save you money AND prepare you for an emergency!

The list below includes storage tips, and we’re working on a series of articles with more detailed information on storage and growing tips, including produce varieties that have a longer storage life.

Why Stockpile Food?

Manmade and natural disasters happen.  Whether it is supply chain failure, a flood, pandemic, blizzard, earthquake, hurricane or even war, something will happen that will require food and water when grocery stores are closed or you can’t get to them.

Buying larger amounts of foods that have a longer shelf life gives you a food cushion for emergencies, or unexpected job loss.  Even a small amount of emergency food storage can make a difference. If you opt for shelf stable foods, they’ll keep well even if there’s a power outage.

It’s great to have a little extra food on hand in case you are sick and can’t go out shopping, or you need to feed unexpected guests. If you buy bulk foods when they are on sale, you can save money, too. The way inflation keeps increasing, foods that last a long time are a good investment.

How do you determine shelf life of food?

Food from a supermarket will have a expiration date. That expiration date is an indication of when the product might start to go bad or lose taste. Many food products can be safely eaten far after their expiration date.

Fresh food is a little trickier. Specific fruit and vegetable varieties last longer than others. For instance, hot onions typically last longer than sweet onions. Growing conditions and storage conditions also make a difference.

Experiment and pay attention to what keeps well for you.

Try the foods before you store them

Make sure you like the taste of what you plan to store. Try cooking with it, and try it in various dishes. Test out different kinds of foods before you buy 50 pounds of something you don’t like. For instance, you might like black beans but not pinto beans.

Salt and sugar are easy to use, but foods like dried beans require a bit of skill to use well. Someone else might think the dried beans are good to eat, but you might not like them at all.

What are dry goods

Dry goods include foods like salt, sugar, grains like wheat berries, flour, rice and dried beans. They can generally can be stored at room temperature.

Historically, dry goods were critical food supplies that would be stored in bulk for months or years.

Folks used to buy and store dry goods in burlap and barrels. Now we have Mylar and other airtight options for longer storage.

Best Ways to extend shelf life

1. Cool place – keep the food in a cool place, some prefer freezing temperatures.
2. Humidity:
   • Dry Place – Low or no Moisture in the air for wheat, flour and other items. This is true for 99% of dry goods.
   • Moist Place – Fresh foods like apples, potatoes, carrots, and others require specific humidity levels to extend the amount of time it can be kept in storage. (See “Root Cellars 101“.)
3. Dark place– Sunlight adds heat and can bleach foods. For long term storage, keep all foods out of direct sunlight.
4. Lower fat content improves shelf life. (Fats react with oxygen and go rancid.)
5. Reduce oxygen. Oxygen causes oxidation which spoil foods, oxygen also carries smells to food. Tightly sealed containers with oxygen absorbers reduce oxidation.

What foods have longest shelf life?

Unless otherwise noted, store these foods in cool, dry conditions, out of direct sunlight, in an airtight container. White flour and white rice last longer than whole wheat flour or brown rice because they have a lower fat content.

Foods that last 25 to 30+ years

Mylar, glass, or other durable airtight containers maximize shelf life for dry goods. Oxygen absorbers and vacuum sealing also improve shelf life. See “Best Mylar Bags for Food Storage“.

The pros are set up for large scale storage, but you may be able to set up a small refrigerator for long term cool storage.

Foods that last 5 to 25 years 

Food Storage: 10 Emergency Foods That Last Practically Forever

Foods that last 2 to 5 years

Foods with 1-2 years shelf life

You can pack up most of your bulk storage in larger containers, but keep enough for daily use in containers that are easier to access.

Foods that last 3 to 9 months

Fresh foods that last a couple of weeks to 3 months

This article was written by Laurie Neverman of CommonSenseHome.com. Laurie lives with her husband, two sons, ducks, cats, and chickens on 35 acres in rural Wisconsin. Their home features three types of solar, and it’s Energy Star and WI Green Built certified. Their gardens feature over 100 different fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

“She smiles at the future. She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.” ~Prov.31: 25, 27

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” 
  ~ Benjamin Franklin

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