You'll be able to tell fairly quickly tell if your peanut butter has turned rancid: It will have a metallic, bitter and almost stale smell. It may also be darker and dried out in appearance. If it's natural peanut butter, it may be moldy. Any of these features signal it's time to throw away your jar of peanut butter.
Eating rancid peanut butter can lead to tummy troubles like cramps, diarrhea, or vomiting. In severe situations, it can also give you Salmonella. This can be life-threatening in extreme cases. If stored and sealed properly, unopened natural peanut butter can last up to 12 months in the refrigerator or in the pantry.
Once opened, it should last five to eight months past the best-by date. If your peanut butter has been in the fridge for a while, it might be time to create an excuse to eat more peanut butter!
An open jar of peanut butter stays fresh up to three months in the pantry. After that, it's recommended to store the peanut butter in the fridge (where it can maintain its quality for another 3-4 months).
If you buy all-natural peanut butter — these are the ones that are unrefined and likely made with just ground peanuts and salt — you'll want to store jars in the fridge after opening, since the oils can go rancid very quickly.
If unopened, both smooth and crunchy peanut butter will keep for one year past its best before date whether stored in the pantry or fridge. Once it's been opened, both are good for three to four months in the pantry or six to eight months in the refrigerator past that date.
Peanut butter in a plastic jar at the supermarket usually has a sell-by date of about 18 months after it hits the shelf. Past this date, if it's unopened it's still perfectly good.
You can keep peanut butter in the pantry for six to nine months (unopened) and two to three months (opened).
Peanut butter in a plastic jar at the supermarket usually has a sell-by date of about 18 months after it hits the shelf. Past this date, if it's unopened it's still perfectly good.
WHAT ARE THE WHITE SPOTS/COATING ON THE SURFACE OF MY NUT BUTTER? If you find this in our Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter,Chocolate Hazelnut, or Chocolate Almond Butter jars, it is called cocoa bloom. This happens naturally when the cocoa butter separates, solidifies and rises to the surface of the jar.
Small bits of peanut skins attached to the peanut when it is ground can cause these dark spots. The dark spots in our PB Bites look like chocolate chips. They are not peanut skins (which are reddish in color).
Health-wise, however, rancid peanut butter is not something to really worry about. “It won't hurt you if you eat it — it will just taste bad,” says Maribeth Cousin, a professor of food science at Purdue University in Indiana.
Peanut butter is not a hospitable environment for most bacterial growth, but spores of bacteria and some strands of Salmonella can still reside in the inhospitable environment of peanut butter. It is important to be aware that peanut butter can still be contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium[2].
Low moisture content and high levels of fat give it an extremely long shelf life. But it will eventually go rancid due to its high fat content. Food that has gone rancid likely won't get you sick, but you probably won't want to eat it, as the taste and texture will be very unpleasant.
If you don't plan on finishing your jar of natural peanut butter within a month or so, or if you live in a hot climate, consider refrigerating it. The oils in the peanuts can go rancid if it's not kept cool.
Refrigerated butter should last up to a month past the printed date if it's unopened. If the butter has been opened, it can last up to two weeks past that printed date. If you're storing the butter longer term, unopened butter stored in the freezer can last anywhere from nine months to a year past the date.
Dark chocolate, with its higher cacao content, can be good to eat for as long as three years past the best before. Due to their high milk contents, milk and white chocolates might not last as long as dark, but their longevity is still nothing to sniff at — you can expect to get another 8 months or so out of it.
You can eat eggs past their expiration date. Just be sure to keep your eggs egg-cellent by storing them correctly. If you don't know if an egg is good or not, you can try the float test or give it a whiff. If it doesn't pass the test, throw it away.
Hydrogenated oil is added to your spread to keep the oil and other ingredients from separating. This way, the oil does not rise to the top of the jar and forms that watery mixture. Spreads that do not contain hydrogenated oil are most likely to form a watery mixture at the top of the jar.
Dogs can eat – and many really enjoy – peanut butter. But beware, some peanut butter brands contain an ingredient called xylitol, which is toxic to dogs and even eating small amounts can be fatal.
It is OK to eat peanut butter every day, but in moderation. Do not eat more than 2 tablespoons, approximately 32 grams, a day. This protein-packed spread is made by blending roasted peanuts into a thick paste and contains various nutrients that promote good health.