How to store dinners
Best place: the fridge. USDA gives dinners a fridge time (2 days, after opening) and no pantry time, so they belong in the fridge as soon as you get home.
No guideline
Should be discarded after use-by date.
2 days
after opening
No guideline
How dinners compare with other baby food
USDA FoodKeeper gives dinners one time: 2 days in the fridge after opening, and no figure for the other places. A blank usually means the food is not stored that way, not that the data is missing. The foods USDA lists next to dinners in baby food show the range for the group:
| Food | Pantry | Fridge | Freezer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cereal, dry mixes | no guideline | no guideline | no guideline |
| Formula | no guideline | no guideline | no guideline |
| Fruit | no guideline | no guideline | no guideline |
| Jars or pouches | no guideline | no guideline | no guideline |
| Liquid concentrate or ready-to-feed formula | no guideline | no guideline | no guideline |
| Vegetables(first of 2 kinds) | no guideline | 3 to 4 days | 10 to 18 months |
About baby food. Baby food spoils quickly once opened because it lacks the preservatives found in many packaged foods, and jars or pouches should be treated as fresh food, not shelf stable. Unopened jars and pouches keep well until their date, but opened baby food needs prompt refrigeration and quick use. All baby food.
USDA notes for dinners
- Should be discarded after use-by date.
How to tell dinners have gone bad
General signs for baby food, the group USDA lists dinners under.
- Lid pops or bulges when you open the jar
- Sour or off smell instead of the usual mild scent
- Colour looks darker or duller than a fresh jar
- Watery separation that will not stir back together
- Mould spots on the surface or under the lid
More on baby food. The times above are quality guidelines, not safety limits; food that shows these signs goes out regardless of the date.
Storage habits that make the difference
Store unopened jars and pouches in a cool, dark cupboard away from the stove. Once opened, refrigerate immediately in a sealed container and use within the time on the label, usually one to three days. Never feed a baby straight from the jar with a used spoon, since saliva speeds spoilage; scoop out a portion instead.
How to store other baby food
Source: USDA FSIS FoodKeeper dataset (public domain). How we decode the data.