How long will peanut butter last?
 

My father in law has 20 plus jars of store bought peanut butter with best if used buy 6/6/05 stamped on the lids, He thinks there still safe to eat. Has anybody eaten peanut butter this old, or know if there still safe to eat?.:confused_m:

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

I've eaten opened peanut butter that old before (both refrigerated and not) and didn't get sick. The dates are extremely conservative (they don't want lawsuits) and need to cover all normal storage/transport conditions. That said, I give anything questionable the look, smell, and taste tests (in that order); I don't just mix it in with other things that may mask the hints until it passes those three. As far as sealed peanut butter, I'd guess the only thing you'd have to worry about is the oils going rancid and/or the texture changing.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

I don't know the answer to your question, but your worry is that the oil in the peanut butter (and there is a lot of it in there) will go rancid. I would not be eating it 3 years past the best by date.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

In my house less than a week I love peanut butter

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

I have eaten lots of food several years past the expiration date with no problems. That being said:

1 - creamy lasts a lot longer than chunky - the pieces of peanut go bad within 1-2 years tops

2 - store it under ideal conditions and use your judgement on how it looks, smells, and tastes when opened

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

What brand and composition? ONLY peanuts? Or some concoction of chemicals and peanuts like Skippy?

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

P'nut Butter is mostly a processed food. That's what allows it to last so long. I would not trust it. Essential oils and fats are critical to good health. Fats do not last a long time. Age changes them in a bad way.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

I ate canned peanut butter in C-rations that was over 30 years old. Except for the oil being on the top it was not a problem. Just mix the oil in and eat it.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

Hell, that oil on the top comes in the all natural peanut butter I buy as well!
I'd worry about that bizarre mould that grows on peanuts, that (blame beer!!!) for the life of me I cannot remember the name of - it's nasty, nasty stuff. Maybe processed, preservatived peanut butter would be safer? I've never really studied it.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

My wife does the same thing. Not quite 3 years past the date, but a year or two. I refuse to eat it. I have my own stash of new peanut butter because my stomach is weak and she has an iron gut. That being said, she did use her old chunky peanut butter to make some Thai style chicken last week, and I ate it before I realized she had used the old stuff. I didn't get sick.....hmmmmm

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

aflatoxin........

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

Yup. To go further, as far as I'm concerned, peanut butter is rancid from the get-go. It is a low-quality junk oil. Bad fats rise to the top of your body and make you crazy. (Think about it, body is over 70% water).

That being said, I still love it - the real stuff at least.

The hydrogenated sugared junk like skippy, jiff, etc is beyond evil. Don't even consider it.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

Be a man. Find out the way that you will if the S ever HTF! ;)

Open a jar and give it the sensory test. Then if it seems ok, ram a spoon full in your piehole and give it the taste test! That is what I would do!! :)

I have eaten some amazingly questionable food items while drunk in Thailand. Then again, I have a pretty strong gut.

Now might be the time though, to start eating that old peanut butter and replacing the storage with a fresh batch. "Start the clock over" so to speak.

If you don't post back in a few days, we will know that peanut butter from 2005 is no good. *smile*
:emotions16:

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

I ate some peanut butter 3 nights ago that expired about 2 years ago. It smelled fine and looked fine, but definitely did not taste fine. I ended up eating half my sandwich and throwing the other half out(something I NEVER do). That being said I did not get sick...But I do have a pretty strong stomach.

Re: How long will peanut butter last?
 

That's precisely why you should sample a questionable product directly both to increase your chances of detecting bad food and to save the other good products you might mix with it.