Does Chocolate Expire? Is It Safe to Eat Past the Best By Date? (2024)

FAQs

Does Chocolate Expire? Is It Safe to Eat Past the Best By 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.

Solid Chocolate: If stored properly in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, solid chocolates (like plain milk, white, or dark chocolate bar) can often be eaten for up to 6 months past their 'best before' date. The taste and texture might not be optimal, but it's generally safe.

Chocolate has a long shelf life due to its stable ingredient base. This means that even chocolate that has developed a bloom, or white dust, as long as it still smells like chocolate and isn't giving off any funny odors, it's fine to eat or bake with.

No. Expired chocolate might not taste the best, but it's not poisonous. Try a small piece of your expired chocolate and if the chocolate taste very off, simply don't eat the rest. At worse, you might end up with an upset stomach, but that would be probably from the other ingredients, not from the chocolate itself.

It's generally okay to eat chocolate for months past the expiration date if it's been unopened or stored correctly.

You may not “ruin” your chocolate bar or baking chocolate when you put it in the fridge. It's still edible, and it won't “go bad” just because it's refrigerated. However, you should know that chilling it will change the taste and texture of even the highest quality chocolate.

Most candies do have expiration dates, but like most foods, these dates serve more as guidelines for when to consume them. It's generally fine to eat candy past its expiration date, though the quality and texture does decline after a certain point.

If the expired chocolate doesn't have mix-ins, it won't make you sick. Expired chocolate will have a weak flavor but is safe to consume unless it has mold growing on it, has an off-putting smell, or a distasteful flavor.

However, in recent decades, there have been a number of global major foodborne outbreaks linked to chocolate products contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. These chocolates were typically contaminated at the point of manufacture when ingredients such as milk or sugar were contaminated, or dirty equipment were used.

Chocolate does not spoil in the same way that perishable foods do, but its taste, texture, and appearance may change over time due to factors such as sugar bloom or fat bloom. These changes do not make the chocolate unsafe to consume, but they might affect the overall quality and enjoyment of the product.

What does expired chocolate taste like? ›

If the chocolate tastes stale or cardboard-like, the chocolate is likely old but it is still safe to eat.

Chocolate bloom might look unappetizing, but it's completely safe to eat. That doesn't mean you'll want to eat it, though, as flavor and texture can both be compromised. “Bloom usually strips the chocolate of some of its most pleasing qualities,” says Laiskonis.

Can chocolate go out of date? Chocolate doesn't have an expiry date and is usually fine to eat for several months after the best-before date. So, if you're wondering “Can you eat out-of-date chocolate?”, the answer is yes.

"Though the appearance of bloom looks unappetizing—some may even mistake it for a type of mold—the chocolate is absolutely safe to consume," says Michael Laiskonis, creative director at the Institute of Culinary Education who also oversees the school's Chocolate Lab, which does bean-to-bar production of chocolate.

Store your candy in a cool – room temp or slightly less – and dry place. If it contains nuts or chocolate, it'll expire faster. If not, the less moisture and fat that type of candy has, the longer it will last. Upper end on lifespan for the most persevering candies is two years, but most are about 6 months.