How long does cheese last

Keep cheese at 4°C (40°F), in its own paper or a closed box. USDA FSIS says cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan keep six months unopened and three to four weeks after opening, and six months in the freezer. FoodKeeper prints the same windows. For soft cheese, FSIS groups cottage, ricotta, and Brie at one week and says they do not freeze well. FoodKeeper prints a wider 1–2 weeks for soft cheese such as Brie. The large figure is the shorter one, 1 week. Shredded cheddar and mozzarella are 1 month in the fridge and 3–4 months in the freezer on FoodKeeper. The ministry lists shredded cheese at up to four months in the freezer, which is the long end of that 3–4 month band.

A sooner use-by date on the pack wins. The split is on the use-by and best-before guide. A small mould spot on the face of a hard cheese is cut away an inch under and beside the spot, which is the USDA kitchen note. On soft cheese, cottage, and shredded, one spot finishes the container.

Get perishable food into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking it or bringing it home, and within 1 hour if the kitchen is above 32°C (90°F). USDA FSIS and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry both publish that cutoff. A closed deep pot stays warm; a shallow box cools.

A chart is a window, not a verdict on the container in your hand. A sour smell, a slimy surface, or mould means it is finished, even on day one. This page is not medical advice.

• Mould that has walked past the spot on a hard cheese, or an ammonia smell.
• Any mould on soft cheese, cottage, or shredded.
• A sour, yeasty smell, or sticky whey.
• A swollen lid.

A hard cheese can have a rind on purpose. A fuzzy spot on top of it is not the rind.

Hard cheese frozen after you shred it still works in cooking; as a slice, the texture crumbles. The window is 6 months. Shredded is 3–4 months. Cottage, ricotta, and the soft cheeses FSIS groups with them do not freeze well. Thaw in the fridge. Do not refreeze.

Thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Do not refreeze a portion that has thawed. The ministry states the same rule: thaw frozen food in the fridge and take out only what you will eat.

• Mould on cheese is always meant to be eaten. The veins in a blue cheese are put there on purpose. A spot that arrived later finishes a soft container. On a hard cheese, USDA describes cutting an inch under and beside the spot.
• An opened cheddar still keeps for six months. Six months is the unopened hard cheese, 6 months. The opened line is 3–4 weeks.
• Cottage cheese freezes like cheddar. FSIS says cottage, ricotta, and Brie do not freeze well.

The windows assume a generally healthy household. Pregnancy, young children, older age, or a weakened immune system are reasons to keep the shorter figure, to skip raw or undercooked food, and to reheat leftovers until the centre is steaming. USDA’s figure for reheating leftovers is 74°C (165°F).

Soft cheese that was not made from pasteurized milk is one to skip in pregnancy and with a weakened immune system. Mouldy cottage or mouldy shredded does not become safe when you heat it. Read the label: if it does not say pasteurized, the higher-risk person leaves it.