How long does fish last

Keep raw fish at 4°C (40°F) on the bottom shelf, in a closed box so the juices cannot drip onto other food. USDA FSIS says to cook or freeze fresh fish within 1–2 days. FoodSafety.gov prints 1–3 days in the fridge on the fatty-fish row; the lean rows do not extend the fridge cell past that. In the freezer, fatty fish (mackerel, salmon, tuna, and the others FoodSafety lists) is 2–3 months. The ministry folds fish, raw or cooked, into one line at 2–4 months. Lean fish has two lines: pollock, ocean perch, rockfish, and sea trout are 4–8 months; cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, and sole are 6–8 months. The large figure is the shorter of those two lean lines. FSIS prints 3–8 months in the freezer for fresh fish without splitting species, and that band includes fatty fish, which is why the species lines come from the FoodSafety chart.

Cooked fish is a leftover. The UK FSA says eat leftovers within two days or freeze them, 2 days. FSIS prints fish and shellfish leftovers at 3–4 days. The large figure is two days. In the freezer, FSIS prints leftover fish at 3 months. The ministry’s 2–4 months does not split raw from cooked; the short end of that band is two months, and the long end runs past the FSIS three months. Cook raw fish to 63°C (145°F). Reheat a leftover until it reaches 74°C (165°F). A sooner use-by date on the shop pack wins.

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.

• A sharp ammonia or sour smell. A sea smell and a rotten smell are not the same thing.
• Flesh that has gone milky, or a sticky film.
• A sunken eye and gills gone grey, on a whole fish.
• On cooked fish, a sour smell or a sticky surface.

A white dry patch on frozen fish is freezer burn. Quality goes; that patch alone is not food poisoning. If the smell has turned, throw it out.

Freeze raw fish the same day, in a bag that does not leak, with as little air as you can manage. The fatty window is 2–3 months. The shorter lean window is 4–8 months. Thaw in the fridge, on the bottom shelf. If you thawed it in the microwave, cook it at once. FSIS describes refreezing meat and poultry that thawed in the fridge before it is cooked; use that same cold chain for fish, and do not refreeze a piece that thawed on the counter. Freeze cooked fish in portions, and reheat once after it thaws.

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.

• Fish keeps for a week in the fridge. FSIS cuts fresh fish at 1–2 days. A week is not on this chart.
• Salmon freezes for as long as haddock. The fatty line is 2–3 months. The shorter lean line is 4–8 months.
• If the smell is ordinary, cooked fish is fine for four days. The FSA closes leftovers at two days, 2 days. Smell does not extend the window.

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).

In pregnancy, for a young child, and with a weakened immune system, raw or lightly cooked fish is one to skip. If a leftover is past two days, or it sat warm, heating does not take a toxin back. Shellfish is not a row on this page; FoodSafety.gov prints separate, often shorter, days for them.