How long does yogurt last

Keep yogurt at 4°C (40°F), in its own pot, lid on. USDA FSIS prints yogurt at one to two weeks in the refrigerator and one to two months in the freezer. FoodKeeper prints the same window and does not open a separate line for opened and unopened. The ministry lists yogurt the same way, one to two weeks cold and one to two months frozen. There is no room-temperature hold: Not safe.

A sooner use-by date on the pot wins. The split is on the use-by and best-before guide. Eating from the pot and putting the spoon back soils the surface; take a bowl. Homemade yogurt uses the same cold window, because the charts do not split a shop pot from a home pot. Smell and separated whey can arrive before the printed day.

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 sour, yeasty, or alcohol-like smell.
• A pink, green, or black spot. The pale whey on a strained yogurt is not mould; it disappears when you stir.
• A swollen lid.
• If the taste has turned sharply sour, leave it even inside the date.

The freezer window is 1–2 months. After thawing, the whey splits off and the smoothness is gone; it still works in a sauce or a batter, not eaten from a spoon. Thaw in the fridge. Do not refreeze what thawed. Strained yogurt freezes on the same window and splits the same way.

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.

• Unopened yogurt keeps for months. FSIS and FoodKeeper print one to two weeks, 1–2 weeks. A sooner date on the pot wins.
• The liquid on top means it has spoiled. Strained-off whey disappears when you stir. Mould does not. A coloured spot finishes the pot.
• Frozen yogurt is eaten from the same bowl. The texture splits. Use it in cooking.

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).

A swollen lid, coloured mould, or an alcohol smell does not become safe when you heat it. In pregnancy and with a weakened immune system, leave a pot that is past its use-by or that sat warm. A pot made from pasteurized milk and kept cold is what this page is about.