How long does lettuce last

Keep iceberg and romaine unwashed, in a bag that holds moisture, in the crisper. FoodKeeper prints the fridge as 1–2 weeks. The bold number is one week. The counter is No time is printed for this cell. Wash just before you serve. A leaf that waits wet rots. Do not shut them in the same closed drawer as apples or tomatoes. Those give off ethylene. The map of the fridge is in the fridge article.

Leaf lettuce is a separate row, and FoodKeeper names that row leaf lettuce and spinach together: 3–7 days. Pasting the head’s week onto a leaf is not this page’s job. A bag, while closed, is 3–5 days. The note counts the time after the date on the bag. A sooner date on the pack wins. Date types are on the use-by and best-before guide. Once opened, the field prints two days, 2 days. The note says three, 3 days. The bold number is the shorter one. The freezer cell is No time is printed for this cell. A salad does not wait in the freezer as a green leaf.

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 slick, slimy leaf. A little wilt can be dryness; slime is spoilage.
• A pink, brown, or black spot that spreads. A thin dry edge is not the same as a slimy film.
• A sour or swampy smell. The green smell of lettuce is not that.
• Water pooled in the bag, and mould on a single leaf. Mould moves to the neighbour.

Lifting off one or two loose outer leaves, if the heart is still crisp and the smell is ordinary, does not finish a head. A slimy layer does.

FoodKeeper prints no freezer time for a head, a leaf, or a bag: No time is printed for this cell. This page does not invent a month for a salad. USDA says food held continuously at −18°C (0°F) stays safe; that does not mean the leaf’s texture comes back. Greens chopped for soup are not a separate row here. No time is pasted onto them.

The thawing note is for foods that have a printed time. Because the lettuce freezer cell is empty, this page also does not write a recipe for refreezing a thawed salad. A leaf washed and put away wet is not the advice for lettuce that is waiting.

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.

• Every lettuce lasts two weeks. Iceberg and romaine are 1–2 weeks. Leaf is 3–7 days. An opened bag is 2 days.
• Washing it first makes it last. Wash just before you serve. Water speeds rot on a leaf that is waiting.
• An opened bag is a week. The field prints 2 days. The note says 3 days. The bold number is two days. Both belong to the same FoodKeeper product.

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).

Heating a slimy or smelling leaf does not bring that bag back. In pregnancy, for young children, in older age, or with a weakened immune system, do not sort a leaf by tasting it. Lettuce is not raw meat. A leaf that raw meat juice has touched is still not a salad after a rinse. Rescuing a doubtful bag with soup is not what this page recommends.