What two foods never expire?

By SGWNI. Checked on 2 November 2026.

The usual answer is honey and salt, but no official list says “these two”. Salt is the safe half of that answer: US Department of Agriculture data lists it as keeping indefinitely, and UK labelling law doesn’t require a best before date on cooking salt. Honey is more complicated. It’s very stable, but the USDA gives it 2 years for quality. If you want a second food the USDA does stand behind, it’s sugar, which it says never spoils.

What the sources say

We know of no UK shelf-life dataset, so we use the USDA’s FoodKeeper data alongside UK date rules. Its times are guides for quality, for unopened food stored in a cupboard.

Salt and sugar on the label

UK food labelling law has a short list of foods that don’t need a date of minimum durability, which is the legal name for a best before date. It includes cooking salt, solid sugar and vinegar, along with wine, drinks of 10% alcohol or more, and uncut fresh fruit and vegetables.

So if your salt or sugar has no date on it, nothing is wrong. Keep them dry and sealed.

The USDA’s advice on sugar is for best quality to use it within 2 years of opening.

Honey, in more detail

Honey isn’t on that exemption list, so a jar will carry a best before date. As with any best before date, it’s about quality, and food is usually safe after it.

Mississippi State University Extension says honey is safe to eat indefinitely as long as it’s stored and handled properly, and that it can be used for decades. It also gives the limits:

• Keep it sealed, somewhere cool and dry, away from sunlight and heat.
• Use a clean spoon, so you don’t introduce bacteria, yeasts or moulds.
• If it foams or smells of alcohol, throw it out.

Honey going cloudy or grainy is crystallising, which is normal. Stand the jar in warm water and stir until the crystals dissolve.

Never give honey to a baby under 1. The NHS says honey can contain bacteria that produce toxins in a baby’s intestines, leading to infant botulism, which is a very serious illness. The age of the jar makes no difference.

What people get wrong

“Tins last for ever.” They don’t. USDA food safety guidance says there are limits to how long commercial canning preserves food. Tins can rust, and food reacts slowly with the tin, which can eventually change its taste and texture and lower its nutritional value. High-acid tins like tomatoes keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months, and low-acid tins for 2 to 5 years. The tinned food shelf life look-up has more foods.

“White rice lasts for 30 years.” You’ll see claims like this. The USDA’s figure is 2 years in a cupboard. Specially packed long-life products make longer claims, but that’s not what’s in your kitchen, and we can’t verify those.

“If it’s on this list, I don’t need to check it.” Damp, pests, and dirty spoons can all spoil a jar that the data says should last. All foods eventually spoil if they aren’t preserved, says the USDA. Look before you use it.

What this means for your stockpile

Honey, sugar and salt are useful to have, and you can buy them without worrying about dates. But they aren’t a food supply. Honey has about 300 kcal per 100 g, and nobody is going to eat a jar a day. For a household, the foods doing the real work are the ones with a best before date: tins, rice, pasta and oats.

That’s a good thing, not a problem. Food you’d usually eat gets used and replaced, so its date rarely matters. The government’s Be Ready checklist suggests checking dates every six months and swapping out what needs replacing.

If you want to know how long your cupboard would last, count it with the supplies calculator. It’s more useful to know that number than which foods last longest.