What two foods never expire?

By SGWNI. Checked on 2 November 2026.

The usual answer is honey and salt, but no agency has a list that says “these two”. Salt holds up: the USDA’s FoodKeeper data says it keeps indefinitely. Honey is less clear-cut. It’s very stable, but FoodKeeper gives it 2 years for quality. If you want a second food the USDA firmly backs, it’s sugar, which FoodKeeper says never spoils.

What the USDA data says

FoodKeeper is the USDA’s guide to how long food stays at good quality at home. These are its figures for food stored in the pantry, unopened unless noted.

Why honey gets its reputation

The FoodKeeper figure is a quality guide, not a safety cutoff, and it isn’t the only word on honey. 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 says a sell-by date on honey is a deadline for stores, not an expiration date.

That lines up with how date labels work in general. The USDA says that, except for infant formula, dates are about quality rather than safety.

The extension’s conditions matter:

• Keep it in an airtight container, somewhere cool and dry, away from sunlight and heat.
• Use clean utensils, so you don’t add bacteria, yeasts or molds.
• If it foams or smells like alcohol, throw it out.

Cloudy or grainy honey is crystallizing, which is normal. Refrigerating speeds it up. Set the bottle in warm water and stir until the crystals dissolve.

Never feed honey to a child under 1 year old. The CDC says honey can carry bacteria that cause botulism, and warns against honey products too, including honey pacifiers. A jar’s age makes no difference to this.

What people get wrong

“Canned food lasts forever.” The USDA answers this directly, and it says no. Commercial canning has limits. Cans can rust or get damaged. Natural chemicals in food slowly react with the can, especially in high-acid food like tomatoes, which over several years can change taste and texture and eventually lower the nutritional value. High-acid cans keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months, and low-acid cans for 2 to 5 years. The canned food shelf life look-up has more foods.

“A date on a can means it’s dead after that day.” Also no. FoodKeeper says canned items will be safe to eat well past the use-by or best-by date as long as the can shows no dents, rust or swelling. See what dates mean for food storage.

“White rice lasts 30 years.” You’ll see claims like this from sellers of long-term food. FoodKeeper’s figure is 2 years in a pantry, and the USDA’s shelf-stable chart agrees. Specially packed products may make longer claims, but that’s not the bag in your kitchen, and we haven’t verified them.

“If it’s on the list, I don’t need to check it.” Moisture, pests and dirty spoons can spoil a jar that the data says should last. The USDA’s own line is that all foods eventually spoil if not preserved. Look at food before you use it.

How to store the long keepers

Salt and sugar need to stay dry. Keep them sealed, and keep them away from the stove and the sink, like the rest of your pantry. The USDA says shelf-stable food does best in a cool, dry place, below 85°F.

What this means for your food storage

Honey, sugar and salt are worth having, and you won’t need to rotate them much. But they aren’t a food supply. Honey has about 300 calories per 100 g, and nobody’s going to eat a jar a day. Salt has none.

The foods that do the real work in an emergency are the ones with dates on them: cans, rice, pasta, oats and peanut butter. That’s fine. If you store what you normally eat and use the oldest first, those dates take care of themselves.

If you want to know how long your pantry would last, count it with the supplies calculator. That number is more useful than knowing which food lasts longest.