We all love cream cheese. It’s soft, it’s creamy, who wouldn’t love them? So, you probably decided to stock on some of it in your kitchen. You bought around 3 packs of Philadelphia cream cheese and kept them in the kitchen.
A few days later and you totally forgot you have them. After a while, you discovered those packs again but it’s past the expiry date. You are asking yourself “Does Cream cheese go bad?”
In this article, We Will Explore If Cream Cheese Does Go Bad or not. as well as explaining How to store it properly so it lasts way longer than usual. We will also explain How to tell if it has gone bad so you can stay safe from the spoiled diary. So, follow along!
Table of Contents
Does Cream Cheese Go Bad?
The answer to this question isn’t as easy it seems. This is because there are plenty of factors that affect your diary. But we can say that Cream Cheese Does Go Bad.
Most dairy products go bad because there are bacteria in it that ferment the lactose into lactic acid which makes the cream cheese go bad.
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How Long Does Cream Cheese Last?
Determining The Shelf Life of cream cheese depends greatly on many conditions. The brand, the preservatives, and the way it was stored will greatly impact how long it can last.
You can use the best-by date as a good measure of the quality of the product you have. But here are the average shelf life that can guide in knowing how long it lasts:
- Unopened packages: This can last for a long time, around a full month, and it’s best used in 3 weeks for quality purposes.
- Opened package: The opened package has been exposed to air which speeds up the process of spoiling. This is why it’s best to use it within 7 to 10 days of opening the package to ensure it doesn’t go bad.
Take note that some manafacture add preservatives that can make the cream last for up to 3 weeks after the expiry date such as Franklin Foods brand of cream cheese.
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Cream Cheese Shelf Life [Full Chart]
| Cream Cheese | Fridge |
|---|---|
| Unopened | 3 – 4 weeks |
| Opened | 7 – 10 days |
How To Store Cream Cheese?
This is the most important question because good storage is essential to prevent your food from going bad. Storing cream cheese is quite easy actually and is similar to storing yoghurt or butter.
Simply follow these guidelines.
- First of all, Make sure that the package is well sealed to prevent any contamination from entering the packages as this will speed up the spoiling process.
- If you can’t find the original pack, or the seal is not efficient, you can use the freezing package to seal the diary better and provide better storage.
- Always store the leftover in the refrigerator. Cold air slows down the spoilage process, which is important for dairy products as it helps preserve it for longer.
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How To Tell If Cream Cheese is Bad?
It’s important to be able to tell when cream cheese go bad so you can protect yourself from food poisoning.
It’s quite easy to tell when cream cheese spoil, here is how:
Mold
If you can see mold on the top layer of your cream cheese, then it surely has gone bad. Throw it away as soon as possible.
Change in color
Cream cheese is known for being creamy white. If you start noticing that the color has shifted from white to yellowish, then it’s better to throw it away as yellowish color is a sign of spoilage of cream cheese.
Smell
A cream cheese should smell fresh and tasty. If you take a sniff and you notice a weird odor, or even worse, a sour odor, then it’s quite safe to throw it away.
Taste
If all is good, make a taste test. If it tastes good, feel free to enjoy your creamy cheese. But a sour taste is a sure sign you should absolutely throw away that diary. Sour taste is a result of bacteria breaking down lactose into the acidic and sour lactic acid. which is a sign of spoilage for diary products.
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Can You Freeze Cream Cheese?
This is a really confusing question. There are plenty of opinions about freezing cream cheese. This is because it has the tendency to change in texture after being frozen and this might make you enjoy it less than usual.
If you are using the cream cheese for recipes, I would say go ahead and freeze it, here is how you can do it:
- Package is unopened, feel free to freeze it as it is by tucking it in the freezer.
- If the package is opened, I would say you have two options:
- Use aluminum foil to cover the entire package well to protect it from contamination.
- A freezing package can work as well to store the cream cheese in the freezer
However, if you prefer to enjoy your cream cheese by spreading it on your favorite meals, I wouldn’t suggest storing it in the freezer. This is because after thawing it, the texture will never b the same and rather be clumpy which is not good for spreading.
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Common questions about cream cheese
There are probably plenty of questions that you have concerning cream cheese.
Here are some common questions you might be asking yourself with their answers:
What Happens If You Eat Spoiled Cream Cheese?
It’s never suggested to eat spoiled food, you never know how “spoiled” is spoiled food is. For cream cheese, you might get stomach aches and diarrhea. If you start to notice other serious symptoms. you might have food poisoning and need medical attention immediately.
How Long Can You Keep Cream Cheese at Room Temperature?
A max of two hours is allowed at room temperature for your cream cheese. If you left it outside the fridge for longer than that, there is a very high chance that it has gone bad already.
the USDA call room temperature “The Danger Zone“. Bacteria grow rapidly when exposed to room temperature and it starts breaking down lactose into lactic acid which ends up making your tasty diary go bad.
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Wrapping up
Cream cheese is one of the tastiest stuff you can add to a meal. This means knowing the answer to “Does cream cheese go bad” can be really helpful for you. You also need to know how to store your diary to make sure it lasts as long as possible.
Lastly, knowing how to tell when cream cheese goes bad can save you from eating spoiled food.
We hope we managed to answer all of these questions. If you have any questions that we left unanswered, you can leave it in the comments and we will make sure to reply to it ASAP. Thanks for reading!
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