Kitchen

[wismiss]

I just got done cleaning my spice rack and moved on to baking supplies.  Do colored sugars expire or go bad?  What about food coloring?  I couldn't find expiration dates on them but I know they have been in the cupboard for over 4 years.  That's when I moved here and replaced the old sugars and colorings.

[Carmie]

Sugar and colored sugar does not expire.  As long as it is stored in a dry place, it will last forever.  I probably have over 50 containers of colored sugar.

Food coloring doesn't actually expire, but sometimes the color will be off if it is really old.  I have some that is probably 15 years old and it is still good.  I only use it at Eastter time to color eggs.

[LindaSal]

I tend to disagree because my bags of sugar have an expiration date.  Though it does last several years, nothing lasts forever.........just like spices, some people keep those forever but some actually grow parasites after many years, yuk!!   I would throw it out and replace for sure, JMO.   

[Carmie]

All food products in the USA must have printed expiration dates, but that doesn't mean they go bad.

Honey has been found that is thousands of years old and it is still safe to eat. Bottles of honey in the US have expiration dates on them.  Honey never spoils.

Many spices do lose their potency after a while and should be tossed out.  Who gets parasites in their spices?  Many people use spices to get rid of parasites.

Sugar, salt and honey never go bad as far as becoming unsafe to consume.  Moisture might change the texture though.

[loriqvc]

I agree with @Carmie — there is no real expiration date for colored sugars because sugar is a natural preventer of bacterial formation, so as long as you keep your supplies dry, you should be fine to continue using them. On the website for Cake Mate, one of the leading makers of colored sugars, it states that its colored sugars and nonpareils have an average shelf life of 36 months, but that is simply to guarantee the freshest product. The following guide to the expiration date sequence is also provided:

Locate the code date on the container of your item, which includes a letter and a couple of numbers (example D6038). The first letter of the code is the month (A=January, B=February, etc.) and the following digit is the year. A product with a code of D6038 was produced in April (D) of 2016 (6).

ETA: Wilton is another popular brand, but it uses a different numeric approach for dating its products using the year and day of manufacture. For example, if you have an item with a code of 18064, the "18" means it was made in 2018 and the "064" means it was made on the 64th day of the year—so the item has a manufacture date of March 2018. Here's a quick guide to the days of the year broken out by month:

January = 1-31

February = 32-59

March = 60-90

April = 91-120

May = 121-151

June = 152-181

July = 182-212

August = 213-243

September = 244-273

October = 274-304

November = 305-334

December = 335-365

[ECBG]

I googled the question and got three years beyond the expiration date.

[homedecor1]

I have a method of putting month/year on bottom of every spice or colored sugars/sprinkles whenever I purchase them.

For the colored sugars - I've had some 3+ years no change in taste 

BUT

I find sprinkles seem to get a "stale or wierd" taste after several years.

For my baking supplies, I store most in lock n lock and sprinkles are in original containers (stored in large lock n lock container) or if I bought bulk I put them in small lock n lock containers.

I usually toss sprinkles about every 2-3 years.  Although, I only have most for Christmas cookie or bake decorating.

[VaBelle35]

I tossed all of mine that i had purchased over the years.  I couldn't remember how long I had them, but the first Wilton course I took was more than 10 years ago.

I wasn't using them fast enough anyway, so now I will buy the colors and sprinkles I need and not buy stuff just because it's cute

[Toppers3]

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@wismiss wrote:

I just got done cleaning my spice rack and moved on to baking supplies.  Do colored sugars expire or go bad?  What about food coloring?  I couldn't find expiration dates on them but I know they have been in the cupboard for over 4 years.  That's when I moved here and replaced the old sugars and colorings.

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I think that sugars can pick up a plastic or stale taste from the containers that they've been stored in. 

That has been my own personal experience with decorating items like sprinkles and sugars. 

They just don't taste that fresh/good anymore.

That's when I know that it's time to replace them.

I think that it's a good idea to write the date on the container somewhere, so that you know when you purchased them.

I have recently been replacing my own supply of spices, too. I've had some of them way too long. They not only lose their taste, but their color as well when they start to lose their freshness. 

[LindaSal]

Spices do most certainly grow parasites or bugs, especially in paprika, chili powder, etc.