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How long does fresh produce last?

Reviewed by the MyListResort team · Data from the USDA FoodKeeper ·

Produce does not have one storage rule, it has four. Most fruit and vegetables belong in the fridge, but onions, garlic, potatoes and winter squash keep far better in a cool dark cupboard, and a fridge damages them. Bananas, avocados and stone fruit ripen on the counter first and only then benefit from cold. Anything already cut or bagged is on a much shorter clock than the same food whole.

What are common spoilage signs for produce?

  • Sliminess or a mushy, breaking-down texture.
  • Mold, or an off smell that was not there when you bought it.
  • Dark spots spreading from the cut edges, or liquid pooling in the bag or container, which is a common early sign in bagged greens.
  • In root vegetables and onions: sprouting, soft or wet patches, or a musty cellar smell. A firm sprouted onion or potato is past its best rather than dangerous, but green patches on a potato should be cut well away.
  • In soft herbs: blackened or slimy leaves, which usually means they were kept too cold or too wet rather than too long.

Storing produce

  • Keep onions, garlic, potatoes and winter squash in a cool, dark, airy cupboard rather than the fridge, which turns potato starch to sugar and makes onions soften. Store onions and potatoes apart; each makes the other sprout sooner.
  • Ripen on the counter first, then refrigerate to hold it there. Chilling this fruit before it is ripe usually stops it ripening properly at all.
  • Keep it in the crisper drawer, and do not wash it until you use it. Surface water is what turns leaves and berries slimy days early.
  • Once cut or bagged, use a sealed container in the fridge and eat it within a couple of days. A cut surface is an open door, so the whole-vegetable window on the shelf no longer applies.
  • Treat soft herbs like cut flowers: trim the stems and stand them in a little water. Basil is the exception that hates cold, so keep it on the counter rather than in the fridge.
  • Keep it somewhere cool, dark and out of direct sun rather than in the fridge. Cold either dulls the flavour or turns the texture mealy in this one, which is why its window above is a cupboard figure.
  • Store fruit and vegetables that give off ethylene, such as apples and bananas, away from those sensitive to it, such as leafy greens and broccoli.

Produce shelf life, food by food

Tap a food for its once-opened window, full shelf-life table and storage tips.

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Shelf-life windows come from the USDA FoodKeeper, published by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (public domain); we vendor the FSIS FoodKeeper dataset and refresh it in place. These are quality estimates, not food-safety determinations or guarantees: actual condition depends on storage and handling, and harmful bacteria may not have obvious signs. Follow package and official guidance; when in doubt, throw it out. See our food safety notice and terms.