How Do You Know if a Yogurt Has Gone Bad?

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Creamy, tangy and sometimes sugariness, yogurt is the refrigerator staple we reach for on the regular. Succulent every bit a quick snack, the foundation for a good for you breakfast, a cooling condiment for spicy and savory dishes (like this scrumptious couscous) and even in some of our favorite flossy desserts, yogurt might just be the well-nigh versatile ingredient in our fridge. But what sets yogurt apart is that it's too really expert for y'all: This protein-packed dairy product is rich with nutrients, and information technology contains strains of bacteria and yeast (i.e., probiotics) that promote digestive health. So yeah, we're pretty big fans of the stuff. That said, we sometimes purchase more yogurt than we can finish in a week. So what we actually want to know is: Does yogurt get bad? Spoiler: The answer to that question is aye, but in that location's more than to it than that. Read on for everything you lot need to know about yogurt and food safety so you lot tin make the most of the delicious dairy you've got in the fridge.

Does Yogurt Go Bad?

Fellow yogurt-lovers, nosotros're lamentable, but here it is again: Yogurt does indeed go bad and if you lot consume bad yogurt, it'southward bad news (more on that later). You might exist wondering how something that comes to you full of bacteria and yeast can spoil. The affair is that yogurt is packed with practiced bacteria, merely that doesn't make information technology magically resistant to growing the bad kind, too. Like any dairy production, certain weather condition (peculiarly warm temperatures) encourage the development of bad bacteria. Also, yogurt that has been opened will spoil faster than an unopened container and according to USDairy.com, "bacteria...may grow more readily in yogurts with added carbohydrate and fruit." And so what happens when y'all let your yogurt overstay its welcome in the refrigerator (or worse, never give information technology an adequately frigid place to phone call home)? Basically, you're opening the door for "molds, yeast, and slow-growing bacteria to grow and spoil your yogurt." Yuck. But never fear friends: For an all proceeds, no pain tango with your favorite tangy dairy product, just make sure yous store it properly and give it a once-over before yous dig in.

How to Store Yogurt for Maximum Shelf Life

For optimal freshness and shelf life, yogurt requires prompt refrigeration at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. (Hint: If your refrigerator is warmer than that, something isn't working right.) In other words, put that quart of creamy Greek goodness in the fridge as soon equally you get dwelling house from the shop and render information technology to its preferred chilly climate as soon as yous're done spooning it into a bowl at breakfast time. When stored in this way, the experts at USDairy.com and USDA and say that the shelf life of yogurt is seven to 14 days from the day you open it, regardless of the sell-past date.

So What's the Bargain with the Sell-past Date?

Skilful question, surprising reply. By the USDA'due south ain admission, whatever date you come across on the packaging of your nutrient has precious little to do with safe consumption. (How did we not know this before?) Just to reiterate: All-time-by, sell-past, freeze-by, and employ-by dates have no bearing on food safety. (That's why it'south besides perfectly safe to eat chocolate, coffee and even spices past their all-time-by dates, FYI.) In fact, these dates are merely intended to provide a vague timeline for "optimum quality" to both retailers and consumers—and they're determined by manufacturers according to a mysterious, undisclosed equation that includes a variety of factors. Bottom line: Packaging dates should be taken with a grain of salt.

How to Tell If Your Yogurt Is No Longer Fresh

Experts agree that packaging dates be damned, yous have seven to 14 days to consume your opened container of yogurt. But what if your eyes were bigger than your stomach and you walked abroad from an unfinished bowl of the creamy stuff? Respond: You lot might be able to relish that dairy some other day. Per the pros at USdairy.com, yogurt that has been left out can notwithstanding be refrigerated for future enjoyment as long as it hasn't lingered at room temperature for more than two hours (or one hour at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and up). Only go along in mind that this countertop time volition significantly reduce the shelf-life of your yogurt, so don't wait to revisit those leftovers ii weeks later on—instead plan to make short work of that yogurt within a day or two.

If you think you've followed all the all-time practices for yogurt storage but however take a funny feeling about the quart in your fridge, just follow these inspection tips and y'all'll be able to glean where it falls on the freshness spectrum.

• Check for liquid: More often than not, some water volition collect on the surface of yogurt and that's perfectly fine—but give it a stir and enjoy your snack. However, if you detect an unusual amount of liquid sitting on top of the creamy stuff, that might be a sign of spoilage and then you lot're meliorate off taking a laissez passer.
• Smell: Some other style to tell if yogurt has gone bad is just by giving information technology a adept sniff. But know that this method isn't foolproof when it comes to yogurt that'southward right on the edge of spoilage, particularly since one's sense of odor varies greatly from person to person. However, much like spoiled milk, few would mistake the olfactory property of a truly rancid yogurt.
• Curdling: If a once smooth and creamy quart of yogurt has emerged from the fridge with a fiddling extra texture, it's probably all-time to toss it. Curdling is a sign that the yogurt has seen ameliorate days.
• Mold: This one is a no-brainer, but if you see whatsoever evidence of mold—white, green or any colour of growth—on your yogurt, (don't) kiss it goodbye. Because of its h2o content, yogurt that has been sitting around too long in the fridge is prone to mold...and it will make y'all sick.

What to Expect If Y'all Accidentally Ate Spoiled Yogurt

If your spoiled yogurt comes from an unopened container, so y'all'll likely only suffer a little chip of an upset stomach, food safety specialist Benjamin Chapman, PhD, a professor at North Carolina State Academy, told Women's Wellness . If you consume spoiled yogurt from an opened container, and so you may have some painful stomach cramps and diarrhea (perhaps nausea) soon afterwards ingestion. Just in both of these instances, the yogurt volition gustation bad—meaning, y'all likely won't even want to eat it in the first place.

Note: If you lot're feeling sick after eating unpasteurized (i.eastward., raw milk) yogurt, your symptoms volition likely exist more severe. Per the CDC, any yogurt made with unpasteurized milk might be contaminated with some pretty nasty germs—listeria, salmonella, campylobacter and E. Coli, to proper noun a few. Seek medical attention if y'all're experiencing symptoms of dehydration associated with foodborne affliction.

RELATED: The 8 Best Dairy-Free Yogurts You Can Buy

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Source: https://www.purewow.com/food/does-yogurt-go-bad

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