How Long Can You Keep Spices?

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Label jars to easily identify purchase date.

I think my mom had the same tin jar of McCormick ground cloves for my entire childhood, but according to Chow.com dried whole spices will stay fresh for three years and dried ground spices will keep for just one year!

As keeping tabs on when I purchased a jar of spice is as much a priority for me as it was for my mother, I devised a way to make it obvious when to replace a spice: I label the jar when I purchase it. So simple!

If you purchase bulk spices at the coop, you could even peel the label off the bag and put it on the jar you'll store the spices in. You are storing them in a jar, right?

Friends at the Park Slope Food Coop might recognize these bright yellow dots!

If you haven't been labeling your jars, don't feel bad. Start with the next jar of spices you purchase. For now, you can test the potency of your stock of spices to see which to keep. First, check out a spice's color. Next, rub it between your fingers. How does it smell? How does it taste? If the aroma and taste are weak then toss it.

Other spicy tips:

• Store spices in an air-tight container. Dark glass containers are great!
• Store spices in a cool, dark place. Not on the fridge or stovetop, which both release heat. Not in direct sunlight, which is obviously also hot. Cupboards are awesome!
• If you don't cook often, buy tiny jars of spice. Larger jars may be cheap per ounce, but if you end up throwing most of the ounces away you aren't really saving money.
• Old herbs and spices can be composted.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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