But remember that frosting and icing, like a lot of other baking products, usually has a best before date and not a use by date. Because of this distinction, you may safely use frosting or icing for your baking needs after the best before date has lapsed, but please enjoy your all your food by the eat by date.

How to tell if Frosting is bad, rotten or spoiled?

Practicing proper hygiene and food safety techniques will help prevent foodborne illness.

When frosting (icing) turns bad there is a very slight change in the color (darker), texture (thicker) and aroma (not pleasant anymore) of the product - but a taste will tell you for sure (bad)! Wilton, who make the cans of "Ready to Decorate Icing" tells me that their cans never actually expire, but for best quality should be used within 24 months of the code printed on the bottom of the can. It's decoded as follows. Let's use the code G082120 - the G tells us that the can was made in July (ie. A=Jan, B=Feb,etc), the 08 tells us that the year was 2008, the next 3 digits (212) tell us the date on the Julian calendar. So, the can with code G082120 was produced on July 31st, 2008 and retains full flavor until July 31st, 2010 but can be used beyond that with diminished quality. To find a proper substitute for frosting visit our page in the substitution section.

There are, of course, certain health risks associated with spoiled foods so always remember to practice food safety and enjoy your foods before their shelf life has expired!

How to store Frosting to extend its shelf life?

The best way to store a frosting or icing is in its original unopened container in the pantry. Once opened, frosting and icing should always be stored in the refrigerator, with the exception of the squeezable decorating tubes and press decorating cans of decorative icing which are best in the pantry or they become too hard to flow out of the tube or can.

Some benefits of proper food storage include eating healthier, cutting food costs and helping the environment by avoiding waste.

How long is Frosting good for when prepared in a dish?

How long does frosting last? That depends. How long does cake mix last? Frosting can only last as long as the quickest expiring ingredient in the recipe.

What are our shelf life resources?

In determining how long Frosting lasts, our content incorporates research from multiple resources, including the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Food & Drug Administration. In addition, we scoured the web for informative articles and reports related to food safety, food storage and the shelf life of Frosting.

*An important note about expiration dates...

Although the Frosting shelf life information on Eat By Date is generally reliable, please remember that individual cases will vary and that our advice should only be taken as an opinion and not a replacement for your health care professional. Please eat responsibly!