Cheese keeps for about Until the printed date in the fridge, and 6 months in the freezer. The table below splits those times by opened and unopened โ and a date still in range never overrides what your nose tells you.
The drier the cheese, the longer it lasts. A hard cheese can go three weeks past opening; a wet one like mozzarella or ricotta rarely makes a week. Wrap it tightly so it neither dries out nor picks up fridge smells.
Storage times
| Unopened | Opened | |
|---|---|---|
| Room temperature | Not recommended | Within 2 hours |
| Fridge | Until the printed date | 1-3 weeks |
| Freezer | 6 months | 3 months |
Throw it out if you see this
- Blue or black mould
- An ammonia smell
- A sticky, slimy surface
Storage tips
- On a hard cheese you can cut 1 cm around a mould spot and keep the rest
- On a soft cheese, any mould means the whole piece goes
- Shredded cheese freezes well in portions
Sell-by and use-by are not the same date
A sell-by date tells the shop how long it may display the product; a use-by date tells you how long it stays safe to eat. They are not interchangeable, and a use-by date is usually later than the sell-by date printed on the same product.
Every printed date assumes the package is unopened and stored at the labelled temperature. Once opened, follow the "opened" column below instead of the printed date โ and if the smell, colour or texture is off, throw it out regardless of what the date says.