Ramen noodles are a popular source of carbohydrates for sportsmen and women, teenagers, preppers, college students, outdoorsmen, and homesteaders looking for food that either will never expire, or that has a very long shelf life. Do Ramen noodles expire? The simple answer is yes, they do expire. But their “expiration” date does not mean you have to throw the noodles away once they reach it. Given the right packaging and storage, Ramen noodles can last 6 more months past the typical 8 – 12 months of shelf life.
The process of preparation and storage is what gives these noodles a shelf life of up to a year. However, if they are stored properly in airtight containers at room temperature, in a dark and dry pantry, they will still be edible for at least 3 to 4 months past the best before date.
If you immediately stored them in a vacuum-packed bag in the deep freezer, they could last up to 6 months past the best before date. The taste of the flavor packet does breakdown over time which could result in foul tasting noodles. The noodles are still edible; but use an alternate flavor source.
How Long Do Instant Ramen Noodles Last? Shelf life of ramen noodles
Two to three years. Instant Ramen noodles like Maruchan have a long shelf life. In most cases, you can count on keeping them a year after the best by date on the package. After that, it will really start to lose its flavor.
Expiration vs. Best By Date: What Do They Mean?
First, let’s clear something up. The dates on food, expiration, or best by are put on labels to let you know when a product is past its peak quality – not to tell you when it is unsafe to eat. If you’ve ever opened a yogurt and ate the whole thing just to realize it was 3 weeks past its “expiration date” but tasted fantastic, this is a prime example of something being good well after the bad date that you may have wasted if you’d checked it.
An expiration date is meant to give you a heads up on foods that are prone to foodborne illness. It’s a heads up, so to speak, to let you know the food has reached peak quality and will most likely start to spoil soon, like dairy products, meats, and cheeses. It’s not intended to be a set-in-stone date. More of a caution, check this out before you blindly scope a big spoon full of yogurt in your mouth.
The best by date is a lot more lenient and is found on products that are more shelf-stable, like instant Ramen noodles, cookies, crackers, and chips. Things that tend to go stale and lose their freshness over time but don’t necessarily spoil to the point of illness. (BIG fan of stale Cheetos over here… anyone else? Just me? Okay!)
Why Do Ramen Noodles Go Bad
Water is one of the worst things for ramen noodles that are in storage. As soon as moisture is added to the noodles, they can start to grow mold, and spoil.
Another quick way to shorten the shelf life of ramen noodles is by letting the outer packaging get damaged. This can allow any number of bad things inside from outside contaminants to insects.
The oil used to make ramen noodles will also spoil and turn rancid over time. This will ruin the taste and could even cause nausea and diarrhea.
The flavoring added to ramen is another thing that can cause your ramen to go bad. There are a lot of preservatives in the flavoring but they still have a lot of different oils in them which will probably spoil before the noodles go bad. This makes the block style ramen noodles last longer than the cup style with the flavoring already added.
Ramen noodles can actually start to spoil and rot pretty quickly if they’re exposed to moisture. Once water is added to the noodles, you start to get a better environment for microbes to start growing.
FAQ
Where is the expiration date on Nissin Cup Noodles?
Can you eat instant noodles past expiration date?