There are several FREE online resources available to help navigate the guidelines surrounding proper food storage and nonfood shelf life:
The Food Keeper provides valuable storage advice to help maintain the freshness and quality of foods. The storage times are intended as useful guidelines (not hard and fast rules) on how long food can be stored safely. It was developed by the Food Marketing Institute, who also has an interactive version.
To ask a specific food storage, safety or preparation question about meat, poultry and egg products, visit AskKaren.gov, a searchable knowledge base with info about preventing foodborne illness, safe food handling and storage. There you can search for a question or submit your own – there’s even a live chat feature.
For information about the shelf life of cosmetics and beauty products, refer to the cosmetics expiration dating page of the FDA’s website.
For these food safety tools and more, head over to the Nutrition Resources section of this site.