It’s time to update your spices

If you haven’t checked out your spices in the last year, it’s time to do it as part of your spring cleaning/organization.

About 70 percent of consumers only check the expiration or best-buy date on spices “sometimes” — or “not at all,” according to a 2025 survey conducted by Suzy, a market research company.

The shelf life of spices is two to three years if they’re stored correctly.

Spices need to be stored in a cupboard or drawer away from heat, light, and moisture. Don’t store them over the stove or near other heat sources. Make sure the bottles or cans are airtight.

Begin your sorting process by checking the expiration date or best if used by date.

Check your ground spices first because they lose quality faster than whole spices. If your containers don’t have dates, smell the them to see if is the smell is weak or off. For whole spices, you can crush them between your fingers to determine if the smell is off.

Also evaluate the appearance. Do the spices have clumps or are they damp, indicating moisture may have gotten in the container?

To save money, buy spices from bulk offerings at co-ops and some grocery stores. Use your original containers and put tape on the bottom of the bottle for when you added new contents.

Don’t buy spices in big bottles. They’ll lose flavor by the time you get around to using them. Costco sells spices in large bottles, but don’t be tempted. I did buy a large container of salt because I needed some right away and didn’t want to wait until my next shopping trip.

Replace all your plastic spice bottles. It’s one way to reduce your use of plastics because more and more is becoming known about the harm being caused from the tiny plastic particles people ingest every day.

One of my big efforts in updating my spices, pictured above, is buying new, organic spices in glass jars. The packages are bulk spices from the local co-op to put in glass jars I already have.

If you have expired spices, don’t put them in the garbage. You can make a potpourri, freshen carpets, color Easter eggs, or add to homemade soup. If these ideas don’t work for you, compost the expired spices.