How Long Does Pudding Last? Does it Go Bad?

Pudding is a flavorful dessert that everyone loves to have; thus, we always end up buying this in bulk.

But after buying, we get infested with questions like how long it can be stored or if do pudding go bad.

That is because you do not want to be ill after consuming bad pudding.

No matter if one has made it at home or purchased from the market, these will lose their flavor over time.

The pudding will not offer a similar taste if you store these incorrectly or for a prolonged period.

Thus one needs to keep up with good storage if one wants to enjoy their dessert for an extended period.

What is Pudding?

This sweet dessert is made with milk as the main ingredient.

Besides that, it can also include eggs, butterscotch, rice, cornstarch, tapioca, gelatin, and many other ingredients in preparing pudding.

One can make it by cooking or even steaming and can attain numerous health benefits from this.

This can strengthen your bones and teeth as they are rich in calcium.

Pudding can also help you improve your nervous system and promote muscle contraction.

One can fulfill the need for vitamins in their body as it contains vitamins C, A, B6, B12, and a lot more.

By adding pudding to your diet, you can increase protein intake.

That will make your digestive system better, and it will maintain your metabolism.

This dessert can increase the formation of red blood cells in your body and provide you a healthy skin.

How Long Does Pudding Last? Does Pudding Go Bad?

When you are buying pudding from a store, then they will provide you a sell-by date till which it can offer you its best quality.

However, that does not mean the pudding gets bad as it crosses its sell-by date.

After that, you can eat the pudding, and it will not harm you, but its taste and flavor will indeed degrade.

The shelf life of different puddings depends on their making and the ingredients included in them.

Homemade pudding can only last for 5 to 7 days in the fridge.

One can also store the dessert in the pantry, but it will lose its taste within one day; thus pantry is not considered best for storing homemade pudding.

On the other hand, pudding bought from stores can be kept in the pantry, and it can serve you for 3 to 4 weeks if the pack is unopened.

If you want to preserve its quality more, you can also put it in the fridge.

Store-made desserts are more likely to last as they do contain added preservatives that prolong their shelf life.

If this dessert is made with eggs, then the shelf life will be shorter than those without eggs.

That is because eggs have a shorter shelf life and go bad after a short period.

How to Tell if Pudding Have Gone Bad?

• Discoloration

It’s essential to check the pudding when you have it after prolonged storage.

That is because it might have gone bad and can cause you harm.

One sign that can easily be stored is discoloration.

You just need to compare the color of the pudding from the time when you bought it and now.

If the dessert contains bacteria, then it will change its color, then one must not consume it as it is bad.

• Lumps Formation

You know that this dessert is smooth in texture, but as you begin to store it, then, due to moisture, it can develop some lumps.

These lumps can result in ruining the sugar content and make the pudding bad.

Therefore if you can see clumps or clusters in the dessert, then avoid its usage immediately.

• Unpleasant

The aroma of the fresh pudding is appetizing, but it will fade away as you store it.

That means you can sniff the dessert and see how it smells.

If you get a faint but sweet smell, you can have it, but if there is an odor, the ingredients have gone bad.

Most of the time, eggs go bad earlier than other ingredients and cause a foul smell.

How to Store Pudding?

• Avoid Heat and Sunlight

You might have seen that the pudding goes bad earlier than expected when you store it in the pantry.

That is because most of the area in the pantry is prone to heat and direct sunlight.

Heat and light make the dessert’s ingredients go bad, and their shelf life gets shorter, and they go bad in no time.

So be sure to choose a cool and dry place for storage.

• Use Airtight Containers

If you are storing the dessert in the fridge, then be sure that it can develop moisture.

Thus, using an airtight container to avoid moisture and air will be better.

This will help you to eliminate bacteria that pudding can develop because of bacteria.

• Freezer

One must avoid storage in a freezer because the dessert’s molecular structure gets affected.

This happens to homemade and store-bought puddings; thus, one must avoid freezing them.

Conclusion

One should avoid using stored ingredients when making pudding at home as they will reduce its shelf life.

Even though the pudding can be stored for a long time, it is advisable to finish it by the sell-by date last.

Be sure to eat it after you have looked for all the signs and see it’s completely fine to have.