How long will apple cider vinegar last once opened?

Apple cider vinegar has been around for ages. Its origins date back to biblical times, as far as 400 B.C., which you’ll read about later, so it’s been a long-known and well-used vinegar product for many centuries. Although revered and widely utilized, a few questions about this form of vinegar often arise. Does apple cider vinegar need to be refrigerated after opening? How long does it last? Does apple cider vinegar expire?

Apple cider vinegar is acidic, so refrigeration is your choice. Keep it away from sunlight in a pantry or cupboard that’s cool and dark instead. With a standard shelf life of two years after opening, it’s best to keep its top screwed on tight to prevent the risk of it oxidizing, causing some physical transformation. 

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Expire?

Not really. Before you roll your eyes at this apparent non-commital, there are more definitive answers regarding the most common types of apple cider vinegar.

Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar

All unpasteurized apple cider vinegar on store shelves must include a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety warning, and it reportedly expires after a month of opening.

Dr. Benjamin Chapman of N.C. State University claims that the risk discussion surrounding unpasteurized apple cider vinegar is not theoretical. Chapman says the product has links to several outbreaks over the past decades. The unpasteurized variant can carry harmful bacteria like E. coli, salmonella and various parasites. For this reason, it could be risky to consume unpasteurized apple cider vinegar after expiry.

Despite the health risks, many prefer unpasteurized apple cider vinegar for its health benefits while abiding by the safety warnings and expiry dates. The vinegar mother, or mother of vinegar, carries the most beneficial nutrients in apple cider vinegar but, unfortunately, can also carry the harmful bacteria mentioned. Many pasteurized apple cider vinegar brands remove the mother before sale to restrict the chances of murkiness, removing many healthy nutrients.

Pasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is commonly pasteurized these days due to the discovery of the risk factors involved with its older cousin's production. Pasteurized apple cider vinegar doesn’t expire, although it often goes through changes after you open it and keep it for a long time. These physical changes might make you believe it has gone off and you can’t use it any longer.

Sealed bottles of pasteurized apple cider vinegar can stand in your pantry forever without going off. Regularly exposing it to oxygen can cause it to taste different and develop visual changes. 
Seeing a cloudy residue gathering at the bottom of your apple cider vinegar bottle might scare you enough to replace it with a new one, but this isn't necessary. This sediment happens for a few reasons — because the vinegar’s mother starts separating or due to apple sediment itself. It could also be a combination of the two.

The vinegar mother and apple sediment are safe to drink in pasteurized vinegar. Pasteurized apple cider vinegar that includes the mother carries additional health benefits. At the same time, some people use many variations of vinegar to produce a more solid vinegar mother with additional benefits, requiring extra processes.

If you see this murky sediment forming, shake your bottle well and use it as usual. Alternatively, if there’s a large amount of sediment, strain it with a tea strainer to alleviate concerns. With older pasteurized apple cider vinegar, you might notice it tastes more vinegary than its usual apple taste. This means it has gotten older, causing a more acidic quality than previously, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still use it. You’ll likely want to replace your bottle at this point, as it doesn’t taste as great.

Why Use Apple Cider Vinegar?

While other kinds of vinegar have longer histories, apple cider vinegar's first use dates back to Hippocrates, who reputedly used it mixed with honey to treat the common cold. Nowadays, people use the apple cider variant for a plethora of additional reasons:

• Relieving sinus and asthma: It breaks down mucus, making it valuable for post-nasal and early chest symptoms.
• Body detoxification: Apple cider vinegar's mother is excellent for detox as it contains helpful bacteria, enzymes, minerals, and vitamins. Mix the vinegar with Epsom salts in your bath for an incredible external detox.
• After-exercise recovery: Many athletes add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a glass of water. The vinegar’s amino acids counteract the excess lactic acid exercise causes, allowing quicker recovery from physical exercise.
• Wart and skin blemish removal: Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar and dab it on the localized area to lessen skin blemishes. Leaving a wart covered with the soaked cotton using a bandaid strip will eventually cause it to fall off. You should repeat these procedures regularly to see the results.
• Whitening teeth: Rubbing vinegar directly onto yellowing teeth and rinsing with water can remove tooth staining, but you shouldn’t do this too often, as it can also break down tooth enamel. Add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a glass of water for less potent but effective whitening mouthwash.

With these health benefits and several more, it’s unsurprising that apple cider vinegar is a popular addition to many people’s pantries and kitchen shelves.

Apple Cider Vinegar After Opening

How quickly you use apple cider vinegar after opening the bottle depends on you. If you use a bottle regularly for health reasons, consider unpasteurized vinegar to utilize the mother’s additional nutrients. However, replace anything left with a new bottle two weeks after opening.

If your use is more infrequent, pasteurized apple cider vinegar should be your choice. Check the labeling to see whether the mother of vinegar remains. Either way, the pasteurizing process means the vinegar won’t expire, although the mother’s existence means more health benefits, which might cause additional murkiness as the vinegar ages.