How Long Does Olive Oil Last? Plus, How to Tell if It's Gone Bad Plus, how to store olive oil to preserve the quality of this essential ingredient. In This Article View All In This Article Check the Harvest Date Lifespan Storage How to Tell if Olive Oil is Fresh How to Tell If Olive Oil Is Bad Key Points Olive oil should be used within three to four months after opening.Store olive oil in a cool, dark place like a pantry.To see if olive oil is still good, taste it; it should taste fresh and sharp. With its yellow or green hue, the balance of fruity and savory flavors, and versatility, olive oil is a prized ingredient. Whether you have a large jug of olive oil for cooking or a bottle of small-batch high-end olive oil in your kitchen, you might wonder how long it lasts before it goes bad. How you store your olive oil plays an important role in preserving its quality. Ahead, we're sharing a few ways to understand your olive oil, plus tips for extending its shelf life. Aishwarya Iyer, founder and CEO of Brightland, a California-based olive oil company Olive Oil vs. Vegetable Oil and When to Use Each in Your Cooking Credit: Johnny Miller Check the Harvest Date When buying olive oil, check on the bottle of olive if it lists the harvest date and choose the most recent date available to ensure that the olive oil will be good for many months to come. The harvest date is paramount, says Aishwarya Iyer, founder and CEO of Brightland, a California-based olive oil company. This tells consumers exactly when the olives were harvested, and therefore, how long the oil will be good for. How Long Olive Oil Lasts Olive oil's shelf life depends on if it's unopened or opened. Unopened Generally, olive oil has an 18-month shelf life from the time of harvest, so it's important to make note of that date. Olives are harvested once a year in the fall, generally between October through December. "The new harvest oil will be introduced in the winter, so a bottle that was harvested in November 2020 would expire by May 2022," says Iyer. Opened Once opened, a bottle of olive oil should be used within three to four months, per the North American Olive Oil Association. Why Experts Recommend Buying Olive Oil in Dark Glass Bottles—Not Plastic How to Store Olive Oil To get the most out of your olive oil, store it properly. "Olive oil's three natural enemies are light, heat, and air," says Iyer. That means storing it in a cool, dark place such as a pantry or kitchen cabinet and keeping it sealed with a cap or cork. Store olive oil in smaller containers for everyday use while keeping the main supply in a sealed larger container to minimize exposure to air and prolong its freshness. How to Store Olive Oil for Maximum Shelf Life Signs Olive Oil Is Fresh Before pouring it into a skillet or rubbing it onto vegetables for roasting, the first thing you should always do with a bottle of olive oil is to taste it to make sure that it's still good. "Take a second to taste and think about what you're tasting. Fresh olive oil should taste herbaceous and grassy. Even if it has a fruity profile, it will still have this sense of tasting fresh versus something that tastes greasy," says Iyer. A lively, sharp taste generally indicates that the olives were harvested early, which results in a very green, grassy-tasting oil. "When you taste great olive oil, you'll feel a super peppery sensation at the back of your throat, which are two signs of quality and freshness," Iyer says. Chocolate Olive Oil Cookies Does Olive Oil Go Bad? Olive oil can spoil—and if it does, it won't have the fresh herbaceous and grassy flavor that it's known for. Color and aroma are not reliable indicators that olive oil has expired; the best way to tell if olive oil has expired is by tasting it. If it doesn't taste strong and sharp—and it tastes rancid and stale—it's most likely past its peak. Though you will most likely not get sick from consuming expired olive oil, and its health benefits are the same, rancid olive oil will not offer the same rich, fruity flavor to your food as fresh olive oil. There is no need to throw out olive oil that has gone bad; it has other, non-culinary applications. Use it to moisturize your skin, clean rubber boots, or mix it into homemade lip balm, soap, or body scrub. Explore more: Food & Cooking Cooking How-Tos & Techniques Food Storage Sources decorvow is committed to using high-quality, reputable sources—including peer-reviewed studies—to support the facts in our articles. Read about our editorial policies and standards to learn more about how we fact check our content for accuracy. "How Long Does Olive Oil Last?" North American Olive Oil Association.