How Long Does Cream Cheese Last?

An unopened block of cream cheese generally holds a couple of weeks past its printed date in the fridge, while an opened block should be used within about ten days, since exposure to air and repeated scooping both introduce bacteria that shorten its usable window faster than an unopened package experiences. A sour, off smell, visible mold (even a small spot, since mold can send invisible threads deeper into a soft cheese than a hard one), or a noticeably watery, separated texture are the real signs it's turned, distinct from the normal thin liquid that can pool on top of a good block.

Because cream cheese is so often used in small amounts spread over several days — a bagel here, a dip there — resealing the original wrapper tightly, or transferring the remainder to a small airtight container, does more to extend its usable window than leaving a torn-open block loosely covered in its original packaging. A block kept toward the back of the fridge, away from the door's wider temperature swings, also holds its quality more evenly over that shorter opened window. Trimming a small amount of surface discoloration on an otherwise good block is a judgment call some cooks make, but given how quickly mold can spread invisibly through a soft, moist cheese, this site's guidance leans toward discarding the whole block once mold actually appears rather than trying to salvage the rest.

See Cream Cheese's full storage & shelf-life guide (with spoilage signs) →