when does salad dressing go bad?
 

I've had a bottle of ranch dressing in the fridge (opened) for about 1 or 2 months. The expiration date says 2009, but I didn't now if that meant if the bottle was unopened. Any ideas? I've had food poisoning a few times and I'm leery now, lol!

From what I understand, salad dressing should be thrown out after 3 months in the fridge (after opening.)

To be quite honest though, I've never had issues with condiments going bad if refrigerated. If it looks, smells, and tastes okay, it's probably fine.

I also believe in when in doubt, throw it out.

If your house is anything like mine .... if anyone suspects something, they won't eat it anyway. So it sits in the fridge. I might as well have thrown it out when I first suspected it.

I always use stuff til the expiration date on the bottle.

I just did a quick google search and found a site (US dept of agriculture) that said opened salad dressings: 3 months refrigerated.
Maybe I should change my ways???

I definitely keep salad dressing in the fridge for longer than three months. Most store-bought dressings are packed with preservatives and will last way longer than three months. In fact, it's probably a little scary how long some of them will last. I suspect that US Dept of Agriculture is just being overly conservative (or trying to be supportive of the salad dressing industry).

I give stuff like this the smell and look test. If it doesn't smell bad, I can't see any visible mold or mildew on it, and it otherwise looks okay (not discolored, etc.), I figure it is okay.

If the bottle says 2009, I'd figure it is good until then, unless it doesn't pass the smell/look test before then. I've continued to use salad dressings after their expiration (often times the expiration is just a sell-by date, not a use-by date).

I'm with you Barbara. Because we don't always want the same kind of dressing, we have several, and they almost never get used up in 3 months. With the price of commercial salad dressings, I hate to thow any out. When I make my own dressing, I don't make nearly as much. :)