Storage
How long freeze-dried liver keeps, sealed and open
Updated
How long do freeze-dried liver treats last? Sealed, a bag keeps until the best-by date printed on it, which is set one year from the production date. Once the zip is open, use the liver within 30 days, reseal the bag after every handful and keep it somewhere cool and dry. No fridge is involved.
What does the best-by date on the bag mean?
Every bag we fill has a best-by date printed on it. That date is set one year from the production date, and it assumes the seal has not been broken. It is the window the bag is dated for, nothing more and nothing less. Until you open the bag, the printed date is the only number you need to think about.
Our product data lists the liver as shelf stable, with no refrigeration needed, so a sealed bag can wait in a cupboard for that whole stretch. A bag that waits months before opening still goes by the printed date. The bag does not care how long it sat on the shelf, only whether the seal held.
What changes once the bag is open?
Air gets in. Freeze-dried liver has had nearly all of its water drawn out, with the label listing moisture at a maximum of 10 percent, and dry food picks moisture back up from the air around it. That is why the clock changes from the printed date to 30 days once you break the seal.
So treat the day you open it as day one. Squeeze the air out, press the zip shut and put the bag back where it lives. If your memory is like ours, write the opening date on the bag with a marker. The printed best-by date stays useful as a backstop, but the 30 days is the number that now matters.
Does freeze-dried liver need the fridge or the freezer?
No. The label says to store the bag in a cool, dry place, and that is the whole instruction. Our product data lists the liver as shelf stable with no refrigeration needed, so a cupboard or a drawer does the job. The freezer is not on the label, so we do not suggest it.
Dry is the point. Pick a spot away from the sink and the stove, where steam does not reach. If you want to know how the four forms of liver differ in where they live, our raw vs freeze-dried guide sets them side by side, fridge and all.
Where should the bag live between uses?
Somewhere you will see it, and somewhere dry. A kitchen cupboard or the drawer where the leash lives both work. Keep the liver in its own bag, since the zip and both dates are printed on it. Here is how the usual spots shake out against the label's one instruction.
- Kitchen cupboard away from the stove: yes. Cool and dry, and you see it every day.
- Drawer by the leash: yes. Dry, and you grab it on the way out the door.
- Counter next to the sink: no. Splashes and steam reach it all day.
- Fridge or freezer: not on the label. The label asks for cool and dry, not cold.
- Open bag with the zip undone: no. Air and moisture get in from the first hour.
Whichever spot you pick, the bag goes back there with the zip closed. That habit does more for the liver than the spot itself. The full set of our storage and feeding answers lives on the FAQ page.
What if the pieces go soft?
Freeze-dried liver should snap. If a piece bends instead, or the crumbs at the bottom have clumped together, moisture has found its way in, usually through a zip that was not fully closed. A soft piece tells you the storage slipped. It does not tell you how far.
We will not pretend to judge a bag from here. Going forward, the fix is the zip and the spot the bag lives in. Close it firmly every time, move it somewhere drier, and finish an open bag within 30 days. The pieces on the beef liver page show what a dry, unbent piece looks like.
Questions
How long do freeze-dried treats last in general?
It depends on the maker and the bag, so the printed date is the answer for any brand. For ours, a sealed bag is dated one year from production and an open bag should be finished within 30 days. Other freeze-dried treats may carry different dates, and the only way to know is to read the bag you bought.
Can I give liver treats after the best-by date?
The printed date is the window the bag is dated for, and we stop there. We are not going to tell you what happens on the far side of it, because we do not know how the bag was kept. Past the date, the call is yours, and your veterinarian is the person to ask for a second opinion.
Should I move the liver into a jar?
You can, but the bag already does the job. Its zip reseals, and both dates are printed on it, so a jar means copying them over. If a jar fits your kitchen better, pick one with a lid that seals and write the opening date on it. The 30 day count starts at the first opening either way.
Can liver treats stay in the car?
For a day, yes. A bag in a door pocket or the glovebox between walks is how a lot of ours get used. Over a damp week it is a worse home than a cupboard, since the label asks for cool and dry and a parked car is neither for long. Bring the bag in at night.
Which bag size can I finish within 30 days?
We sell 1.5 ounce, 3 ounce and 6 ounce bags, and the right one is the one your dog empties in a month. One small dog on a few pieces a day suits the 1.5 ounce bag. Daily training or two dogs makes the 6 ounce bag sensible. When in doubt, start small and move up next time.
Why does the bag say to wash your hands?
Our liver is freeze-dried raw and never cooked, so the back label says to wash hands after handling, the same as you would after any raw meat. The FDA's page on raw pet food covers handling raw pet food at home, for the people in the house as well as the dog.