Are my bonito flakes still safe to eat?

I bought bonito flakes from a Chinese store last summer. So around half a year ago. I opened it than, and half a year later it said to eat as possible after opening or refrigerated. Validity is one year. It also said to avoid high heat and humidity. My bonito flakes have been in the pantry for half a year. Can I still make dashi stock with them. Will they make me sick or just loose flavor. I really don't want to throw them away, I mean they are dry? Can I still use them. They were in the pantry after all.|||Although the shelf life stated on the package is one year, if you opened them a half year ago, the important thing to consider is the storage condition after the package was opened. If your climate, or the inside of your home is relatively dry, and the package was kept tightly closed after it was first opened, then you should still be able to use the bonito flakes to make dashi.However, if your pantry or climate is humid, or the package was not tightly re-sealed after opening, then the bonito flakes will gradually change color and begin to stick to each other, rather than being dry and fluffy like they should be. Since dashi is made with hot water, you might be able to get away with using sightly older flakes, but the flavor will suffer. I haven't heard of anyone getting food poisoning from using non-fresh bonito flakes, but since the flakes are not all that expensive, if you have any doubts it would just be best to get a fresh pack, and re-seal it more tightly this time.

If you store the flakes in the refrigerator, keep them in a tightly sealed container, since the environment is moist. The flakes do fine for a very long time in the freezer.|||what a moron.

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|||I don't know how expensive bonito flakes are in Canada but it is safer not to use them. You are asking about the safety here and not sure if they are safe. Once you get the notion deep in your mind that they might not be safe, even the safe bonito flakes make you sick.

Keep it in the refrigerator once you open the package from the next time.



Yes, they are dry! If only I could see and smell them I could say they are safe or not.|||Yeah. The lose/loose spelling error has got to be the most common one out there.

You can't believe you did that huh...?



Listen, buy some more online if the Chinese place is out.

Don't bother with questionable cooking ingredients.

This is just plain common sense to anyone that knows how cheap bonita flakes are, has experienced food poisoning or knows anything about cooking.|||If they loose flavor, that would be good.



If they lose flavor, that would be bad.



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