How Long Does Orange Juice Stay Good After Opening?

Orange juice is a sunny, tropical drink that suits either the breakfast table or the brunch buffet (we see you, two-ingredient mimosas!), provided you can afford the pricey beverage (orange juice is now a luxury item, if you didn't know). However, some containers of orange juice are huge — as much as 89 ounces of liquid — and once you've opened them, the juice within has a finite amount of time where it must be consumed or it can start to go bad.

Orange juice that's been opened should be drunk in about a week to 10 days before the oxidation process really hits and the juice starts to spoil. Refrigeration stalls spoilage by keeping the juice at a steady, cold temperature, but it can't hold it back forever. While your first instinct may be to keep the juice in the door of your fridge, that's actually not a great spot for it, as this section gets the most warm air when you open the appliance's door. Consider keeping orange juice instead on a lower shelf, where the cold air collects.

It's important, too, to keep the lid of your orange juice container securely screwed or snapped on tight. This prevents any bacteria hanging out in the immediate environment (whether the counter or the fridge) from getting in, and it also slows the rate of oxidation, which occurs when the juice is exposed to air.

Depending on environmental or storage factors, store-bought orange juice can spoil in fewer than 10 days, or soon after 10 days have passed, if you were hoping to squeeze some extra time out of it (for your OJ and espresso drink, perhaps?). One of the first indicators of OJ spoilage is going to hit you as soon as you open the container: the smell. Orange juice that's still good will have a sweet, fresh scent to it, while that which has turned can smell sour or even vinegary.

If you notice, too, that the juice's bottle is looking distended, it means that microorganisms within the juice have started to rapidly produce carbon dioxide, and the juice is no longer good. The juice might also change its color, going from a vibrant orange to a darker shade (or, it might go the other way and get lighter), or it might develop mold on the surface — in which case, you should toss the bottle immediately.