Expired Kix cereal: to eat or not to eat?

Kix cereal is a favorite corn based small sized cereal that is perfect for toddlers or baby led weaning. Both of my children have loved this cereal and it comes in many flavors like original, berry, and honey.

Kix cereal has actually been around for over 70 years! We purchase cereal regularly when on sale and depending on the kid’s preferences we sometimes end up with a box of unopened cereal past the expiration date. Let’s find out everything we need to know about Kix Cereal past the expiration date!

Does Kix cereal expire?

Kix cereal does eventually expire but it does not go bad the day of the expiration date or “best buy” date on the package. The “best buy” date has more to do with inventory control than freshness or safety.

Cereals are a high turnover item in a grocery store, so stores use the best by date to make sure they rotate the “oldest” boxes to the front. This is also known as the “first in, first out” rule.

Kix cereal comes in a cardboard box, with a sealed plastic bag inside that contains the cereal. As long as this plastic bag stays sealed, it is less likely to go bad.

Once you open a box of Kix cereal, you will want to eat it within 2-6 months. We close up the top of the bag using a simple chip clip, and this will let the cereal stay fresher longer.

If you open a bag of cereal and leave it open, then the cereal will go stale quicker due to exposure to air and moisture. Kix cereal is made of mostly whole grain corn and corn meal.

This makes the little cereal balls porous, and they can actually absorb funky smells in your kitchen and absorb moisture or humidity in the air.

Can Kix cereal get moldy?

Kix cereal by itself in a sealed bag will not grow mold. It needs to be introduced to moisture and organic matter (think fruits and vegetables) to start growing bacteria and mold.

This is why using a chip clip or storing it in an airtight container can make a huge difference. We roll the bag tightly closed and use a chip clip to keep it closed.

Once the Kix cereal starts to absorb moisture, it can start to grow bacteria and mold. Especially if it is not moved or used frequently. If you typically use an entire box of cereal within a month of opening, you are not likely to see mold.

If you open a box of Kix cereal, and don’t use it all within about 6 months, your cereal can grow mold. Especially if you have fresh fruit on your counter or live in a very high humidity area like Florida.

To solve this mold and bacteria problem, start closing the inside bag of cereal or use an airtight container to prevent it from growing in the first place!

How long does Kix cereal last after expiration date?

Most cereals, including Kix cereal will last for over a year past the expiration date with proper storage. This simply means making sure that inner sealed bag stays sealed.

Since Kix cereal is made of mostly corn and does not have a high fat content, it is extremely unlikely for the cereal to go rancid from oils and fats.

Rancid oil and fat have a distinct smell that similar to strong plastic or even a burnt smell. If you open a box of Kix cereal, it should smell like corn with a slight sweetness.

If it smells bad, then you should throw it away. If you notice that the bag has a puncture mark or did not seal correctly at the top, these are also signs that you should throw it away.

If the top of the plastic bag was not sealed correctly, you should contact General Mills, and let this know. It is possible that only one bag was affected by a faulty seal, but it probably affected a lot of boxes of cereal. Make sure to give General Mills the lot number and expiration date on the box, so they can double check.

Typically, companies that receive reports of possibly faulty packaging, they will send you a free coupon or offer a refund for your purchase. This will at least keep you from feeling bad for having to throw money in the trash.

What happens if you eat expired Kix cereal?

We recently opened a box of Berry Kix that had expired back in March 2022, which was about 8 months ago. The inner bag was still sealed with no signs of puncture or holes in the bag.

The cereal tasted just like it normally does and no signs of being stale or had “gone bad.” We typically store cereal in our pantry and we only like to have 3 opened boxes of cereal at a time.

This still gives my toddlers choices for cereal and prevents us from having a ton of different cereal boxes open. We obviously missed this box and didn’t get to it within the expiration date.

No worries though, because it tastes perfectly fine, it smells fine, and it still had that nice crunchy texture. If your box of Kix doesn’t taste right, smells bad, or is not still crunchy then it is safest to throw it out.

If you do eat Kix cereal that has mold or bacteria growing, this can cause an upset stomach or diarrhea. Thankfully the odds of continuing to eat cereal that has truly gone bad is low because it will taste awful.

Since the fat content is naturally low in Kix cereal, it is very unlikely to get full blown food poisoning. You would have to see or smell pretty obvious signs of mold or bacteria growth, in order to actually get very sick from eating it.

This is why just doing a simple sniff test of any foods in your home is so important. You can’t always see bacteria or mold, but you can definitely smell it. Usually, the texture (crunchy, soft, etc.) of the food has also changed, and that is a great way to check if it is safe as well.

For more information on expired foods, check out “Can you eat expired SunChips?” and “Can I eat expired Wheat Thins?“