probably way too long! I hate to say how old some of the spices were that we cleaned out of my mom's house when she died! I sorta solved the problem for myself by buying the tiny Tones containers of spices-I think they are .99 to 1.59 each. I don't feel so wasteful when they lose their potency. Also buy at bulk food stores to save. I think that;s why many of us keep them forever-we hate "waste" and throwing something out seems like you're throwing money away