Time to clean out the spice rack?

[Ulysses]

After McCormick recalls seasonings, now is a good time to ask: Is your oregano older than your kids?

According to Bon Appetit Magazine: “Once you purchase spices, they will lose flavor (whether or not they’re ground). You shouldn’t keep ground spices for more than three months and whole spices for more than eight to ten. How do you know how long they’ve been hanging around though? You store them in airtight canisters that are labeled and dated with masking tape and Sharpie.”

Of course, spice-hoarding issue is hardly confined to America. In 2014, a survey found that 13% of British residents had jars of herbs that were more than four years old. The study also noted that Britons were sitting on what then amounted to nearly $400 million in unused herbs and spices.

Given the far larger population of the U.S. and assuming that Americans and Britons have similar spice-saving habits, the dollar value for unused spices in the U.S. would be nearly five times the rate in the U.K.

McCormick & Company MKC, -0.25%, the prominent U.S.-based spice company, says it regularly fields inquiries from consumers who have McCormick products that are more than 20 years old.

Guilty!