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How come packaged cookies, even those without preservatives, don't go bad after a few days and have such long shelf lives? Is it because of the packaging? Especially cookies that contain ingredients like milk... doesn't the milk in the cookies go bad??

ilovecookies
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    I'll write this up as a proper answer lately but it is down to two major factors. Not all preservatives are recognizable, especially natural ones. Foods open to air spoil much more quickly. – Terry Oct 10 '15 at 00:02

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The sugar answers are spot on.

Also, let's give a shout out to modern packaging--particularly the vapor barriers in use today. Light years ahead of the old days. That vapor barrier is a significant contributor to the longevity of the modern packaged cookie.

Also impressive, is Modified Atmosphere Packaging. That allows products today that were unthinkable 20 years or so ago. Pre-sliced lunch meats, shredded cheeses, Lunchables, prefab sandwiches etc.

Erica
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Paulb
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Most packaged cookies have one major preservative called sugar. Sugar (and salt) preserve foods by means of osmosis: they draw water out of the food's cells, and leave so little moisture that it'd take way longer for hostile microorganisms to go. There's also a hypothesis (quoted for example in BBC's Focus Magazine) that the sugar/salt draw water molecules out of the cells of the microorganisms themselves, thus killing them.

So what keeps the cookies is the same thing that keeps jams and gives honey eternal shelf life: enormous percentage of sugar.

Catija
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  • Honey was actually used as an antiseptic in the French revolution. – Dissenter Oct 11 '15 at 18:47
  • @Dissenter, How? –  Oct 12 '15 at 08:26
  • Medicinal honey goes back to ancient times--applied direct to wound. Google it, very interesting. Note: pasteurized supermarket honey may not work well. Raw honey probably best. A variety called Manuka Honey seems to be favored. – Paulb Oct 13 '15 at 12:04
  • Paint my face green and call me "Roberta", that's right! I even found this peer reviewed (Iranian, but yet) summary-article: http://1.usa.gov/1OzCN18 –  Oct 13 '15 at 17:51