How long does cream cheese last?

What the sources say

FoodKeeper lists cream cheese at 2 weeks in the fridge from the date of purchase, and the Nebraska Extension storage chart gives the same 2 weeks.¹²

For plain cream cheese, FoodKeeper lists freezing as not recommended, and Nebraska Extension and the National Center for Home Food Preservation both say it does not freeze well.¹²³

The National Center for Home Food Preservation makes one exception: cream cheese combined with heavy cream can be frozen for later use in dips or as icing on frozen sandwich loaves.³

The NDSU Extension food storage guide describes what freezing does: cream cheese becomes crumbly when frozen, though it may still be used for cooking.⁵

For people at higher risk of Listeria infection, including women who are pregnant, CDC lists cream cheese made with pasteurized milk among its safer cheese choices.⁶

The Nebraska chart marks cream cheese as not safe at room temperature, in a pantry or a cupboard.²

The National Center for Home Food Preservation puts cream cheese in the same group as cottage cheese and ricotta cheese, all three of which it says do not freeze well.³

The 2 weeks from Nebraska Extension is for a refrigerator at 40 °F or below, and its freezer column, where cream cheese is marked as not freezing well, covers 0 °F or below.²

Neither FoodKeeper nor the Nebraska chart gives a separate time for an opened pack.¹²