All soy sauces are not created equal.

We suggest you do not freeze the product because it could damage the carton causing it to break. Also, freezing may breakdown the stabilizers in the product, which would comprise the quality of the soymilk.

We cannot guarantee the product after the printed date and therefore recommend consuming the soymilk before the "Best By" date.

If you are concerned that your soymilk is spoiled, we recommend that you not drink it. Some signs that your soymilk may have "gone bad" are: unusual smell, taste or color to your soymilk, a bloated container, a puncture or cut on the carton, soymilk that has gone past the expiration date printed on the top, or soymilk that doesn't pour out smoothly or has turned "lumpy".

Each PEARL Soymilk carton is marked with a "Best By" date on the top. As long as the carton is unopened, it can be enjoyed until that date. We recommend that you store soymilk, like all food products, in your cupboard or pantry away from direct heat and sunlight in order to preserve its flavor. (Once a carton is opened, soymilk must be kept in the refrigerator.) PEARL Soymilk will maintain its freshness and flavor for 7 to 10 days after it is opened.

PEARL Soymilk uses aseptic packaging so this process involves UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) pasteurization.

An aseptic carton is a sterile, airtight specially-produced package made for keeping food products fresh without refrigeration. Many foods and beverages like soymilk, soups, tomatoes and sauces are now available in aseptic cartons. There is no need to refrigerate unopened cartons. However, once opened, PEARL Soymilk should be kept in the refrigerator.

There is no inner seal that you need to remove from the soymilk carton. However, the cap has a tamper-evident ring that is broken when the product is opened. The screw-top cap is designed to automatically cut the foil seal inside the carton when you first twist off the cap. You will see three plastic prongs on the inside of the cap and these prongs cut the foil seal on the carton. Before purchasing the product at store, please check that the tamper-evident ring has not been broken.

PEARL Soymilk is ideal for use in your favorite recipes. It can be used whenever a recipe calls for dairy milk. In some recipes that rely on milk to "set-up" or thicken, you may need to add cornstarch to chilled soymilk before cooking to achieve a smooth, creamier consistency. Because soymilk is lower in fat, it will not thicken like dairy milk.

No. PEARL Soymilk has no added preservatives.

PEARL Soymilk uses only whole, organic soybeans, which are not genetically modified. The soybeans are grown in the USA on organic farms. Our soymilk products are also manufactured in the United States.

PEARL Soymilk is certified as organic by the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) and our soymilk is made from whole organic soybeans. The NOP sets farming practice standards and labeling standards for food ingredients and finished products. These standards must be met for an ingredient or product to be qualified as "organic".

PEARL Soymilk does not contain any ingredients of animal origin such as meat, fowl, fish, crustaceans or mollusks, and does not contain any animal products such as dairy, egg, honey or bees wax.

The 32-oz. carton of PEARL Original Organic Soymilk is sweetened with malt syrup which is derived from barley, so it contains gluten. PEARL Coffee, Chocolate, Creamy Vanilla, Green Tea and Unsweetened Soymilks do not contain ingredients that are known to be a source of gluten, but they have not been tested to confirm they are gluten-free. If you believe you are gluten intolerant, we recommend that you consult your physician to develop an appropriate diet.

Yes. All PEARL Soymilk flavors are lactose-free and can be enjoyed by people with the condition known as being lactase-deficient. Lactase is an enzyme in the body that facilitates the breakdown of lactose—the natural sugar found in cow's milk. Some indications you may be lactose intolerant are bloating, severe gas, stomach cramps or nausea. These will occur between 30 minutes and 2 hours after drinking dairy milk. If you believe you are lactose intolerant, we recommend that you consult your healthcare professional to develop an appropriate diet.

None of our PEARL Soymilk flavors contain dairy-derived ingredients. If you believe you suffer from dairy allergies, we recommend that you consult your doctor to develop an appropriate diet.

For the various Japanese-style soup mixes and the Chinese-Style Seafood, Thai-Style Tom Yum and Korean-Style Tofu Jjigae Soup Mixes, they will maintain their peak quality for one year after their production date. A four-digit production date code (Year-Month-Day) is printed at the bottom of the package back. The code reflects the date the mix was made. The first number refers to the last digit of the year. The second number or letter* stands for the month with the last two digits representing the day of the month. For example, a package has “2304” as the code. The “2” refers to 2022 and the “3” is for the third month of the year so it was produced on March 4, 2022. *Please note the letter “O” is used for the month of October and “Y” represents November and “Z” is for December

We suggest refrigerating them after opening and using within a month of opening for the best quality.

The sesame oil does not require refrigeration after opening, but we suggest storing it in a cool, dark cupboard or pantry.

Please click here for more information about our corporate policy on animal testing.

Our tabletop dispenser was first introduced in Japan in 1961 and it is now recognized worldwide as an iconic symbol for Kikkoman Soy Sauce. The dispenser bottle was designed by Kenji Ekuan, a well-known industrial designer. In 2005, the dispenser was added to New York’s Museum of Modern Art Collection. To learn more about our dispenser, please click here. To open the dispenser bottle, first remove the outer plastic seal and cap from the bottle. Then, remove the plastic insert from either inside of the cap or on top of the bottle and screw the cap back on. If you have difficulty twisting off the cap, we suggest running the unopened bottle under hot water for a minute and then use a rubber gripper or a wet cloth to carefully twist off the cap.

The all-purpose Kikkoman Soy Sauce and the Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce are brewed at the Kikkoman Foods, Inc. plant in Walworth, WI where there are no peanuts or tree nuts ingredients used. Please check the back of your label to see where the product was made.

Please click here for a chart of Kikkoman products containing ingredients that are part of the top eight allergens listed in the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), as well as other common allergens, such as sesame and mustard.

Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauces have a small amount of alcohol since they are all made with traditionally brewed Kikkoman Soy Sauce. Our Soy Sauce is a fermented product like beer and is made from wheat, soybeans, salt and water. During the fermentation process, the wheat starches are broken down to sugars and part of the sugar is changed into alcohol. Also, some of our teriyaki sauces have wine or mirin (rice wine) as an ingredient.

Kikkoman Soy Sauces contain greater than 2% alcohol by volume. The alcohol is a result of the fermentation process.  Like wine or beer, our soy sauces are brewed and they are made from wheat, soybeans, salt and water. During fermentation, the wheat starches are broken down to sugars and part of the sugar is changed into alcohol.

Yes. Kikkoman offers a variety of Gluten-Free products, including soy sauces, panko, and other sauces. These products are certified as gluten-free (less than 10ppm) by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO). To find stores that carry these items, please try our Product Locator.

While we recommend our regular soy sauces be refrigerated for quality, our less sodium soy sauces and other sauces should be refrigerated after opening. For the freshest tasting sauce, we recommend using the sauces within one month of opening.

Once opened, the soy sauce will start to lose its freshness and the flavor will begin to change. By refrigerating the sauce, the flavor and quality will remain at their peak for a longer period. As long as no water or other ingredients have been added to the soy sauce, it would not spoil if it had not been refrigerated.

For the best quality, we recommend using the sauces within one month of opening.

Kikkoman started to print Best By Dates on retail supermarket items in the year 2008. For 2-quart containers or larger, they may still have a production code printed on the container’s neck instead. The code is the top (or first set) of printed numbers and letters. The three-digit number before the letters refers to the Day-of-the-Year (like the Ordinal Date or Julian Day Calendar), followed by letters that represent the year. All our sauces manufactured in 2022 will have the letters “BB”. The letters “BA” were used for 2021, “BX” were used for 2020 and “AW” for 2019. If your Kikkoman product has any other letters, then the product was made over five years ago. For unopened products in plastic bottles, the soy sauce should be used within two years of its production date code, and, the teriyaki marinade & sauce, rice vinegars, and other Asian sauces generally should be used within 18 months.

Our Best By Date is written as Day, Month and Year. For example, a printed Best By Date of 10MAR23 would indicate the unopened product should be used before March 10, 2023 for the best quality.

The Best By Date is printed on the front or back of the bottle close to the cap. Please click here to view some examples.