Shelf life of hog casings

[Captainslug]

I have some store purchased hog casings leftover for a few years. Anyone have an idea what the shelflife is?  They are still in their bag never been unsealed have been refrigerated. Any idea what the ultimate life span of these casings would be?

[tskeeter]

I use product from Syracuse Casing.  If I remember correctly, their web site says six months.

In any event, casings aren't expensive enough to risk making people sick.

[Habanero Smoker]

The shelf life of casings depends on how they are prepared at the manufacture. If they are packed in salt the shelf life is one year or more, some state they will last infinitely. I've had some casing for over 5 years and they are still good; as long as you keep them salted. Even if they give off a bad odor, they are still good. Preflushed casing self life is 6 months to a year. Sausage Maker had some good information on casings, and they stated the self life of casings is almost infinite; when they are kept salted. They are rebuilding their website, and the casing information has not been setup on their site yet.

The below link is a good source for natural casing information:
Natural Casing FAQ's