What is the shelf life of gelatin sheets? Earlier this year, I found a package of gelatin sheets in my cupboard, which looked extremely old. I couldn't exactly tell how old, but the packaging mentioned a refund procedure with the refund price not in Euro, but what I think was either Dutch Guilders, or Belgian Francs, although the price was quite high, mentioning something around 200 of the currency. I assumed that this meant that the package predated the Euro, which meant it was over 10 years old.

I tried to use it in a recipe I learned in a cooking class, but the packaging was already completely broken, making the gelatin exposed to the air. The recipe wasn't that successful, with shreds of undissolved gelatin littering my chocolate mousse. I later was told that the only reason we used gelatin in the cooking class was because we didn't have enough time to properly set the mousse.

Does gelatin keep 12-13 years?
In a sealed package, (not getting into what date may be printed on it for "expiration") practically speaking, sealed and dry, it appears to keep "essentially forever."

Once opened, not nearly so long, though that is not something I've done much personal experimentation with.