hi! thanks you for the welcome. I know unsealed doesn't last as long but i usually have 5 days or so that i can read when i unseal a meal.
It's single player and vanilla! i'm too intimidated by all the official mods to even try any of that yet. I know it wasn't spoiled ingredients. I made those crocks maybe... a month ago in game with crops that had more than 70 days left. the spelt itself was good for another year. I seal the crocks as soon as i can pull the food into them.
and by checking for the cellar: i was doing the room debug (to ensure it reads as a room) as well as looking at the spoilage rate (.26x) as well as room size (7Lx7Wx4H) based on what the wiki told me. It's all stone/cobblestone with 2 blocks between the roof and open air. though half my cellar is under my workshop.
I logged out to check and my world was made with 1.21.6.
I'm fairly certain this is a bug, but i wanted to check here before i made a report on github or anything.