Canned foods??? Forget everything you've been told...

FDA | ~1997 | Dale Blumenthal

[ComputerGuy]

A can of Ham & Muthas from ‘67 ought to have reached critical mass by now.

[Squantos]

BTTT !

[who knows what evil?]

...of course; we ALL know about Spam...

[RightField]

survival bump

[mware]

We went into my grand-mom basement last Thanksgiving and found a gallon of dandelion wine she made. Mind you grand-mom passed on in 1976.

Good Lord NASA could use that stuff as rocket fuel.

It made for an interesting Thanksgiving evening.

[libertarian27]

Back in the day (few of years ago)canned food would have undecipherable manufacturer codes - now they have use by dates and they are pretty short lived(most under 2 years)

The longest sell by code dates I’ve seen lately (on regular store-bought cans) are on Goya canned fruit juices - they go past 5 years.

Is this new practice of dating canned foods for safety or to sell more canned foods?

[BlueLancer]

"...of course; we ALL know about Spam..."

BUT I DON'T LIKE SPAM!!

[arthurus]

A lot of those “expiration” dates are there because FDA requires them and the manufacturers are happy to use them in order to sell more.

[hennie pennie]

*ping*

[rightly_dividing]

ping.

[TomGuy]

There have been several of these ‘survival’ and ‘expiration date’ threads on FR.

Good information.

I started rotating some canned/boxed items. I had moved more to a fresh fruits & veggies diet for a while, so I had some shelf items that were several years old.

I use a common sense approach:

= Make sure the can isn't damaged to allow air/bacteria in. That includes any rust or corrosion spots, which can happen in a humid environment.

= Make sure the can isn't bulging.

= When opened, smell it. If there is questionable odor or discoloration, dump it. Some foods are more susceptible to shorter shelf life.

For boxed items, dry pasta can probably last centuries, as long as it is kept from any humidity. Boxed products that contain ‘rising’ elements (yeast/baking powder) have a shorter shelf life.

I now use a marker to ‘date’ items so the ‘date’ is easily visible. I just mark 10, 11, 12, etc., for the year and shelve in year groups. That way, I can quickly glance to see which items may be getting near the expiration.

Because I live in a humid environment and because many boxed items have contents in paper, rather than plastic envelopes. Insects can bore through the paper into the product, so I put those items in plastic zip bags for storage. That keeps them humidity and bug free.

[Note: This does not always dissuade rodent creatures from chewing through, so if rodents are a problem, place the items in a protective container.]

[Vaduz]

Ball glass jars and lids to increase in sales?.

[The Great RJ]

The steamboat Bertrand museum is in a national wildlife preserve about 8 miles west of Missouri Valley, IA just off of I-29. It is well worth the stop if you are driving on I-29 and the birds flocking in the fall of the year are an added bonus.

The steamboat was a floating hardware store and in addition to food stuffs was carrying hundreds of other items all remarkably preserved.

[barb-tex]

one of my favorites to can is Chicken legs. You can usually find them on sale. De bone by pressure cooking for 15 min. Solid pack in pint jars cover with stock and process at 15# for 30 min. I usually get 6 jars of meat and 5-8 jars of stock, Usually at a cost of about $5. Of course it still tastes more or less like chicken. I was able to save the meat in the freezer during the power outages of Hurricane Rita & Ike. since I don't have a garden, I don't usually do vegetables unless I can find frozen ones on sale. A pressure cooker. is a valuable tool in the coming hard times.

[PowderMonkey]

LOL! "MEAL,COMBAT,INDIVIDUAL" Though appreciative of their nutritional value, I still can't choke down a spoonful of limas.

[AFreeBird]

RubberMade tubs are good for stockpiling.

[x1stcav]

I occasionally enjoyed them, but only very occasionally.

You’re right, though...if I came on a can of them now I’d have to be starving to risk it.

[ComputerGuy]

The other Corpsman in my platoon would eat them, but only if they were made by Oscar Mayer. I still rag on him about being a culinary snob. As for me, I never had to eat any. My diet consisted mainly of Turkey Loaf and Ham & Eggs, Chopped.

[djf]

Rubbermade tubs - that’s what I use.

I have over 20 of them full of beans, pasta, crackers, gravy mixes, you name it...

[Steve0113]

FYI.