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Really old cans of soup


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I was clearing out some storage today, and I stumbled across ten-year old cans of gourmet chowder and other such soups that I had forgotten about.

The cans all appeared to be in good condition (some with a small bit of rust).  No apparent botulism-related expansion.

Would it be silly/dangerous to try one?  How long are cans of food good for?  Ten years is a long time, but I have seen advertisements for freeze-dried campfire food that promise a 25-year shelf life, so I don't know.

What do you think?

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3 hours ago, Dave Garrett said:

I used to negotiate supply agreements for pharmaceutical products but did some food agreements too and I’m not sure I agree with the conclusions in this article that’s it’s safe to eat foods with expired dating. The dating is not just “best if used by x date” but also there for safety reasons. 

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Sounds strange for me. Never tried "canned food" neither canned soup. For my tastes, a soup must be done by myself or by my wife, we don´t eat stuff that is canned……, okay if we are lazy or don´t have the necessary time for cooking, then  we eat some cold dishes, Tomatoes, green peppers, goat cheese,  bread, , and if we have more time or the  weather is Cold so there´s not much outdoor activity, we just stay in the kitchen and cook something….

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Opened and used a glass of stewed plums the other day that was about 3 1/2 years beyond the use-by date (for use as a topping for a dish on a Sunday when no shops were open).This was 2 weeks ago and I am still around. :D
But I agree that usually I am very wary of canned foods that are WELL past their use-by date. A couple of months - no worry, but years? No.

 

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7 hours ago, Dave Garrett said:

 

Thanks, Dave!  What I found most informative in the article was that although foods may be safe well after the date listed, the first thing to go is the taste.  In this case, the taste is the only reason for my interest.  So out they go!

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5 hours ago, GA Russell said:

 

Thanks, Dave!  What I found most informative in the article was that although foods may be safe well after the date listed, the first thing to go is the taste.  In this case, the taste is the only reason for my interest.  So out they go!

Reminds me of an "encounter" at a swap meet (when you usually find a number of stalls with non-automotive "vintage" items too) back in the late 80s/early 90s: One stallholder had set up a table with a fair number of new, unopened cartons of cigarettes of 2 or 3 different brands (holding 200 cigs each) that clearly dated back to the immediate pre-war era. The cartons looked clean, tidy and really almost like "off the shelf". On top of the cartons sat a board proclaiming "Can still be smoked!" Apparently the seller had unearthed a stock that had been forgotten for decades and had opened a pack to try out the goods and found them "satisfactory". :D Being a non-smoker I did not dare to ask him what he usually smoked to find these OK and would not have been able to judge for myself anyway ... ^_^

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On 2/27/2020 at 10:23 PM, Brad said:

I used to negotiate supply agreements for pharmaceutical products but did some food agreements too and I’m not sure I agree with the conclusions in this article that’s it’s safe to eat foods with expired dating. The dating is not just “best if used by x date” but also there for safety reasons. 

I think some judgment is certainly called for when trying to determine if something's safe to eat. As long as it doesn't smell or taste "off", I might be OK with it if it was somewhat out of date. Decades out of date, like some of the examples in the article, not so much. I don't automatically toss something just because it's past the date on the packaging, but on the other hand I'm not going to risk getting violently ill if there's even a slight question as to whether something might not be safe to eat. 

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On 2/28/2020 at 4:43 PM, Dave Garrett said:

I think some judgment is certainly called for when trying to determine if something's safe to eat. As long as it doesn't smell or taste "off", I might be OK with it if it was somewhat out of date. Decades out of date, like some of the examples in the article, not so much. I don't automatically toss something just because it's past the date on the packaging, but on the other hand I'm not going to risk getting violently ill if there's even a slight question as to whether something might not be safe to eat. 

It probably depends on the food, I suppose. I just cleaned out one of our refrigerators and saw some cheeses and sausage that were two years past the sell date. They actually looked fine but why take a chance. Out they went. 

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23 hours ago, bresna said:

With all of the food hoarding going on right now, I imagine that this topic will feature prominently in future table conversations among those who bought large quantities of canned products. :) 

Luckily for the hoarders, toilet paper doesn't expire, and when they die, they'll have such incredibly clean asses.

 

 

 

gregmo

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12 minutes ago, gmonahan said:

Luckily for the hoarders, toilet paper doesn't expire, and when they die, they'll have such incredibly clean asses.

 

No idea if the jokes that made the rounds on the social media are the same in the US too but one that is circulating here at the moment is this:

"With all the hording going on in France, the shops have run out of red wine and condoms.

With all the hoarding going on in Germany, the shops have run out of noodles and toilet paper.

Now what does this tell us about ourselves??" ;)

 

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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