Canned foods

I doubt the stuff will kill you or even make you sick, but the contents will probably taste like metal and the BPA levels will be especially high. Unless you are living in poverty, and have no other choice, I would suggest throwing them out.

My guess is that they are still good, but the stuff still isn't so expensive I would bet my health on it. Obviously, if the cans are leaking or swollen I would through them away.

I have often suspected that expiration dates are shorter than needed to get us to throw away good food and buy more.

I've actually been guilty of asking myself that question when opening my cupboard and noting something I want to use.

Manufacturers use the dates to remind the stores to up-date their stock is what I established mainly and here, in Australia we actually have Rite Price which is a store that purely sells outdated canned goods amongst other goods for a cheaper price, much cheaper.. The places are packed.. I had trouble contemplating that.

I found a really good article which advises some canned food is good up to 5 years, others 18 months... And, as others have stated, throw away any un-opened canned food that has a leak, or has buldged.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Nutrition-Health-Food-Labeling-646/food-expiration-dates-faqs.aspx

I am working at the social services and alot of people that come and pick up some food from the food bank are complaining that the food we give them are bad and should be thrown away because they expired 2 years ago. But thats all that we have to give. The Northern store was generous enough to donate the foodto us.

It really depends on two things: what is the food and what is the condition of the tin (or other metal) can itself. Canned foods are vacuum-packed. If the integrity of the vacuum is compromised by a defect in the metal, e.g. a dent, the food inside will spoil. Meat products will spoil faster than vegetable matter.

Back in the 1960s, when I was acting battalion supply officer in an Army National Guard unit, my crew, in cleaing out a warehouse, came across a supply of World War II combat rations (C-Rations) dating back to the 1940s. According to Army Regulations, we were supposed to destroy anything with that old a date on it. But some of us decided to take a box of this stuff home and see if any of it seemed to be still edible.

The upshot: everything in thos C-Rations was just fine to eat. Not delicious, but quite edible. We're talking about canned goods more than 20 years old here.

"Not delicious", eh? Ever eat that crap when it was fresh?

yeh, yeh, I know -- it wasn't anything even approaching 'delicious' even then.

In the Navy, in the mid 1960s, I ate dehydrated food from WWII. As they say, it was not good, but I ate it without becoming ill.

What do can codes mean?
Cans must exhibit a packing code to enable tracking of the product in interstate commerce. This enables manufacturers to rotate their stock as well as to locate their products in the event of a recall.

These codes, which appear as a series of letters and/or numbers, might refer to the date or time of manufacture. They aren't meant for the consumer to interpret as "use-by" dates. There is no book or Web site that tells how to translate the codes into dates.

Cans may also display "open" or calendar dates. Usually these are "best if used by" dates for peak quality.

In general, high-acid canned foods such as tomatoes, grapefruit and pineapple will retain best quality on the shelf for 12 to 18 months; low-acid canned foods such as meat, poultry, fish and most vegetables will retain best quality on the shelf for 2 to 5 years — if the can remains in good condition and has been stored in a cool, clean, dry place.

- Taken from the FDA site

Some of my cans are pretty old. There's that unopened can of water chestnuts with some unintelligible code... waiting to go into potstickers. There's the can of fava beans by Progresso that expire in Feb 2009, waiting for me to make a soup or hummus from them. I've never had canned anything that went bad, but I know to watch for signs of botulism. I do know about BPA as a problem, but I hardly buy any cans at all anymore and very little in plastic, and I'm an oldie not cooking for others and don't worry about it.

On using the expired cans at a food bank, I've complete sympathy for using them - there is such a struggle in some places to have enough, San Francisco for one place. But, I suppose there could be legal consequences, so I'd see what a higher-up would say, or if there is no higher up, I dunno. Is the food bank run by the city or a donor group?


edit - just read EdgarB's link - hey, that's an FDA site, seems like a good guide for what's ok.

Seems my link "copied" those exact words:)

When do you throw away canned goods from grocery store?
Some, but not all canned goods have "best by" dates printed on the can but most can be stored beyond that date. Rotate your canned goods so that you eat the oldest first within a target date of 1 year. Here are some additional more specific guidelines from the USDA: Store canned foods in a cool, dry place. Low acid foods such as such as meat and vegetables can be store for up to 2 to 5 years. High acid foods can be kept for up to 18 months.


CAUTION: NEVER eat or even taste foods from a can which has rust, leaks, cracks, bulges or has any foul odor. If the contents "spurt" out when the can is opened, dispose of it. Don't use food from badly-dented cans (small dents are not a problem). These could be signs of botulism and it can be deadly.

Why not go to the site Edgar refers to and print it out and hand it to them?

It's natural that they "think" there may be something wrong with the food and this would clear it up, but they also should not be complaining as you guys are obviously trying to do some good out there...

2 YEARS !!!!!!!! i know that u shouldn't eat that. u should throw it out

Bullshit.