The winches strained and squealed and gradually the steamboat Bertrand was excavated from the silt and sand of the Missouri River and brought to the surface. The year was 1968. The Bertrand, a shallow-draft riverboat, had caught a snag north of Omaha, Nebraska and sank on April 1, 1865. The vessel was carrying goods to the gold camps in Montana and over 10,000 cubic feet of cargo were covered in the salvage effort – clothes, tools and medicine.
And plenty of canned foods including dried beef, oysters, peaches, mustard from France, and assorted brandied fruits. In 1974 a selection of the food from the hold of the Bertrand was sent to the National Food Processors Association for testing. The appearance of the fruits and vegetables and meats was somewhat gnarly, it was not a taste sensation and most of the nutritional value had long since evaporated but the scientists concluded the edibles were 100 percent safe to eat. There was no trace of microbial growth whatsoever.
And you are worried about the expiration date on the canned goods in your pantry?
Related: How To Preserve Beef in Glass Jars
What Makes Canned Food Unsafe to Consume?
There is only one thing that will impact the safety of the food consumers eat – contamination. The inside of a sealed can is a sterile environment. No air equals no microbes equals no harm to the food. The natural process of decay will sap the vitamins and savoriness of the contents but the food will carry no harmful diseases.
Not all food reacts the same way to its canned incarceration, however. High-acid foods – tomatoes, citrus and other fruits – do not support food poisoning bacteria in any conditions and the offending germs will shortly die in such an environment. Low-acid foods – mushrooms, meats, green beans – typically receive a zap of sterilizing heat before canning. So, if faced with a can of food of unknown origins and age the higher the acid the safer the contents.
A compromised can will be cause for concern. Any dents or damage in a can’s exterior may be an indication of seal issues. Any air that may seep into the interior can lead to disease-causing infection by bacteria. If a can is bulging or leaking it should be disposed of without consideration.
Fortunately there is no reason to worry about a can’s history before consuming its contents. That is because nature has provided each and every one of us with the best arbiter of a food’s safety available – our reliable senses. If food from a newly opened can looks rancid or smalls bad do not eat it, regardless of any date stamped on its lid.
Related: How the Early Pioneers Preserved Food and What They Ate
So What Should I Know about Expirations Dates?
The first thing you should about expiration dates know is where they come from in the first place. And that is not from the federal government or any consumer watchdog agency. Unless you are buying infant formula the federal government has no interest in dating food – and dates on baby formula are only concerning nutritional quality, not safety. Some 20 state governments meddle in the expiration date business but that is again about food quality and not safety. And they are not issuing expiration dates but mandating that they are included on packaging.
The expiration dates are provided by manufacturers. And what exactly is “expiring?” There are actually two different guidelines consumers will encounter with canned food, a “sell by date” and a “use by” or “best by” date:
1 – “Sell by” date. This date is provided by manufacturers for the benefit of retailers. It is a suggestion – and only a suggestion – as to when the product should be removed from shelves. It is the manufacturer’s recommendation of when the product is at peak quality. With that date stamped prominently on a container the supermarket is obliged to remove the product or risk being sued should something go wrong – even though the contents are perfectly safe. That is why stores will throw out voluminous amounts of perfectly good food and sell products at deeply discounted prices when the ominous deadline looms.
2 – “Use by” date. This date is the manufacturer’s suggestion to the consumer of how long the product will be at peak quality. After that, the cookies may not be as crisp or the fruit salad as bright but the food is still fine to eat. It is the “use by” date that is the source of so many domestic squabbles as food lingers in pantries months and years beyond its supposed point of perfection.
How Do the Manufacturers Determine These Dates?
Again there are no rules and regulations on issue form any government agency. Instead, there are test kitchens and laboratory scrutiny and taste tests with panels of volunteers all paid and administered by the manufacturers of the products themselves. What does that mean to consumers? Well, there are no ways to know when a can is plucked off a supermarket shelf how rigorous these tests have been before any date is stamped on the can. Or if any method beyond pure guesswork was employed at all.
The date could be conservative, to be “on the safe side” of consumption for quality. Or a date may come from a formula for production that was used years ago. As Bill Murray reminded us in Ghostbusters, “It’s more of a guideline than a rule.”
So What Should You Do With Your Canned Foods After the Expiration Date?
Eat Up. The food is almost certainly fine, especially if only a reasonable amount of time has passed from any dates arbitrarily imposed on the package. If you want to live by a date on a can the United States Department of Agriculture says that high-acid canned goods should be good (and this is quality, not safety) for 18 months and everything else has a shelf life of 5 years.
It is estimated that Americans throw ten cents of every dollar’s worth of food into the trash. That’s works out to over $1,000 worth of eats per family – most of it still perfectly fine to consume – each year. Not only is that an unnecessary bite out of the personal pocketbook but food is a principle component of landfills and contributor to methane that is warming the planet. Not to mention all the fossil fuels and resources that were squandered to produce the food. It’s best for your wallet, it’s best for the planet – eat it.
Keep Them Stored. Canned goods will not last forever. A long time, yes, but not forever. You should probably eat everything you buy sometime in your lifetime. But you can maximize the shelf life of cans by minimizing temperature fluctuations. A steady environment of between 50 and 70 degrees is ideal but whatever you can provide avoid excessive heat and freezing.
And the drier the better. Moisture can begin the deterioration of aluminum of tin cans and will also contribute to mold and bacteria should the contents ever be exposed to oxygen. Sunlight will heat the contents and also negatively affect the shelf life of cans. It is not happenstance that people have stored food in cool, dry places for hundreds of years.
Compost. Since the food is likely still good to eat it will make a fine compost. Even if the canned goods have some preservatives or other chemicals the aerobic compost microbes will make short work of these and any other small contaminants. This also applies to any potentially spoiled food in a bulging or dented can.
Depending on your composting situation it is advisable to toss the canned food contents towards the center of the pile to minimize the temptation to rodents and other scurrying animals from scoring an easy meal. You can also dig a trench, dump the food into the ground, and cover it up with dirt.
Donate. Enlightened food banks will accept cans with expired dates – up to a point. Do not expect any food bank to take anything. Damaged and bulging cans will never be accepted. Others won’t accept any food beyond the package date. Check with your local charities for instructions; many have arrived at a policy regarding expiration dates.
Sell. Some people believe the best way to explode the food expiration myth is to commercialize it. Doug Rauch, once a president of Trader Joe’s supermarket chain owned by the German family trust of Theo Albrecht, has proposed a solution for the food that accounts for 40 percent of trash that winds up in America’s garbage. He calls it “Daily Table” and his business model is to create and deliver nutritious and affordable quick-eat meals from all of the “expired” food in grocery stores that can be obtained with deep discounts or for free.
Many grocery stores are already integrated with food banks and shelters but much of that food can not be dumped or passed on because of liability issues. Entrepreneurs are increasingly coming up with schemes to churn this daily dump of food into money-making enterprises. Some day soon they may be looking to buy back canned food in private pantries.
Recycle. You can open the cans, wash them out and recycle the metal. This conscientious act does require some care, especially if you have damaged cans and jars. There are even government white papers dispensed just to outline the detoxification process involved in disposing of the contents of unsafe home canned foods.
At the very least wear latex gloves and be ready to attack any spillage with a good bleach solution. The potential botulinum toxin can be dangerous if it contacts the skin, not just when it is ingested. But when the cans are emptied and rinsed the metal containers can be safely recycled.
Toss Them. In economics it is called “sunk costs.” You have already spent the money and the salvage value of the purchase is so diminished that there is nothing left to do but throw the cans out. You may want to double up on the plastic garbage bags to be certain the cans do not break out and break open on the way to their final resting place in a landfill.
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Sell them to “Preppers” and survivalists for $.50 on the dollar all day long.
Bought. Eaten. Enjoyed.
Thanks!
Lol. I’d buy and eat as long as cans aren’t building.
Hold on to it for the visibility factor. Marauders during a SHTF scenario won’t take the time to pillage what is concealed when they have the visible easily accessible. As is the norm in our society–instant gratification–no one is likely to check dates. If you have already bugged out, pillagers are less likely to dismember your domicile seeking food when you have left such a visible bounty.
Well said! I like this!
Sweet idea
I have been eating rotated foods from 2012-2103. Some of this included tomatoes. I have eaten beets that were 10 yrs old, and taste was not diminished. I have only had a can or two of tomatoes, one can of evaporated milk, and one jar of mushroom gravy go bad in a 4-6 yr span after the dates. Food not used after the best by date is just wasted IMHO.
I agree. I ate Army C-Rations in basic training in 1975 that were almost as old as I was. They were made in 1956. I was born in 1954. I’m still here!
I see that we were in the army at the same time and ate the same stuff. There are some people that refuse to believe we were eating g-rations that old. To be honest they tasted pretty good when you were hungry and the cigs also held up pretty good as well.
That was c-rations not g-rations my mistake.
Me too, I grew up eating, for > a decade, abandoned C-rations scavenged from the bivouac of army troops on the airfield at a SAC base during the Cuban missile crisis – hence expiration dates bother me not. Bulging exploding cans, I won’t mess with. My mom cooked the Spam for dinner now and then and she LOVED the fruit cakes! me not so much. I remember the crackers and jam? Ahh the good ole days.
Obvious – if you have the storage room – keep it – if nothing else use it for a payment to any raiders that come your way … they aren’t looking for a fight if avoidable – food will satisfy them initially ….
If a can isn’t bulging, rusty or damaged, it stays on my shelf. When I think I might eat the product, I see how it looks and smells. It the can spurts when opening, it gets tossed. I regularly eat foods that are well past expiration, and not just canned goods. Just last week I enjoyed a package of Knorr side dish that expired in 2011. I’ve also found canisters of raisins will keep for several years after opening.
When I went to military basic training in the late 70’s we went on a field training exercise. This was before MRE’s and we were given “C” rations for a couple of meals. The dates stamped on the olive drab cans were from 1958-1961, older than most of us. We were hungry and ate the food with no ill effects, there was lots of salt, sugar and fat in the food, but it actually tasted decent. Exercise good judgement like the article says about canned food, and use the expiration date only as a suggestion because it will likely be good for many years after.
Also went thru Basic in late 70’s–79 to be exact–when your hungry that 1959 packaging date didn’t mean anything–crackers were more than a tad stale and the john wayne bars were at best horridly waxy tasting AND I never could gut the green eggs and ham , lol–all the rest of it warmed up on the exhaust manifold of the old jeeps tasted pretty good. Bottom line is the date doesn’t mean anything–if it don’t stink to high heaven it fine.
You’re making me get all misty eyed. And the four pack of cigs and the Chiclet gum. Life was good.
When I was Army, grunt 66-68, our c-rats were dated 1943 and 44!!! Although a lot of the guys didn’t like and discarded some of the items, I took what they didn’t want, humped it, and I NEVER was hungry. Matter of fact, when they finally were hungry enough to eat it, I even made a little money selling it back to ’em, as my fee for humpin’ it for ’em!!!
I was also a grunt humping the boonies in 66-68. Our c-rations were from ww2 and tasted good. Lima beans with cheese, cigs, and toilet paper were number one. I didn’t drink coffee, so I traded the packets for cigs. Guys in the rear area would raid the supply rooms for cases of rations.
I, for one, prefer the taste of C-rats over MREs. Remember the first MREs? The packaging tasted better and you needed a lot of water – at least a quart or two – with them. Sometimes I miss being in but then I just take a look at my case of MREs and am then thankful it’s done. Twenty years were enough.
I preferred the C-rations, too. The commissary in Germany sold them for a while when I was there in the late 70’s/early 80’s. My kids enjoyed them, for something different, and they weren’t bad. I really didn’t care for the MREs. We traded MREs with the Koreans during one exercise. Their’s were mostly rice, but they had a lot of spicy flavor.
Unless the can is rusty, damaged at the seams top or bottom, or bulging and well past its best sell date, I have no reason to doubt it’s edibiity. You might open a can of acid vegetables like tomatoes, and check the inner coating along the seams – any rust signs and it is history. Otherwise, I’d eat it with no worries. Same goes for packaged foods like rice, beans, spaghetti, noodles. If there are no bugs feasting on them, and the package is intact – it’s edible. 15 year old MRE’s are edible if the heavy plastic bags are not deteriorated or punctured. The taste may have suffered over time, but who cares? When you are very hungry, nothing matters if it looks and smells OK.
“There is only one thing that will impact the safety of the food consumers eat – contamination.”
…such as the crap within the plastic liners the insides of most contemporary cans are lined with. Eat food with potentially leached “junk” or starve, no choice at all, yet still worth a thought.
As a kid Mom bought and stored “sale” items and home canned food in a room in the cellar back east. Stuff was rotated, new in back older in front, even before dates on items. Many items were there many, many years. We were taught to use our eyes and noses. Puffy cans tossed, items look or smell bad, they too were tossed. We in America waste so much food it makes me sick. I am from a BIG family and food was rationed and hunger a normal condition. Even our senior years, none of us are substantially overweight and none are obese.
There was no free food at school! I see all these kids getting free breakfasts or lunches and a great percentage of the food gets thrown out. They don’t like it!!! Trust me IF they were truly hungry, they would eat it and I would be happy these programs exist.
However, the majority of AMERICAN’S have no real idea what hunger feels like, yet, how to appreciate what they have, eat responsibly, much less know how to cook from scratch. That’s why obesity is epidemic here. Sadly they will find out soon! (I’m born-raised in USA)
What about anaerobic bacteria like botulism?
More likely to be in home canned items than commercially canned.
I worked in and supervised hospital clinical labatories for 44 years, and never saw a case of botulism. As said many times look, smell, and observe. Bent or leaking cans should go as if liquid can come out air containing bacteria can go in. Home canned goods were the usual course of acquiring botulism.
personally the green eggs and ham was my favorite. I’ve eaten many 10 year old canned goods with no illnesses, and I save the bulging cans to give to the riff-raff that comes to kill, steal, and destroy!
Last week wife and I ate cream of mushroom soup that had an expiration date of August 2015. That was two weeks ago. Food poisoning is sure slow acting. Somehow I thought I would be doubled over in a couple of hours.
Saturday night I made a casserole using another of the 2015 cans of mushroom soup. This is Monday night. Same comment. I still have four cans to go. If I suddenly stop posting, you will know the reason why.
I about shrieked when I saw my uncle ready to throw away a can of soup that had an expiration date of about a week prior. Thank goodness he listened to me when I told him I eat canned food at least two years after its expiration date and never never gotten ill from it, and he put the soup back for another day. After two years, some fruits and veggies lose their firmness, and they seem to lose their taste. Tomato products can start to taste a bit like the can, but that can be covered (if you don’t want to toss it) by plenty of spices.
If you’re really a prepper, recycle the empty cans by making hobo stoves, frying pans, and other cooking utensils so that you can cook what came out of them. What empty cans you don’t need, make extra stoves and sell or give to others.
..and they make Great ‘moulds’ for making Bacon Grease Soap! 🙂 Make, Mould, Dry, Warm slightly to remove, Slice into Rounds, Cure and Wash-up for dinner…
Another reason why commercial canners put short dates on the cans/packaging is a marketing ploy. Sell more, faster to the retail vendors.
I bake round loaves of bread in cans. Early years 77-87 at the mission church we were given lots of boxes containing WWII C rats. My kids looked for those cans to heat an eat when I was busy. They especially loved the canned cake.
Older but still sealed veggies and tomatoes were often the base of a good soup.
We threw out very little in those years. Leftovers, if there were any when into a gallon glass jar in the fridge that was labeled simply soup. It didn’t matter if it was spaghetti or mixed vegetables, it went to the soup pot. Bullion helped season things and everyone ate a hot lunch.
My son and I were cleaning up my Moms old home. We found cases of canned goods in a storage area in the kitchen. Some were as much as 12 years old. We’re feasting on #10 cans of fruits, lots of vegetables and a case of TVP. The peanut butter was bulging so it’s history except some saved as mouse bait for traps used near barrels of feed for my chickens, ducks, and rabbits. The yeast isn’t viable any longer but the vinegar is fine. Soups were ok but not great. Temperature averages 50_55 F in that storage space. #10 cans of refried beans were intact but showing deteriorization of the metal inside the cans. We heated and ate it anyway. Its been months now and we are still here so I guess it was ok.
I’d be more afraid of an unknown mushroom than a past date can.
food that may go bad is like insurance that you hope not to use
Hello. I have over 300 miscellaneous food items with expired dates ranging from 2015 upwards that I would like to sell. I live in Minnesota. How do I connect with preppers that may be interested in buying them? Thanks and I love this site.
that distroing at date is stupid rotate cans or roll them they will last over a year…All that needs dune is move salt from bottem so it dosent start rust….
Me too, I grew up eating, for > a decade, abandoned C-rations scavenged from the bivouac of army troops on the airfield at a SAC base during the Cuban missile crisis – hence expiration dates bother me not. Bulging exploding cans, I won’t mess with. My mom cooked the Spam for dinner now and then and she LOVED the fruit cakes! me not so much. I remember the crackers and jam? Ahh the good ole days.
My mother-in-law gives us all the cans from she gets from the food pantry. She goes to 3 different ones every month. One that is for the seniors only at the senior center, another for anyone who wants and another for seniors at a church. She will take a can or 2 of apple sauce and a can or 2 of canned vegetables. The rest she will give to us and we don’t know what to do with them. We still have 2 full boxes of refried beans that we cannot pass off to anyone. Our cabinets are full. If she gets dried cranberries, she will give them to us all the time. I love cranberries, but I don’t eat a bag a day. We tell her no and she still gives it to us. I don’t know what to do with the stuff and keeps piling up. We don’t have any other place to store it and am ready to throw them out. I hate tossing food that someone else can use, but we don’t know anyone who can use them.
Donate it to a food bank.
I have found that evaporated milk doesn’t last much past the date on the can. It turns nasty. Also crackers do not last, even in a plastic bag inside a plastic bucket. The smell after a while makes everything in the bucket stink.
It is a shame we can not buy these short out of date products I raised 5 kids on them!!