# Commercially Canned Goods Storage



## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

I KNOW this subject has been beaten to death but I beg this forum's indulgence one more time! I made the mistake of buying some canned goods in my early days of prepping that I don't want to eat UNLESS the SHTF (ok ok, it's Chef Boyardee crap)...I mean maybe 6 dozen cans! The expiration date is 2014 for the most part. I'm just starting to catalogue all my preps and am including the ex dates on all food/medical products. I've read that many here have eaten commercially canned goods way past their dates but would like to hear more about that. Some sources have said as long as the cans aren't damaged it should go years beyond the dates. I need to know whether I need to eat stuff that is soon to expire and buy more to replace it or just hold on to what I got...


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

I'd save it because I had to be half starved to eat that crap. :ignore:


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

When our store bought cans are close to expiry dates, I donate them to a local food pantry. But, yes, I say canned goods are still edible after the expiry dates, but quality of taste and texture start declining.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I would probably rotate them into use now and replace them with something better. If they were stored in good conditions they Should be fine for awhile after expiry. If there is an emergency do you really want to be stuck eating a ton of food that might make you sick? 

Edit; I don't mean sick because it spoiled


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

The oldest thing I've ever eaten from our stores is a can of tomato soup that got lost in the back of a rack. It was 4 years past it's "best by" date. I'm still here. Right now we're eating tomato and chicken noodle soup that is dated Dec. 2011.

Somewhere in these pages is a link to an army study on shelf life of canned goods. Even at 40 years old they were still edible. Not necessarily palatable, but safe to eat.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

4 er 5 years past should be just fine. Out past that date yer gonna start noticin some difference. That might be in texture, color er taste. Still ya can eat it, just won't be as good as fresh.

I rotate my stuff out an try not ta let it go past 2 years, but that don't mean the older stuff needs ta go. I use canned goods fer shorter term stock. Dehydrated stuff fer longer term stock. Just how I do it.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

If I'm not breaking any rules, Grandpappy has a list of all the shelf life studies.


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## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

Thanks all...I knew I'd take a little ribbing about the canned pasta and I deserve it...yikes, what was I thinking?


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

Yeah.... it's that old adage - store what you eat and eat what you store. Caveat: as long as it's edible. Toilet paper.... hand sanitizer.... things like that - don't eat them.


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## MetalPrepper (Nov 25, 2012)

Death....Vs...Old food....hummmmm.....I too have a large amount of (stupid me) cans of food....I full well intend to stock (and have begun to do so) my secondary location and 3rdr with same....and use my (Good) new canned goods fer here....I "trust" the longenity of the store canned goods over my own provisions at this point...not sure why.....LOL! But yet I am more inclined to trust our lives on my recent stores....I am crazy!! (don't listen to me)....but stuff stored off premissis ...I can't control the exterior detrimental contributitions (moisture)...weareas I can here inside, so my opinion is that the commercialy canned products "should" last linger, no matter their content, and they are plan B & C to us, so.....rotate stock....


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

One thing I don't like about commercially canned tomatoes stuff, including the chef boyardee things (assuming the tomatoes are real) is they are really hard on metal cans. They have to put some pretty hefty coatings on cans of tomato products (bpa), and other high acid foods to prevent rust and leaching. 
They store much better in glass but usually all you can get from the store in jars is the pre-made sauces.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I bought a few cases of that Chef Boyardee crap too!!(75 cents a can..)
My daycare kids loved that stuff. I never understood that.
It does have two things going for it, though. No water needed, and if necessary, can be eaten from the can with no heating.
But, I plan on using it with more noodles and ground beef--it should be fine that way.:dunno:


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Hmmm. I have many canned veggies, fruits and meats. My "meats" include chili, ravioli, ham, spam, fish (sardines, herring, etc.), chicken, roast beef....

Are you folks telling me I shouldn't be storing that type of stuff?

Are you opposed to it because you don't think it is good to eat when it is bought, and so you won't rotate it?...or are you opposed to it because you don't think it stores well?

I was thinking about buying some protein powders for storage, but if I don't store meats, what should I use for protein if the SHTF? I don't have livestock.

Some of my stores are for rotation. Some of the stores are merely insurance that I hope never to use. This stuff is a mix for me.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Tacitus said:


> Hmmm. I have many canned veggies, fruits and meats. My "meats" include chili, ravioli, ham, spam, fish (sardines, herring, etc.), chicken, roast beef....
> 
> Are you folks telling me I shouldn't be storing that type of stuff?
> 
> ...


I don't think there's anything wrong with storing that stuff if it's something you'll eat. I've got a ton of canned meats and "pasta" dishes- my kids eat the shit out of those things. Maybe I'm slumming it, I don't know. But if the S hits the fan and the stores aren't open anymore, we'll be damn sure happy that we've got it.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

My family always has bugged me that I will eat anything but that chef boyardee stuff just doesn't agree with me anymore. A lot of people are of the belief that you can store whatever because if you are hungry enough you will eat anything. Apetite fatigue aside, they have a point but a change in diet can have a lot of negative effects, especially in a stressful situation. What if there is something in the food your body can't adapt to? The main reason I do the "store what you eat, eat what you store" bit is because if I really don't like something it will probably go to waste eventually, if it doesn't seem apealling now how is it going to look past expiry with rust on the can. So I just store what I eat and it doesn't cost me anything.
I have nothing against canned meats, I think canned salmon for example is a great thing to store, it will last a LONG time and has healthy fats and not too much salt, but I know people who gag at the though of salmon. Meats are one of the best things to have canned imo, not too many vitamins to loose and all the protein and fats and minerals will last "forever". They are also low acid so not too hard on metal cans, of course they seem to use some amount of plastic in all cans anyways.
I prefer glass jars because there is no chance of anything getting into the food and they don't rust, but that is just me being paranoid.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

Tacitus said:


> Hmmm. I have many canned veggies, fruits and meats. My "meats" include chili, ravioli, ham, spam, fish (sardines, herring, etc.), chicken, roast beef....
> 
> Are you folks telling me I shouldn't be storing that type of stuff?
> 
> ...


Why not store some _good_ canned meat?


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## brucehylton (Nov 6, 2010)

I just stumbled into some canned goods that I purchased in 2002, cans are good, food will be good. I have eaten this way my entire life and managed to make it to 63 years old. No reason to change now.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

If you have plenty of money to waste, give or toss the expired date food, I wish I was next door to take it. 
Personally, I just take a quick look at it every couple yrs and put it back on the shelves if the cans are not swellon or split, 
I've found only a few cans of tomato paste in metal cans that were starting to leak after 5 yrs,TPaste goes on my rotate every 4 yrs list. But as I remember back to when I was a kid, people did have problems with Tomatos, especially with the glass jars and rubber seals.The date means nothing.
Talk to some people who was around during WW2 and the GD, you don't throw out any food unless there's mold on it, then you cut the mold off and eat it.,.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

PackerBacker said:


> Why not store some _good_ canned meat?


It sounds like your answer to my question is that you don't like the store bought canned meat in general, not that you object it's "storability."

Can you provide some examples of "good canned meat?" Are you talking about homemade canning only? Do you think that all store bought canned meat is bad?

Personally, for me, not all the store-bought stuff is bad. I eat the chili and ravioli at work sometimes (cheaper than fast food and more convenient than making a full lunch). I also eat the sardines & herring...granted, I'm probably the only person I know who likes them. I slap the spam on grilled cheese. My wife sometimes uses the canned chicken in chicken pot pie.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I don't think all the store bought stuff is bad, a lot of it has a bit more salt than I would like, we need salt but I like to add how much I want/need. I like real food that doesn't have msg and a bunch of other stuff that I wouldn't add. Some of the good chili I think is great but tends to be expensive and a lot of the seafood I think is great, canned salmon, sardines if you can eat them.
I think if you like them now then store them but then there is no reason to let them get old.


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## db2469 (Jun 11, 2012)

All good info...thanks! Looking through and counting my food preps I see quite a few canned goods to expire in 2014 especially my commercially canned fruits and those chefboyardees I mentioned. Good to hear I can extend the exp dates on them...when I called that pasta crap, what I meant was, it's not a generally healthy food to eat (although reasonably tasty) given the carbs, the additives, including high fructose corn syrup, some have MSG, etc...I know that in a shtf scenario, the chances of dying from a hundred other things are greater than eating this, and realizing the convenience and cost of those cans originally made my decision to buy...but I don't want to waste food, so I guess one can every couple of days won't kill me! I do believe that a fairly high protein, moderate fat and low carb diet is the healthiest. I've had a protein shake for breakfast for as long as I can remember and I'm storing the protein powder to continue that. Anyone else bought canned meat from Keystone Meats? I have several cases but haven't tried them yet. They butcher their own animals and process them at their plant in Ohio. Fresh chunks canned, not freeze dried and few if any additives...


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

My grandpa is like that-will eat anything as long as can is fine and even if its been froze for years. He's 75.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

We've been seeing a fair amount of our stored canned vegetables where the cans get eaten through. Tomato and fruit being the most frequent with relatively short storage time. So what we've been doing before those foods go bad is donating the wet canned food to food banks, friends in need and sometimes to people looking for handouts on street corner. For our storage we are going to freeze dried and dehydrated long term storage foods. For all the canned foods we've lost to container failure over the years it would have payed for a large amount of long term storage foods.


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

We have been dehydrating Chef Boy R D for years as they get close to the exp date. Utilizing them for hiking and camping trips with the boy scouts. Light, easy to reconsitute, filling, and with some added ingredients, pretty good in the wild.

As the can gets close to the date, open it, rinse off the suace, put in a solar or elec dehydrater, dry, and repackage in vac sealed bags. When on the trail, heat a little water, drop them in, add dried tomatoes, some spices and vola! you have a warm meal. Not the gourmet, but it's a great quick meal in the wild. The only thing I miss is the garlic toast!


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