Canned Soup Expiration Your Opinions

I recently noticed that I had an unopened can of Pea Soup that expires in a month along with a bunch of Canned Soup that has a year to go. The coward that I am threw out the canned soup that expires in April and I chose one of the 2021 soups to eat.

I'm wondering for an emergency would you keep expired canned soup or just throw them out and replace them? How long would you consider Canned Soup safe to eat past its expiration date or does it depend what it is. IE Chicken Noodle Soup versus Pea Soup. When does it lose its taste and flavor?
Will there be no difference in taste of food close to its expiration date as opposed to a year to go to expire?

 

Any non-acidic canned food keeps a long time. Expiration dates, more often "best used by...", are a lawyer thing. Canned food from an old Antarctic expedition was recently tested, and found perfectly edible. Anything acidic - tomato foods, pine apple, etc. - can eat through the cans and spoil. After my Dad died, I went through his stash of canned food, and the tomato products were all ruined, causing a real mess! Canned pineapple had a strong metallic flavor, so I threw them out. Canned soups, beans, peas, etc. are all good. I ate them with no bad effects. I am eating some retort-sealed foods a year past expiration with no problems. Just keep an eye on them, look closely and smell before eating.

 

Food rotation is your friend. Always eat the older stuff first. Canned goods are usually good at least a year past the due date. For long term storage check the date before you buy. The older stock should be in front, but if the freight crew isn't rotating properly the old stuff will be in the back and the new up front. It's OK to dig around a bit so long as you return the cans neatly when looking. Stores with higher turnover usually have newer canned goods, but warehouse mismanagement can cause you to run into older goods.

 

Don't Fear That Expired Food

 

Thank you for your input. Personally very helpful. So I take it unopened tomato sauce for spaghetti canned or bottled is a No Go? You just saved me a bunch of money/

Thanks I just screwed up on this as my stuff is usually arranged my dates and somehow I missed this one. I'm sure the one month to go expired soup would have tasted fine but as I had more current stock on hand I just threw it out.

 

When I volunteered at the local emergency food pantry, we had USDA guidelines about what we could give out. Low acid, can intact, foods can be given out 5 years past their best by date. High acid, can intact, foods can be given out 1 year past the best by date. Baby food, baby formula and mayonaise could not be given out even one day past the best by date.

Food does not expire! It may loose a little texture or nutritional value, but it does not expire.

 

I buy my tomato products in plastic or glass bottles/jars. Never had trouble that way. I have more trouble with dry packaged food - sauce/gravy mixes, flour, meal, etc. I just don't use them quickly enough.

 

How long do you think Prego Tomato Sauce in Glass Bottles will be totally edible past their Expiration Date?

 

Do a visual inspection of cans...badly damaged or "blown cans" should be discarded





Why Botulism Is Found in Canned Foods and How to Keep Your Pantry Safe

In a TEOTWAWKI / PAW environment....cans of food in good condition beyond their recommended use by date could be traded or used to bulk out pet food, or be used to feed your worm farm or composted. N.B. DESTROY CANS SUSPECTED OF Botulinum CONTAMINATION....though the pathogen is heat resistant the toxins that cause harm may be neutralised by cooking at high temperatures. Personally, I wouldn't take the chance. Botulism



How Long Does Canned Food Really Last? | Backdoor Survival

Edit: Cool dry storage environment will be kinder to canned food than otherwise, also lacquering cans' external surfaces will help inhibit rust.

 

Just finished a few cans of Chef Boy R Dee and Pork &Beans a few weeks ago that was a year out of date and I'm still kicking.

 

2 things I will mention. #1 I do not advise or like buying canned products with pull tab tops. It only takes a bit of a knock and the can seal may be breeched without you realizing it. #2 Never buy dented cans as they may have liners meant to protect the can inner surface from direct contact with contents. I don't mean like a plastic liner but just some sort of sealant coating that may be now cracked at that point.

 

Thank you Very helpful chart

Appreciate dented info. Can you elaborate on pull tabs because if the only thing is broken is the tab and its sealed what is the problem with the food.

But did it taste the same to you as Frssh Chef Boy R Dee and Pork & Beans?

 

Stock up on a bunch of things that remain edible ED
Rice
Dry beans
Flour to make your bread with
Salt
Sugar
Peanut butter
Honey
You get the drift.

 

I ate it cold out of the can. To lazy for cooking The sauce was a little thicker and lighter colored than the fresher stuff. Heating it up would have been better , but as we said in the Corps , It doesn't have to be good , it's just got to make a turd.
It didn't seem to be quite as fresh,, but edible,, heating it up probably would have fixed that.

 

Throw it out and you’ll be looking for it later. It may taste slightly different and be a little less nutritious but as long as the can has not been compromised, do yourself a favor and keep it. You will know if it’s gone rancid the moment you open it. Rotate.

 

Back in 1940's we had no electricity, ice box and ice house with ice from river, little problems with canned foods, lot of problems with left overs or food prepared ahead of time. Ate German style potato salad, hot with vinegar, not cold with salad dressing. Some of the food poisoning I remember were cold potato salad, bad fried chicken, bad chicken salad, bad smoked fish, bad milk and cottage cheese, bad sausage, bad pork, etc. If you aren't going to get food cooled down to 35 ot so degrees, it has to be cooked long enough to sterilize it or as it slowly cools down to room temp or to ice box temps, it will let the bacteria multiply. Mayonnaise and most things made with milk or eggs were made fresh as needed and not kept. The survivors would quickly learn why the Book of Levi has all the weird food laws. Cooking meat in an unglazed pot and then cooking a dairy product will give you at best a nasty film on top of the dish and i hear that the symptoms of trichinosis will make you wish to die quickly. Seafood with certain letters in the month tied in with red tide etc. In the long run, those that survive will learn all the old tricks, fat is needed in cold weather, certain foods have more of some vitamins or minerals and you will be healthier if you eat them, some foods require that you soak them in water and throw away the water, acorns for example, before eating, some foods have parts that are usable and others that are dangerous. Knowing what is usable and what is not, storage, expiring, spoiling, is going to again return to a fine art.

 

when you get to camp and it's zero dark thirty for the first day, you are hungry .. that can of ravioli or dinty moore that is in the cupboard .. heat the hell out of it and eat it. Only in the light of day the next morning do you notice that it expired a year ago. Oh well still alive .. done more than once. I also think spam lasts forever.

 

You can save older stuff you won't likely eat as trading stock, for after SHTFDay. When people get hungry they'll trade good stuff for it.

 

Thanks No problem eating this stuff at End of the World but until then no!

Great idea I like that Just wish I had more room for that in my apartment!

I have plenty of canned beans Do dry beans last longer? How do you cook them? I never eaten dry beans which is why I'm asking.

 

Thank you all for very Helpful Advice