Bulging cans are also a sign of bacterial contamination. The end result is often a tasteless mass of grey mush in a can bursting at the seams. This is particularly true if any food goes through a pattern of freezing and thawing over a period of months or even years, and the freezing can complicate things, given that most canned food is preserved in water. Variations in temperature in an environment where you are storing any food is perhaps the greatest threat to shelf life. The lower the better, but don’t go below freezing also, any canned food stored at or above 85 degrees Fahrenheit will quickly degrade and potentially become unsafe to eat The standard recommendation is a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit for canned goods. The temperature that any food is stored at is the most critical factor impacting shelf life. Several factors affect the storage of foods: In fact, many canned goods are edible and safe for years after a “best by” date if stored properly. The other truth is that a product does not suddenly go bad when it reaches its “best by” date. These are usually codes to indicate the point of origin for a particular product in the event of a recall. In fact, the dates on packaged goods aren’t referred to as expiration dates but “sell by” or “best by” dates.Įven then, some products don’t have any of these dates but instead a cryptic combination of letters and numbers. The reason is that so many factors can affect the shelf life of food. In fact, you should do this with all food stores, including long-term foods and most definitely with any home canning.Īre expiration dates for real? Yes and no, Even the USDA says that expiration dates are suggestions or recommendations rather than a hard-and-fast rule or deadline. You’ll have to separate them and write on the label or can the purchase date and the shelf-life. What becomes clear is that you can’t lump all store-bought canned goods together in your storage area with long-term food products and assume all be well. These foods include:Ĭanned meats, poultry, stews, soups except tomato, pastas in sauce, potatoes, corn, carrots, spinach, beans, beets, peas and pumpkin. Quite often, these kinds of canned goods will have a white plastic coating on the inside of the can to prevent corrosion.Īre Your Prepared For A Downed Grid? Get Backup Electricity Today!įoods with a high level of alkalinity require more complex processing under pressure and longer processing time, but those robust processing steps actually add to the shelf life with no danger of internal acidity compromising the can or lid on a glass jar. Juices (tomato, orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit) tomatoes, grapefruit, apples and apple products like apple sauce, mixed fruit, peaches, pears, plums, all berries, pickles, sauerkraut foods treated with vinegar-based sauces or dressing like German potato salad and sauerbraten. Foods with a higher acidity (measured on the pH scale as between 0 and 4.6) form a natural barrier to bacteria and require simple processing and less processing time, but the acids can quickly compromise the integrity of a can or jar lid and the food itself. PH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of any food. This is especially true for home canning, but we’ll get to that later. Water or any other liquid can potentially become a petri dish for future bacterial growth. However, most canned foods are packed in water. Have you ever wondered how long store-bought canned good will last in your stockpile? Professional food processors and manufacturers have both the equipment and knowledge to properly preserve food - plus the tests and inspections from the federal government.
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