By Anonymous - 19/12/2013 22:49 - Australia - Kensington

Today, my mother decided to inform me that she doesn't believe canned food can have an expiry date and that the food is still okay to eat years after the 'supposed' expiry date. She's probably been cooking my dinner with expired food for over 17 years. FML
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Same thing different taste

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Top comments

Welshite 39

Canned food is good for a long time after the expiration date. Just sayin'. Manufactures print the "best by" date, but that doesn't mean it's spoiled even months later.

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Comments

nitant 13

Same as above. makes sense. People throw away food too easily, I think.

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DasHaas 9

They even put a "best before" date on bags of salt. They mean next to nothing. Just use your own common sense. If the can is warped or the stench is unbearable, don't eat it. If you see and smell nothing weird, it's fine. Most goods, especially canned ones, are high enough on conservation materials that they can last for decades.

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Mauskau 35

My mum does the same, even with fresh food and meat. It can be a month after the best before date, it will smell and the packaging will bulge, and she still cooks it.

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Gallifreya 3

A best before date is not the same as an expiry date, it's a mandatory date put on non-perishable food, and the date is supposedly when the food is at its best until, but it's even put on substances that will never change in composition like salt. Canned food, when sealed, is airtight and free from anything that might cause it to rot, so it is good for years after the best before date. Rarely, some canned foods if left long enough can begin to eat away at the can, and at that point they are no longer particularly nice or airtight and therefore not good to eat.

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polluxdc 10

If the can starts to bulge, it's gone bad. Otherwise use common sense, sight and smell should tell you something. Canned food lasts a loooong time.

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Tishbob 3

actually you're fine, canned food doesn't go off at all so long as it's not opened. that's why you see it in post apocalyptic films, canned food can survive nuclear war and still be edible.

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Fou_Lou 20

I wouldnt advise to eat food that was exposed to the Radiation of an atomic war. Im pretty sure you can get Radiation sickness out of eating those.

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polluxdc 10

Out of curiosity, anyone every seen an expiry or best by date on honey? It's the one food that will never spoil.

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amisenho 11

One of the reasons honey keeps so well is because of its high sugar content. It's the same way with cane sugar or any food product with a high sugar content (roughly 20%, but I could be wrong). It works the same way with extremely salty foods (usually 5-10% salt), like pickles and other brine-preserved items; most microbes can't handle that concentration of sugar or salt, so it works both as a flavor agent and a preservative. The only microbe you need to keep in mind when it comes to honey is Clostridium botulinum (or C. bot). That microbe is responsible for botulism (flaccid paralysis caused by the toxin they produce) and the cosmetic pharmaceutical, Botox (which is a deactivated form of the toxin).

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FalconWhitaker 20

You know, one Roman emperor (I think) tried to make himself immune to poison by eating small quantities over a long period of time so that his body would build up a resistance to it. I wonder if the same thing has happened to the OP... And for anyone wondering, the Roman dude then heard his enemies were coming for him and tried to kill himself before they could... with poison. And it didn't work. So he had to stab himself instead. Oops.

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JanisEvans 10

She's right, you know. I'd be more worried about living off canned food for 17 years.

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