A really odd question!

Youngblood

Youngblood

Rear Admiral
Right as some of you will know I not long stopped my treatment for cancer and with that cash is tight I mean very tight this month. I was wondering will canned foods go off or are they ok too eat? got a few with dates of 2009 should I throw them or will they be ok?

I know its a stupid question!
 
I think most canned foods are okay, but open em up and take a sniff, if it smells wrong it's probably gone !
 
If it's something like meat or fish, give a bit to your cat. If she eat's it, it's okay. If she does not, it's probably spoiled.
 
even canned meats last for an irrationally long time. you might even be better off eating things like canned pink salmon (from alaska) instead of fresh fish from your freezer isle... since those are usually farm fish and full of stuff that is less than helpful in your condition. also.. check ingredients labels for things pumped full of dye or preservatives.. those can aggravate some cancers. and stay away from processed foods... and pork.
 
Mace said:
If it's something like meat or fish, give a bit to your cat. If she eat's it, it's okay. If she does not, it's probably spoiled.
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Keep in mind though, some cats are annoyingly selective in what they eat under the best of circumstances.
 
Are we talking supermarket canned food? Or stuff that you have canned yourself and preserved? Homemade canned goods will last a long time too provided they were sealed correctly and that you don't store them in direct sunlight.
 
Most commercial tinned food (i.e. sealed into all-metal containers--"canned" can also mean sealed in glass canning jars) is good for at least five years if not more. I have stuff in my pantry from the 20th century that is still good, and I hear that WWII-era military rations are still served to troops. (i.e. SEVENTY year old tinned food)

Beware though if the can bulges outward at all--that's a sign of gas buildup due to bacteria and any food that has experienced that will be toxic to all humans or other mammals.
 
Yeah, canned food, if properly sealed, lasts ages. I think the record is well over 100 years. So, 2009 should be well and good.

By the way, it's a good thing to keep in mind that generally, "use by" dates always err on the side of caution. Especially the ones you see in a supermarket. So, if you're strapped for cash, it's a good idea to buy discounted near-expired foods from the nearby supermarket. Just keep in mind, that not all dates of expiry are equally irrelevant ;). I would be willing to eat near-expired beef... heck, I'd even be willing to risk expired beef - because if you're cooking a stew, you'll want to cook it for a couple of hours anyway. On the other hand, I wouldn't ever touch expired chicken.
 
I've seen toilet paper and salt with "used by" dates. So go figure how serious those dates are...
 
In some countries it is just a law that almost everything has to have such a "best before" date.
And of course the companies selling those products choose a date where it is VERY unlikely the product is already bad, if handled correctly.

Expired dairy products (except some sorts of cheese) should be checked carefully, but in most cases they are still good for a few days after expiring.
As Quarto said: Beef lasts considerably longer than pork or chicken, and even if it is already "bad" you are not likely to get sick because you eat it. Pork is a bit more problematic (still lasts at least some days if expired when properly cooled) and chicken is not recommended.
Vegetables and fruits are also OK for some days (some of them for a week) although super markets throw them away already. Bananas for example: People tend to not buy them (so markets throw them away) if they have brown spots, but IMO that's just when they start tasting good!

So, if you're strapped for cash, it's a good idea to buy discounted near-expired foods from the nearby supermarket.
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That's a very good tip!
I don't know if such a thing exists in England, though. In some countries people are more picky about food than in others. I have seen German supermarkets who have a "almost expired" discount shelf while an American told me he hasn't ever seen such a thing.

Canned food lasts VERY long. I would be a bit reluctant eating 20 years old stuff (which means checking if it smells wrong and maybe tasting a small part of it), although it is likely that even that is still good. I have eaten canned stuff that was two or three years expired a couple of times and I never got ill or something.
 
On products near- or on the expiration date they put a (-35%) sticker here. And the label says "best before", so it does not mean it goes bad the very next day. And as people here mentioned, even canned military food from WWII is still good.

Bread is dailyfresh from the supermarket, and cheap as it is here(I know what groceries cost in britain), at the end of the day it's taken out of the shelves, and send to zoo's and farms, same goes for fruit and expired meat.

But compare, a loaf of bread starts from 50/60 eurocents, for what would you sell it the next day? Plus, when I buy bread, it usually lasts me two/three days anyways or longer when i freeze it, why on earth would one buy or resell day-old bread then?
 
Ok, I'm doing something wrong. I don't know any cheap women :(
I wonder why.... Whatever, I'll go back to catsniffing now.
 
Hmmm... that would fit to my theory that women find guys who have cat fur in their beard not particularly attractive...
I must think about that.

On the other side: If catsniffing prevents me from cheap women it may be good for me, because my fiancee might not like to have too many cheap women around. I could ask her... ...or maybe not :D
 
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