PREP Just had some "out of date" Canned Chicken Breast- for the record...

[DannyBoy]

As I have stated recently, we are moving... and I am debating what storage food I should toss and what I should keep. We have lots of can goods which have expired and we are not taking the 4 years and older with us.

I have a full case of Kirkland (Costco) chicken breast in 12 oz cans... they all have 'best by' dates of 05/03/2012. All have good vacuum in the cans. I had to try some. Opened up a can, poured it into a bowl, dumped some BBQ sauce on it, and put it in the Nuker... came out wonderful, chunky, perfectly edible. Made a great sandwich.

However... I think I am going to toss the stuff anyway. It is going on 5 years out of date, and I just think it is time to be replaced. The good news is, it did not look marginal at all. I would expect it to be good for a while yet, but, carrying the stuff into the new basement, and then having to bring it back up in a short time just does not make sense right now.

So, for the record, for me at least, next time I buy canned Costco Chicken Breast I am going to keep it till it is 5 years out of date.

 

[Lurker]

Thanks! We've had the same experience with the Sam's canned chicken.

 

[DannyBoy]

By the way, I had a three year old 2# bag of M&M's (the red and green Christmas version)... been eating them all week. And again, for the record, also had a big bag of the peanut version, that bag was swollen up a bit... (maybe the oil?) I did not even try them.

 

[Lurker]

Yeah, I've heard the MM's don't fair that well.

 

[ainitfunny]

Oh for goodness sake, for the last two hundred and fifty years people have judged edibility by some fairly simple common sense rules. I would be willing to bet that putting "best by" dates on stuff has sickened more people than it has saved with a false, erroneous sense of trust in that date, because stuff can go bad way, WAY before an expiration date arrives. I am eating even HOME CANNED (17+ year old )(meat)stuff canned way before 2000 for Y2K preps. But then I became an adult BEFORE the government decided that we had finally become too stupid to know what was good or bad without reading an ARBITRARY date they forced everyone to put on their products. BTW, I throw out a lot of stuff, commercial and even home canned, when it obviously APPEARED, or smelled bad, wrong color, mushy, leaky, swollen container etc.

Bread can go moldy, milk goes sour, stuff goes rancid, without any regard at all to the date printed on it. I have found probable botulism filled swollen commercial cans of food with still valid "best by" dates. Back in the mid 1990's my friend with an unemployed husband and 5 kids was given some peanut butter canned in 1942, a big #10 can of it! The can was clean, not swollen, She opened it, it smelled great, had separated, but when the oil had been stirred back in it tasted great, , was perfectly FINE and they gratefully ate it all. FIFTY YEAR OLD PEANUT BUTTER.

 

[gillmanNSF]

Yesterday, I opened a can of beef with a BB date of 2008 purchased from Costco, originally packaged in Brazil. Made soup with the beef and it was very tender and flavorful. Been trying to use up the older stuff as quickly as possible, and still have cans with a BB date of 2011.

 

[Silent Knight]

Oh for goodness sake, for the last two hundred and fifty years people have judged edibility by some fairly simple common sense rules. I would be willing to bet that putting "best by" dates on stuff has sickened more people than it has saved with a false, erroneous sense of trust in that date, because stuff can go bad way, WAY before an expiration date arrives. I am eating even HOME CANNED (17+ year old )(meat)stuff canned way before 2000 for Y2K preps. But then I became an adult BEFORE the government decided that we had finally become too stupid to know what was good or bad without reading an ARBITRARY date they forced everyone to put on their products. BTW, I throw out a lot of stuff, commercial and even home canned, when it obviously APPEARED, or smelled bad, leaky, swollen container etc.

Bread can go moldy, milk goes sour, stuff goes rancid, without any regard at all to the date printed on it. I have found probable botulism filled swollen commercial cans of food with still valid "best by" dates. Back in the mid 1990's my friend with an unemployed husband and 5 kids was given some peanut butter canned in 1942, a big #10 can of it! The can was clean, not swollen, She opened it, it smelled great, had separated, but when the oil had been stirred back in it tasted great, , was perfectly FINE and they gratefully ate it all. FIFTY YEAR OLD PEANUT BUTTER.

Indeed. Best-by dates are there only to rightfully (legally) shunt the blame from the producer back to the moron who will inevitably consume spoiled food and try to sue.

 

[Macgyver]

Food should have a packaged date not a best by date.
I started to write the date I bought it on certain things. Granted I don't know exactly when it was made.
But most items don't have that long of a time from factory, warehousing, shipping to retail.

 

[SmithJ]

And....... He's off line......

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

Food should have a packaged date not a best by date.
I started to write the date I bought it on certain things. Granted I don't know exactly when it was made.
But most items don't have that long of a time from factory, warehousing, shipping to retail.

I also use a black marker on can goods, juices etc and note the expiration date on the top and also the front of the product.

It makes it easier to keep up with the rotation of these items.

 

[yellowlabz]

Since I am always thinking of animals (that's how my brain works)...do you think you could donate it to a cat or dog shelter?? Just wondering, it seems like a shame for it to just be thrown out.

 

[Ben Sunday]

Back in the mid 1990's my friend with an unemployed husband and 5 kids was given some peanut butter canned in 1942, a big #10 can of it! The can was clean, not swollen, She opened it, it smelled great, had separated, but when the oil had been stirred back in it tasted great, , was perfectly FINE and they gratefully ate it all. FIFTY YEAR OLD PEANUT BUTTER.

I have a shoe box quantity of the pocket size cans of this 1942 peanut butter. Yes it is separated because of manufacturing and canning methods at that time. Stir it up and bingo! I would still check the cans for bulging, leaking, etc.

Also ate some C-ration pound cake from roughly the same vintage. That was good eating and I still have two or three of those as well.

 

[Taz]

Like Ain't Funny, I am still using pre Y2K home canned chicken and also pork stew. Still good. Am down to about 10 pts now. The canned chicken should last for many years. Please don't throw it away. Give it to a dog pound, if nothing else.

 

[billet]

In the last year I've eaten Members Mark (Sam's) canned chicken breast that expired in 2007. Tasted fine.

 

[Texican]

Best By dates refer to the product loosing nutrition and taste, not that it is bad....

Always mark you food products with the Best Buy date and rotate....
We use stickers with the Best Buy date on them for it is easier to read....

Just had green chili enchilada sauce that was over 2 years beyond the Best Buy date and it was good in the soup we made....

Currently using coffee that is over 5 years beyond the Best By Date and there is not noticeable difference in it and the specialty coffee we bought and used at Christmas....

Always check the can ingredients and inside of the can including smelling of the contents and if the car shows interior deterioration or the ingredients look off and smell off heat and feed to the dogs....

Always make certain you heat all ingredients to boiling to kill any bacteria....

GBY&Ys

Texican....

 

[coloradohermit]

At the food pantry where I volunteer we have USDA guidelines about what we can give out. Assuming intact cans with no rust or bulging or severe dents, low acid foods like chicken can go out 5 years past the BB date. High acid foods like tomatos can go out 1 year past the bb date. Stuff we can't give out goes in a box that the volunteers can take and I've gotten lots of perfectly good stuff way past the arbitrary dates out of that box.

 

[hummer]

for those MM's..I cut a small corner off of the bags, put the bag with mm's inside a vacuum sealer bag, and sealed...both plain and peanut and peanut butter. They are several years old and taste great! p.s. they were kept in basement on shelf in plastic bin, behind tarp. cool and dark.

 

[Publius]

I also use a black marker on can goods, juices etc and note the expiration date on the top and also the front of the product.

It makes it easier to keep up with the rotation of these items.

This ^^^ we have a working Pantry thats well stocked and all commercial canned goods get the date written on the top with a marker, dido for home canned foods everything gets rotated so the oldest is out front.
If the can is somehow forgotten and you find it on your shelf, first look to see if its bulged, next peal the label and check for rust and if good then open it and listen for the vacuum when the can opener cuts it open.
Then the sniff test if it passes all this you could take a small taste right out of the can.

 

[gunnersmom]

Since I am always thinking of animals (that's how my brain works)...do you think you could donate it to a cat or dog shelter?? Just wondering, it seems like a shame for it to just be thrown out.

My thoughts exactly, Yellowlabz. My pups get protein every day and this would fill the bill nicely. It broke my heart to think of all this good food being thrown out. There are empty bellies everywhere.

 

[poppy]

More and more brands of canned meat are stopping putting expiration or best by dates on cans because they are not necessary. As long as it is just meat and salt, it could last as long as the can is intact.

 

[DannyBoy]

And....... He's off line......

Huh? So I should stay on line till you can respond? Sorry, but I am busy packing!

 

[DannyBoy]

Like Ain't Funny, I am still using pre Y2K home canned chicken and also pork stew. Still good. Am down to about 10 pts now. The canned chicken should last for many years. Please don't throw it away. Give it to a dog pound, if nothing else.

Yeah, might try that... It really does look and taste good. Breaks my heart too. Thing is, I had some cans (not meat) that were less out of date which were swollen.

You guys might have talked me into keeping it a while longer.

 

[DannyBoy]

At the food pantry where I volunteer we have USDA guidelines about what we can give out. Assuming intact cans with no rust or bulging or severe dents, low acid foods like chicken can go out 5 years past the BB date. High acid foods like tomatos can go out 1 year past the bb date. Stuff we can't give out goes in a box that the volunteers can take and I've gotten lots of perfectly good stuff way past the arbitrary dates out of that box.

Thanks, that is good info... I had assumed that the food pantry would not accept something that old.

 

[Garryowen]

I have a shoe box quantity of the pocket size cans of this 1942 peanut butter. Yes it is separated because of manufacturing and canning methods at that time. Stir it up and bingo! I would still check the cans for bulging, leaking, etc.

Also ate some C-ration pound cake from roughly the same vintage. That was good eating and I still have two or three of those as well.

The pound cake was one of the best parts of the Cs. Throw some canned peaches on it, and it was pretty good.

 

[Garryowen]

Yeah, might try that... It really does look and taste good. Breaks my heart too. Thing is, I had some cans (not meat) that were less out of date which were swollen.

You guys might have talked me into keeping it a while longer.

tomatoes and pineapple are two foods that have a tendency to compromise the cans after awhile. If I can find such foods in glass jars, that is my preference.