PREP Just tried some Tyson canned chicken from 1999

DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
For the record, just opened a can of Tyson Chicken Breast "premium chunk" we had stored away in 1999. That was before they were putting best if used by dates on the labels in anything other than code... This can came in a three pack box prolly purchased at Sam Club... 12.5 ounces. The label on the can first line is 2928CAS 1437 -second line is TSH P650 4. Prolly has a date code. Bought in Jan 1999.

I did not keel over and die... :eleph: it tasted... OK... ;) nothing to write home about, but did not expect any better. With some seasoning, it would have been fine. Did not taste like metal or 'stale', closer to just 'low on flavor'.

Just thought that might be worth recording...

I am throwing it out by the way. I have enough more recent dates stored, and need the room.

I also have some "Members Mark" I might open up before throwing out also... that is Sams Club brand. Will post that back later.

Dan
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I hate to throw food out, but sometimes it just has to go. Just threw out some onions that were beyond saving.

Judy
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
Last year I finished off some y2k tuna purchased in 1998. Was still just fine and when put into a casserole you couldn't tell the difference.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Got any pets? OR, do you know of any older folks around who do? Since it doesn't have any metallic taste, it should be perfectly safe, and the protein content doesn't vanish. If you don't have a dog or cat who can use it, I'm sure *someone* around does! Unfortunately, you probably can't get a shelter to take it, due to possible legal issues, but you might want to ask your pastor (or a vet's office) if they know of anyone who could use it.

I don't have any problem tossing out foods which really aren't safe (anything moldy, or which smells or tastes "off")- they go right to the burn pile. But I hate wasting something which is edible and nutritious, even if that means just feeding it to the dogs, cats or chickens...

Thanks for the report!

Summerthyme
 
tech020

tech020

Senior Member
Found a cut-up chicken from 2009 in my freezer (-18F), it had been double bagged. Some frost in the package but no freezer burn. Made Coq au vin, turned out fine and tasted great. Wonder what other treats await in the freezer? As always, your mileage may vary, your nose should tell you if their is a problem.
 
Tortie

Tortie

Veteran Member
I have been buying Members Mark brand canned chicken from Sam's. I guess I should eat some to know what it tastes like fresh, so I can eat it in 2026 and know if it is still good!
 
Brutus

Brutus

Membership Revoked
That's why I buy SPAM.

There's so much salt and other preservatives in it I figure that shit'll last 'til the next Ice Age.


:eek:


:lol:
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Got any pets? OR, do you know of any older folks around who do? Since it doesn't have any metallic taste, it should be perfectly safe, and the protein content doesn't vanish. If you don't have a dog or cat who can use it, I'm sure *someone* around does! Unfortunately, you probably can't get a shelter to take it, due to possible legal issues, but you might want to ask your pastor (or a vet's office) if they know of anyone who could use it.

I don't have any problem tossing out foods which really aren't safe (anything moldy, or which smells or tastes "off")- they go right to the burn pile. But I hate wasting something which is edible and nutritious, even if that means just feeding it to the dogs, cats or chickens...

Thanks for the report!

Summerthyme
Click to expand...

Yeah... I do, but don't like to give him the good stuff... don't want to spoil him. I don't want him turning up his nose at his normal stuff... and, I don't want him melting my nose later in the evening, if you know what I mean... He is an inside dog, and can run you outside! (He dug up and killed a mole this summer, which was great, but the gas later was not!) But... my brother is coming over sometime soon, and his wife makes special meals for their dog! Sold...

and yes, I hate to throw it out also!! Especially if it is packed well enough to last 12 years... it might last another 12. I am just worried that when/if the going gets tough... that is, I would hate for the family to eat it and get sick "Where There Is No Doctor".
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
Further Info...

I just opened up the Members Mark brand can now... Actually, I think it tastes a bit better than the Tyson. I don't know the expiration date on this package either.

Again we bought it before the roll over, sometime in 99, I think this was also January. The code on the can is: first line, 11819 P65 second line, 8365 06.

This was a 12.5 ounce can of Premium Chunk, Chicken Breast. Three cans to a a box. (packed in lots of water)

Just for the Record! ;)

Dan
 
SIRR1

SIRR1

Deceased
DannyBoy said:
I just opened up the Members Mark brand can now... Actually, I think it tastes a bit better than the Tyson. I don't know the expiration date on this package either.

Again we bought it before the roll over, sometime in 99, I think this was also January. The code on the can is: first line, 11819 P65 second line, 8365 06.

This was a 12.5 ounce can of Premium Chunk, Chicken Breast. Three cans to a a box. (packed in lots of water)

Just for the Record! ;)

Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks DB for being the official TB2K Sams canned chicky taste tester!

I am sitting on a few cases of Sam's canned chicken myself and I am happy to here it good to go for another year or so.

I give my old canned food to the local food pantry/kitchen, if it's expired they open the can and taste test it and use it for lunch that day if it has not turned, their not shy about using expired canned goods...

SIRR1
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Fortunately, the risk of botulism is basically non-existent in commercially canned foods.

And, truthfully, the risk in PROPERLY PROCESSED home-canned foods is equally low.

But even "garden variety" food poisoning is no fun at all, so being cautious isn't a bad idea.

Summerthyme
 
L.A.B.

L.A.B.

Goodness before greatness.
Back in 76 I was tin-can roughing it as mom had ventured off to see her dad back east. Best I can remember it was an old soup can (brand unknown) that I consumed. Not sure if it was food poisoning as I did not go to the doctor, but within two hours of falling asleep I was up vomiting off and on with a fever for three days.

I was having trouble keeping water down and my fever went into a delirium dream of the back yard lemon tree. I forced myself past my pounding headache dehydrated slumber and marched outside in my under clothes and grabbed a lemon. Squeezing about a tablespoon into my drinking water was all my stomach required in order to keep it down.

Not 100% it was food poisoning, but it was the sickest I've been in my life.
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
SIRR1 said:
Thanks DB for being the official TB2K Sams canned chicky taste tester!

I am sitting on a few cases of Sam's canned chicken myself and I am happy to here it good to go for another year or so.
ld
I give my old canned food to the local food pantry/kitchen, if it's expired they open the can and taste test it and use it for lunch that day if it has not turned, their not shy about using expired canned goods...

SIRR1
Click to expand...

Sure, like I said, someone had to do it... :lol:

Interesting your food pantry is OK with expired stuff... I always wondered about that. I suppose I could have given them this stuff...
 
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DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Fortunately, the risk of botulism is basically non-existent in commercially canned foods.

And, truthfully, the risk in PROPERLY PROCESSED home-canned foods is equally low.

But even "garden variety" food poisoning is no fun at all, so being cautious isn't a bad idea.

Summerthyme
Click to expand...

Well, I am getting old, but still have a pretty good nose... my wife complains about it all the time. (she has to be careful about what perfume she wears) I am hoping I would detect something really bad. The cans had not swollen in the least either, if they had, I would certainly not have tasted the stuff... :D

Because of the test though, I am keeping the canned ham I have that expired in 2006... does that make sense? Or should I taste test one of them also? I did check one of them last year.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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DannyBoy said:
Well, I am getting old, but still have a pretty good nose... my wife complains about it all the time. (she has to be careful about what perfume she wears) I am hoping I would detect something really bad. The cans had not swollen in the least either, if they had, I would certainly not have tasted the stuff... :D

Because of the test though, I am keeping the canned ham I have that expired in 2006... does that make sense? Or should I taste test one of them also? I did check one of them last year.
Click to expand...

FWIW, Botulism has NO taste or smell. Some foods contaminated with botulism may also taste or smell "off" due to other bacteria being present as well. BUT, tasting even a bite of a food with botulism can make you *extremely* ill. But, as I said before, the likelihood of botulism in commercially canned foods is basically nil.

I'd hang on to the canned hams, BUT, I'd start trying to rotate some of your "high value" foods to keep them within 5 years (AT LEAST!!) of expiration. Because it's an absolute fact that they aren't improving any with age! You probably should take an inventory which includes expiration dates, and start using the older stuff up. I know, it can be hard to do when the cost of replacing it with "fresh" is double or triple what you paid a few years back! But- IMHO- you're better off having 3 "fresh" hams on the shelf than 6 "old and getting older all the time" hams! I can't imagine anything much worse than TS *finally* HTF, and you discover that a great deal of your food preps are barely edible- or aren't edible at all.

And one thing for sure- if you're going to rely on "older" canned goods for your food preps, you want to have some good quality, fresh vitamins on hand to take... canning tends to destroy vitamins in the first place, and what's left tends to deplete with age...

Summerthyme
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
FWIW, Botulism has NO taste or smell. Some foods contaminated with botulism may also taste or smell "off" due to other bacteria being present as well. BUT, tasting even a bite of a food with botulism can make you *extremely* ill. But, as I said before, the likelihood of botulism in commercially canned foods is basically nil.

I'd hang on to the canned hams, BUT, I'd start trying to rotate some of your "high value" foods to keep them within 5 years (AT LEAST!!) of expiration. Because it's an absolute fact that they aren't improving any with age! You probably should take an inventory which includes expiration dates, and start using the older stuff up. I know, it can be hard to do when the cost of replacing it with "fresh" is double or triple what you paid a few years back! But- IMHO- you're better off having 3 "fresh" hams on the shelf than 6 "old and getting older all the time" hams! I can't imagine anything much worse than TS *finally* HTF, and you discover that a great deal of your food preps are barely edible- or aren't edible at all.

And one thing for sure- if you're going to rely on "older" canned goods for your food preps, you want to have some good quality, fresh vitamins on hand to take... canning tends to destroy vitamins in the first place, and what's left tends to deplete with age...

Summerthyme
Click to expand...

Thanks Summer, I was wondering if it did have a smell... does not sound fun if that is what L.A.B. had (above). I do have some newer stuff, but figure I will keep the ham a couple more years. Then toss it. I have some of that Aldi's stew with that approximate date. Still holding onto that also, as they have not swollen yet either. Yeah, I figured on sharing rice and the old stuff if someone comes knocking on the door... (if/when the vigoro hits the oscillator).

And yes, we have lots of vitamins... I see stressful times ahead,:shk: and with stress vitamins will be important. Lots of C also... :spns:

Thanks so much for the comments!

Dan
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
No, LAB had the "easy stuff" (not that any food poisoning is "easy", but botulism is a WHOLE different category)

Botulism causes paralysis. Major paralysis which requires a ventilator and weeks in the ICU while it slowly wears off. It's not an infection like most food poisoning- it's a TOXIN that is created when the bacteria break dormancy in sealed cans (it can't survive where there is oxygen). The bacteria quickly die off when the jar is opened or air otherwise enters, but the toxin STAYS.

You *can* deactivate botulism toxin by boiling any questionable foods for a minimum of 10 minutes. For meats, etc, putting them in a casserole and baking in an oven until it's been bubbling for 10-20 minutes will work.

I have much the same problem with not being able to use all the prep foods before they get stale/old. Mostly, that's because I've always prepped for all the grown kids (and now a couple small grandsons as well). There's just no way to rotate that with just the two of us eating! We also grow almost all our own food, and we eat much of that fresh. The extra rice, beans, pasta in the preps just aren't necessary for our current needs.

Fortunately, even some really old (Y2k) stuff has proven to be just fine, IF it was stored properly. I've had to toss out some rice that the seal failed on the mylar bag (thankfully, just #10 can size)- it was only 4 years old, but smelled very stale. But some from 1999 which stayed sealed (mylar and O2 absorbers) is still perfectly fresh.

That is why I mentioned "high value" foods to rotate when possible- I figure my expenditures on rice, beans and pasta come under the "insurance" heading. IOW, if we never need them within their usable time period, and end up having to toss any out, I'm not going to waste time on serious regrets- wasting food isn't good, but it's cheap insurance, and I don't see people crying that "we didn't have an accident in four years, and WASTED all that money on car insurance"! LOL!

But things like canned meats, etc aren't cheap... while the prices are going up even higher, it's still a shame to keep that sort of prep until it can't be used...

Summerthyme
 
DannyBoy

DannyBoy

Veteran Member
Very interesting! Good info on Botulism, thanks for the info.

Yupp... Hear ya Summerthyme... it is even harder to cycle stuff through when DW does not like much 'canned' anything anymore... the kids have grown up, and 'mostly' moved out, and we too are trying to prep to cover them also. No way we could rotate stuff fast enough not to throw anything out. I have also decided to give up on canning rice in buckets anymore... it is cheap enough to replace every now and then... I have been freezing it then just laying the bags on a shelf. I figure $8.50 worth of rice (25 lb) can feed a bunch of friends and neighbors for a long time. I always have said knock on my door after the "big one" hits, and you'll get a cup of rice and a bullion cube... and instructions to move along...

Thanks again for the conversation and good info!

Dan
 
shinerbock

shinerbock

Innocent Bystander
You are one brave soul, DannyBoy! Thanks for sharing with others on the forum. I think everything we have is less than five years old so I feel pretty good about our stash.
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
DannyBoy said:
For the record, just opened a can of Tyson Chicken Breast "premium chunk" we had stored away in 1999. That was before they were putting best if used by dates on the labels in anything other than code... This can came in a three pack box prolly purchased at Sam Club... 12.5 ounces. The label on the can first line is 2928CAS 1437 -second line is TSH P650 4. Prolly has a date code. Bought in Jan 1999.

I did not keel over and die... :eleph: it tasted... OK... ;) nothing to write home about, but did not expect any better. With some seasoning, it would have been fine. Did not taste like metal or 'stale', closer to just 'low on flavor'.

Just thought that might be worth recording...

I am throwing it out by the way. I have enough more recent dates stored, and need the room.

I also have some "Members Mark" I might open up before throwing out also... that is Sams Club brand. Will post that back later.

Dan
Click to expand...

Have been eating up some members mark beef that's more than a few years old, like you said nothing off about it, could taste better though.

K-
 
C

cdwarior

Senior Member
Made pancakes from '99 bucket of mix on Christmas day. Previously opened with a gamma lid seal on it. Fine and dandy. They didn't rise quite as high as fresh but tasted and cooked up fine.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
cdwarior said:
Made pancakes from '99 bucket of mix on Christmas day. Previously opened with a gamma lid seal on it. Fine and dandy. They didn't rise quite as high as fresh but tasted and cooked up fine.
Click to expand...

Now THAT is interesting. I opened a 6 year old bucket of Bisquick... two vacuum sealed bags of it inside the 5 gallon pail. One was CLEARLY rancid. The other smelled ok... but I didn't trust it and tossed it. And they were well sealed...

I did make the mistake of putting a couple boxes (the 6# commercial sized boxes you can get at Sam's Club) in heavy ziplock bags and just "storing" them that way in our cool basement. TWO YEARS after the "use by" date, they were both very rancid- I wouldn't have dared eat them.

The biggest issue with mixes (especially opened ones) is the potential for mold. A young man died a couple of years ago after eating "stale" (read: moldy) pancake mix which had been opened and then left in their pantry for a year. Of course, he DID notice that it smelled AND tasted "off", but he ate them anyway!! And died of mold toxicosis.

We don't use enough Bisquick these days for me to not end up throwing too much away. So I went back to my old ways- I make our own, using butter, and store a jar in the fridge. It keeps fine up to a couple months, tastes wonderful, and works in every recipe that calls for Bisquick. It only takes 5 minutes or less to make in my KitchenAid mixer. too..

Summerthyme
 
B

brudog

Veteran Member
I must say,
Thank you Summerthyme for sharing so much knowledge with us.
I have been reading this forum for ever and you have always not only shared your personal knowledge, but you, obviously, constantly research and update yourself while sharing everything with us.
Thank you.;)
 
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