Therefore, once a can is opened you don't have a year to use it anymore, but instead you only have a few days. Once you've opened a can of food you've exposed the contents to air and bacteria will again begin to grow and cause spoilage, like with any other food. Quick Note About Opened CansĪll of the information provided above about canned food shelf life applies to unopened cans. The further away it is from the date listed on the can, or the one year mark from purchase if you don't see such a date on the can, the better it is to just toss the food rather than try to eat it yourself or to donate it to someone else. Instead, it means gradually, over time, the food will begin to deteriorate in flavor or nutrition, and ideally you should have already eaten it by then. There is nothing "magic" about the date listed on the can, such as the day before the date it is perfectly safe to eat the food within the can, but the day after the date it would kill you. And sometimes cans don't have any date listed on them at all. It could mean the sell by date, the use by date, or the best if used by date. The result of this is that it gets pretty confusing when you are provided with a date on the can. What I learned, however, is that the only item that federally must have an expiration date listed is formula, there are no standard guidelines in the United States for adding these dates to other types of foods, including canned foods. While you can eat canned green beans a year later, and have them taste approximately the same as if you'd opened the can the day of purchase from the store, when you go much past that year long period there is a deterioration in food quality and perhaps in safety (more on the safety issue below).īecause even with canned food there is a deterioration with significant periods of time many manufacturers will put an "expiration date" on canned goods. The shelf life of canned foods is approximately one year. But that is exactly what you can do when you purchase a can of green beans. The beans would have spoiled long before. You'd never imagine buying fresh green beans and then trying to eat them, from your pantry, a year later. When you buy canned food, you're buying cooked food that is then had additional steps taken to stop the natural process of spoilage that then occurs, so you can eat the food much later. Canned Food Shelf Life & Whether This Type Of Food "Expires" In the chart it lists canned food, but I'll discuss the shelf life of canned goods below in more detail, since there are some special rules and information regarding them. To get a rough idea of how long items can stay in your pantry before they are too old to eat you can check out this free printable pantry food storage chart. You can check out the linked article for ideas of items that food pantries really want and need to give you ideas of what to donate.īut there are times when you just need to toss the food, because it is not good for you or anyone else to eat. If you are not realistically going to eat something it is better to remove it from your pantry and cupboards now, while it is still good for someone else to eat it, and donate the food to a food pantry or other charity. However, we all have made some mistakes when buying food, such as buying something we thought we or other family members would enjoy, but do not. That's what the Eat From The Pantry & Freezer Challenge that is running simultaneously with these food related challenges is all about. Ideally, to save yourself money you'll eat anything up that is getting older, but is still edible and safe to eat. To declutter canned goods, as with any type of food, you always have three choices of how to declutter it - eat it up, donate it to someone else to eat, or toss it.
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