Home canned food shelf life

[Kyhome]

OK this might not be where to post this one or not but here goes. My brothers brother-in-law is looking at getting his folks old homestead and the shelf’s are full of old can goods his mother had canned, he thinks they are still find to eat. Some of them are about 15 years old he says. Question is would they still be safe to eat. Seems like a big gamble to me being that old. Thanks Rick

[sbemt456]

Hi Rick, I am thinkin ya may be right, not too safe. I have used canned stuff that is 2 or 3 years old and it be perfectly good, but 15 yr old. I would think at that age the lids may have rusted some and have tiny pin holes that would allow spoilage, and also after that age the food probably has little or no nutritional value. Think if I were him I would buy a pig, feed it well and enjoy the pork. Hope this helps some.

Have a great day!

stella

[CanNerd]

It all depends on "how" they were canned. *If you don't know they were pasteurized by either a Hot Water Bath for high-acid foods or in a Pressure Canner for low-acid foods, I would toss the low-acid foods without further thought -- those are the meats, vegetables, and I would put tomatoes in this category too in this instance.

Without pressure canning these foods are potential farms for Botulism toxin which is colorless, odorless and tasteless. *Spoilage is not a prerequisite.

For all the other foods, I would look for spoilage. *If the seals are intact the chances are the food is still safe to eat, though the taste and texture may have gone to the dogs. *Single product items seem to last longer and better than mixtures.

Open and check for smell first.

[Anon001]

I was also going to say that as long as the seals are good and it was pressure canned, try it! LOL... I just opened a jar of my bread and butter pickles that got out of place and it was dated 1998. The seal was still good on it, the pickle slices were still as crisp as the day I canned them.

[Kyhome]

Wow that sounds pretty good Paul 10 years. I don't know if he knows what process his mother used when she canned them or not. But I am thinking if it was me I would pass on them to be safe. I was thinking 5 to 7 years tops but I was just a guessing, and didn't even consider how they might had been processed. Thanks for the info I will pass it on to him to make his own call on using or not. I did tell him I would take all of the jars with number 13 and 7 on the bottom of em. LOL thanks everyone for the input. Rick