Confirmed Food Life - Personal Experience In Long Term Storage

[P-14]

Imodium AD Pills in the vacuum pack - 3 years beyond expiration date and still worked fine. Don't ask me how I know.

They were kept at room temperature in a travel shaving kit (i.e., in the dark), and yes, I was on the road. YMMV.

 

[FrugalFannie]

I continue to use coffee beans that I packed up in Jan 2014 into mylar with O2 absorber. Good to go!

 

[xtry51]

I need to do that. I have instant coffee stored because it stays long periods, but no bulk coffee beans yet.

 

[JayMcB]

Imodium AD Pills in the vacuum pack - 3 years beyond expiration date and still worked fine. Don't ask me how I know.

They were kept at room temperature in a travel shaving kit (i.e., in the dark), and yes, I was on the road. YMMV.

In a SHTF situation immodium and gatorade in powder form will be worth it's weight to help remain hydrated. In the spirit of the thread, I used a can of Gatorade that was dated expiring in 2013 and it was fine.

 

[xtry51]

Two new ones.

First was grated cheese. I pulled two cans, one from 2014 and the other from 2015:



Observations: Both had the foil seals. The 2015 was bulged up, the 2014 was still vacuum sealed and hissed when I broke the seal. The 2014 smelled and tasted just like new despite its darker coloring. The 2015 smelled off, so I threw it out after taking this photo. I've been eating the 2014 and it has been fine, a little sharper taste than fresh which I think is just the normal cheese aging effect. I'm unsure why the color darkens, all I know is it's edible and tastes good. Every can I have darkens with storage time from light yellow to almost an orange.


Second victim was the one I really was interested in. Ground Coffee. Everything I read, even on prepper sites, talks about how grinding the bean lowers the storage life and it goes bad in a year, you need to refrigerate it, don't freeze and unfreeze, etc, etc. This shit drives me crazy because IT'S JUST TALK. There's not one goddamn actual person out there I could find storing shit and reporting. 30ish sources all saying one year, maybe two and not to store it ground. No facts, just parroting garbage and believing it. So here we go with *GASP* actual real life research.













These were 2012 #10 cans of your basic generic coffee. I bought these on sale from BigY in CT at $5 per can during a sale to purge their inventory. Yeah I said $5 per can. You can see the best by data was 4/2014. Upon opening the foil was still vacuum sealed. Coffee grounds were still separated, no clumping. Smelled like a new can. Perked some up and the taste was as expected for low shelf coffee. It passes with coffee taste and no real body to the flavor, but you bet your ass I would drink this everyday if I had to.


This is regular ground coffee, stored in the original container, on a basement shelf, with no humidity control and temp ranging from 55-70 degrees based on seasonal changes. It's also been moved twice over that time frame, so three different basement environments. It's perfectly fine. I am going to continue buying ground coffee like this and storing it.

I have 10-15 of these from the same lot. I will open one a year to report. Based on the quality at 4 years, my guess is it will go at least 10 with no appreciable difference. I bet the can is the limiting factor and will start to rust or lose seal before the grounds go bad.

This is why we need more people contributing to this thread. I'm sure there's all sorts of items out there we could all be storing at an extremely lost cost that last far longer than anyone realizes.

 

[KMM696]

I had a suspicion that the "everybody knows" coffee storage rules were written by coffee fanatics, not preppers. Thanks for the report. Going cold turkey on coffee while I still have several thousand rounds of 5.56 squirreled away could be unnecessarily hazardous to everyone around me.



I had some pineapple chunks in the pull top cans self destruct on me. I bought them in 2014, but haven't used one since last Christmas. All 5 remaining cans ruptured the pull tops. Anyone had similar issues with the easy open can?

 

[radarbob]

Note: All 3 were dated April 2014, for what it's worth. I had 3 canned hams with the easy-open pull tabs. used 2 recently, they were both fine. One can, same date, had failed.some liquid had leaked out and turned dark.I didn't want to look, so i just threw it out without opening. I will avoid storing pull top cans long term in future. I suspect the "old-school" canned hams that open with the little key have a better seal, and might hold up better, but don't know. I wouldn't use pull tabs for storage, especially for acid foods. incidentally, i have an open jar of instant coffee, .Hannaford store brand from 2014. tastes the same as it ever did. open jar stored in kitchen cupboard. i bet an unopened jar stored in a cool place would be good for longer. keep reporting on results. good to know about the grated cheese. anybody tried it in a glass jar? might be better. doesn't last long enough to go bad at our house, lol.

 

[daveyburt]

coffee - ground and vacuum packed bricks.

I had a brick that had been forgotten about for over 5 years. Still as fresh as day one.

 

[xtry51]

Here three more.

Taco kits. April 2014. Hard shells good, seasoning good. Soft shells all stuck together and smelled like old cardboard, not so good. We ate the hard shells, delicious. Canned the softs. I'll probably buy more hard shell kits when they are on sale as it makes an easy meal.

Canned turkey gravy from November 2011. As good as new. No signs of can corrosion inside or out.

Canned chicken broth January 2014. As good as new. No signs of corrosion.

 

[KMM696]

Generic adult multivitamins, expired Jan 2013. Stored at cellar temperatures since bought. No off odors, discoloration or tablet physically deteriorating. I haven't done a chemical analysis - but the first 10 haven't killed me yet, either.

 

[JayMcB]

Tuturosso crushed tomatoes, expired 3-12. can had the white plastic liner. They were bitter.....tossed them. So I guess for me 4 years after expiration is the tomato no-go zone

 

[xtry51]

The acidity is tough on the container. I've been buying salsa and stuff in glass jars to see if it stays longer than the cans.

 

[FrugalFannie]

Generic adult multivitamins, expired Jan 2013. Stored at cellar temperatures since bought. No off odors, discoloration or tablet physically deteriorating. I haven't done a chemical analysis - but the first 10 haven't killed me yet, either.

There may be some degradation of the vitamin content but since vitamins are "unregulated" it doesn't mean much anyway. There was a private analysis done a few years back that found the vitamins, even within the same package can vary from 10% to more than 10X what the label says each tablet contains.

 

[xtry51]

There may be some degradation of the vitamin content but since vitamins are "unregulated" it doesn't mean much anyway. There was a private analysis done a few years back that found the vitamins, even within the same package can vary from 10% to more than 10X what the label says each tablet contains.

I store a bottle of vitamins in every 5 gallon bucket (separate, outside the mylar).

 

[JayMcB]

B&M baked beans, expired 9-13. Opened and beans were beginning to break down, had a definite less-then-fresh taste, but still edible. My last 2013 can of them, where the big cans were bought for 4 for $4

 

[KMM696]

The things you find cleaning up shelves..

College Inn Light/No Fat Chicken Broth. Best by of March 2012. Flavor was starting to disappear, but no other problems.

 

[xtry51]

B&M baked beans, expired 9-13. Opened and beans were beginning to break down, had a definite less-then-fresh taste, but still edible. My last 2013 can of them, where the big cans were bought for 4 for $4

I think I might have 2011 or 2012 stashed. I'll pull one this weekend and report.

 

[radarbob]

Kraft deluxe mac and cheese (the liquid cheese sauce kind). Inadvertently cooked a box dated Sept. 2015. Cheesev sauce was a darker orange than usual, and thicker, about he consistency of paste. Was hard to stir in and finished product came out a bit lumpy. After lots of stirring, finally managed to get it blended reasonably well. Smelled and tasted fine, and was eagerly eaten, Not a bit left over. Verdict-I'd eat if I had it, not planning to buy it for the long term.

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[FrugalFannie]

opened a bag of almonds that I had vacuum sealed in Nov 2011. All is good. 6 months my ass!

 

[JayMcB]

I just opened a vac canned mason jar of chocolate chips. Some slight oxidation, but taste is fine, and I am told they made delicious cookies. Canned in 3-13

 

[FrugalFannie]

I sealed up coffee beans in Mylar on 1/2014 and have been using them. coffee always tastes great. You can't tell the difference between these beans and those bought right from the store. I should know as we usually have 4 variations in the house.

 

[radarbob]

"Rovira Export Sodas"- Saltine crackers in round metal tin. Dated August 2016. Opened tin stored in cool pantry-still fresh. Probably an unopened tin would last quite a while. Incidentally, can has a big dent in the side, but still seems to close tightly. Crackers are loose in tin, not in individual packets, for what it's worth.

 

[xtry51]

BigY Stuffing Mix - Turkey Flavor. Cardboard box. Bought November 2012. Still delicious. No change from new.

Cambell's Golden Pork Gravy. 10.5oz Can. Bought November 2011. Still good, salt stands out more in the taste.

Market Basket Chicken Broth. 14.5oz Can. Bought January 2014. Like new.

Still eating Tuna from January of 2012. All brands, all just like new.

2010 baked beans. Many varieties and flavors. Opened a handful of cans to check after the post above. All were delicious, no signs of can integrity issues.

 

[KMM696]

got this from another NESer - Bush Brothers recall on some can lots for possible seam failures.

http://www.bushbeans.com/sites/default/files/emergency/2017-07-22_voluntary_recall_notice.pdf

 

[JayMcB]

My daughter took some Dak canned hams that expired in 2014, no reported issues....sliced and cooked it in slabs with eggs for breakfast

 

[PaulR]

Saltine crackers in original packaging, expired 9/2016. Eating today, still tasting 80-90%, a little soft but definitely palatable, if my 7 and 9 year olds didn't notice, no one will notice.

 

[xtry51]

I cycle tortilla and reg chips (lays, doritos, etc) out at 1 year from purchase. They do tend to get squishy like crackers.

Side note, I would not recommend storing any kind of cheese puffs. We had some cheetos, cheese balls and some nature food store kind of cheetos and they were all bad after a year. The bulk bin cheese balls faired the best. My middle minion loves them so I like to keep a bin on hand for him and his friends.

 

[Bill Katt]

Thanks for the recent updates to this thread. I was beginning to think it was all but dead. I don't have much to offer here. However, I do appreciate everyone else's input in this thread.

 

[Bmcl322]

It doesn't go "bad" persay, as in dangerous, but the fats can go rancid and make it funky.. should take quite a while at basement temperatures though. I've had it a year past date in a few cases and didn't notice any degradation.

Regular store bought peanut butter may have saturated fats (cheaper). "Natural" peanut butter does not. We all grew up thinking that peanut butter was good for us, eating Skippy, etc... Perhaps clogs yr arteries? For daily use, always feed yr kids "Natural". For prepping, regular store bought, I would think, will last longer, as it doesn't separate.