Life Span Of Home Canned Food...

I am cleaning out a house I have owned since 1982... I moved in with my mom 10 years ago to take care of her so my wife lived in it till she had a stoke in 2011... My mom is Tuff to live with but after the wife's stroke I had to make'em get along in the same house.. :shock:

Wife passed in October and I am just getting around cleaning it out... I am going to replace all the floors , paint the inside etc my daughter wants to buy it for her first house (fresh out of collage)...

My question I have a few closets full of caned Green snap beans what I looked at today dated back to 1992,,, How long would you consider them safe to eat... They look good other than the beans are dark green darker than normal...

I did pour out some canned tomatoes that look bad the color of them had started to turn brown other than that they smelled fresh...

I have eaten food that was 2 years in the jar, beyond that I would
not think it was worth the risk.
Zach

I think 2 years MAX, I would not eat that from 1992, or at
least don't risk it.

If the jars still have a good vacuum when you open them, it should be OK. I have eaten canned goods like that before. Bring it to a good boil before eating. If the lids are real rusty inside, I would dispose of it too.

Hobo, We are going through the same thing at my mom's house. There were many jars of beans about the same age as yours. Most of them were ok and have been eaten. You should be able to tell if they are ok by smelling them when you open the jar, and see if they feel slick or mushy. Ours were dark green also. We bought the farm and our daughter and family is living in Mom's house. Small world ain't it?

Hobo,

I do occasional volunteering at a large food bank in Michigan. Their rule is if the dates are less than a year past, i.e. 12/30/2011, they are ok to distribute. They are ok to use up to two years past expiration, for today, 12/30/2010.
I can and freeze all my surplus each fall, I make sure to rotate out my oldest first. Sometimes that means soups and chili for weeks on end to get rid of canned tomatoes and veggies.

In my experience I have found canned food seems to last well past the expiration dates, where boxed food, such as crackers and chips do not keep as long.

Remember the smell test is one part of telling whether the cans are good. You cannot smell botulism. If it were me, I would pitch anything older than 2010. I copied this Wiki.

Botulism (Latin, botulus, "sausage") (pronounced /ˈbɒtʃʉlɪsəm/) also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin which is a protein produced under anaerobic conditions by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and affecting a wide range of mammals, birds and fish.[1]

The toxins enters the human body in one of three ways: by colonization of the digestive tract by the bacterium in children (infant botulism)[citation needed] or adults (adult intestinal toxemia), by ingestion of toxin from foods (foodborne botulism) or by contamination of a wound by the bacterium (wound botulism).[2] Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur.

All forms lead to paralysis that typically starts with the muscles of the face and then spreads towards the limbs.[2] In severe forms, it leads to paralysis of the breathing muscles and causes respiratory failure. In light of this life-threatening complication, all suspected cases of botulism are treated as medical emergencies, and public health officials are usually involved to prevent further cases from the same source.[2]

Botulism can be prevented by killing the spores by pressure cooking or autoclaving at 121 °C (250 °F) for 30 minutes or providing conditions that prevent the spores from growing. Additional precautions for infants include not feeding them honey.[3]

If they where pressure canned then they can be good for a good many years. I have seen beans and pickles last for over ten years and some much longer.

It all depends on how good of a job was done when they where canned. If everything was good and clean. The pressure cooker kept at the correct temperature. Then the food canned can last decades.

If it is from 1992 I would throw it out no matter how good it looks. Twenty years old it can't be edible. Could make you very sick if it is tainted.

Risk your life and health for $! worth of beans in a jar? And the house is worth what? Prioritize.

We just ate some '08 green beans and thought nothing of it. 1992? That's 20 years. I'd have to see what they looked like.

The old saying, based on appearance, age, etc is "In doubt? Throw it out!"

Are you broke and or starving? Why would you risk your health for a few dollars? I know it seems wasteful but one must draw the line somewhere.

The life span on properly canned food is almost indefinitely as long as the seal is not broken or you can see rust spots on the inside of the lid.
The problem is the food may become off flavor or soft over time.
For me if it reaches 2 years old it goes to the animals.

I found a case of green beans the other day dates 2006. Why they were still here I don't know.I guess someone forgot to rotate their stock. I have eaten three pints so far and they have all been good. As JDSeller said, if they were canned properly, they will last quite a while. If they still have a good vacuum when you open the jar generally they should be ok. Twenty years is a long time though, I would be very careful.

Hobo,

Your heart is in the right place for not wanting to waste food, but there are limits. I'd toss everything older than 5 years old. If you have ever had food posioning you will not have to ask why, it's no treat at all. It makes a bad flu seem mild by comparison.

I'm sorry for the loss of your wife. Good luck with remodeling the house.

How many cans are there?
If it were me and I was REAL hungry then boil it first then eat it.

Interesting topic. You really need to find a different grocery store that gets more business.

According to the American Civil Defence properly canned food is safe to eat almost indefinetly. It just might not taste too good. I would probably throw the can goods out but you might want to read this. http://www.grandpappy.info/hshelff.htm

yep,properly canned food will last a LOOONG time.one thing to watch for other than a bad smell, obvious mold ,or strange taste ,is if liquid is gone from a jar its likely bad. Not as old as yours, but ive been eating new potatoes canned in 99 here lately. Its my personal belief pressure canned foods last longer,but foods canned with the water canning method can last just as long. One thing to watch for, recheck jars after the move also, they have been known to come unsealed if you haul them accross high mountain passes,air trip etc. They shouldnt but if seals are weak they can.

If the lid isn't rusty on the inside & it's still sealed they are still good. I've ate them older than that back when Granny passed & we cleaned out the pantry. Problem is they will be a little strong. Pouring the water off and washing them before you cook them help's.

Interesting topic. In Kansas City we have a museum dedicated to the river steamboat "Arabia". It sank in the 1850's, I believe, in the Missouri River with a full compliment of supplies for all the people headed to the west at that time. On the boat were canned goods, some of which were opened at the time of discovery of the ship in the early 1990's. The vegetables, etc. which remained intact throughout the years were still edible. The "curator" of the museum says they tasted like they had just been canned recently.

If you are absolutely SURE the beans were processed correctly, using a pressure cooker; AND the lid is still slightly concave and has a good vacuum when you open the lid, the beans are probably all right, assuming they look and smell "right". I am really cautious about eating anything someone else has home canned. I know I use the pressure canner exactly right, but am not sure everyone else does. Botulism is the worst risk, and it can KILL you.

But my experience with food canned quite a while ago is that the insides of the lids eventually rust and then the food has an "off" taste. If the vacuum seal has been disturbed in any way, you want to toss the contents, without question.

I suppose if I had beans from 1992, I would open a couple of the containers and see how they are. But unless they were PERFECT, I believe I would dump all of them, obviously saving the jars for future needs.

When we cleaned out my Mom"s house about 20 years ago, her pantry had jars of stuff from the 60"s and metal cans from even before that. We dumped all the contents, but probably are still using the jars.

Better to be safe than sorry! Good luck!

When we cleaned my grandparents' place out in 1989, there was a bunch of fruit jam in jars dated ~1959 in the bottom of the freezer. It was still frozen!

Us kids were all "EEEW!" but it was fine.

We usally throw everything more than two years old away. It is OK to eat, but5 the texture and flavor are not as good as more reccently canned food.