On 2006-10-09, Peri Meno > wrote:
> Say the soup can has a "best by" date of 2004, would you use it?

Use by dates for canned goods is pretty much pointless marketing hype.
Food in a can is going to taste the same 5 days, 5 mos, or 5 yrs from
date of origin. Despite what many say, canned foods are good for
several years. Five years is the designed in safety margin. After that
it gets iffy. The key is how the can looks. Peel off the paper
wrapper and look closely for:

* dents
* rust
* corrosion of any kind
* bulging of can, usually visible at the lid

If you see none of the above, it's probably just fine and I wouldn't
worry about it. If you see a dent, where is it? If it's on a smooth
part of the can, usually no problem. If a dent is on the top or
bottom seal (lid) or the solder seam up the side of the can, discard
it. If there is rust or corrosion on the lid seams or side seam,
discard. If there is *ANY* noticeable bulging of the can or the can
ends (lids), discard immediately.

One last point about dents. Cans can be dented anytime, from clear
back to the cook room right up to the point where the stocker puts
them on the shelves. Though dents elsewhere than on the lid seams or
side seam usually means the can is ok, it might also mean a
break/shutdown of the cooker and that's when lotsa cans get dumped
prematurely because backups may require clearing cans from the cooker
for repair. If a breakdown can be repaired soon enough, the cans go
back into the cooker, the cycle is completed, and all is well. But,
occasionally a breakdown takes some time to fix. When that occures,
cans taken from the cooker are collected, noted, and set aside. From
the moment they are removed, they go on the clock. If the breakdown
is not repaired in time and the cans in question are too long out of
the cycle, those cans are supposed to be trashed as an incomplete
cook. Whenever I've seen this occur, and it does, the cannery always
judges on the side of the consumer. They don't want to be sued any
more than you want to be sick.

So, whether you are willing to accept dented cans is a judgement call.
I'd have no problem with a slightly non-critical dented can from
reputable food producers like Del Monte or Birds Eye. These folks
have good quality control. There are whole markets that sell nothing
but dented cans at huge discounts. OTOH, I might be a little more
suspicious of a dented can from, say, Hootchies Fine Foods and
Shoelace Factory.

I've only run across two bad cans in my life. One was a small can of
tomato paste. Were talking major bulging of the lid ends. It looked
like a torpedo. I thought it was gonna blow any second. It got
tossed tout de suite. The other was just a few days ago when I opened
a can of Carnation evap milk. I don't know when or where I came by
it, but it was a little rusty everywhere. Sides, top, bottom. It
just looked bad. As a goof, I opened it. Yeee-uk! The consistency
was of water and the color the same as overcooked coffee. You know,
coffee that's been on a warmer too long and you add lotsa cream anyway to
save it and it comes out gray instead of brown. Geee-ross! Natch, I tossed
it and washed everything thoroughly.

Hope this helps.

nb