Speaking of canned stuff

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