# Are there any "immortal" nutritious foods that will never spoil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681 "2007-01-20T04:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/21 "2007-01-20T18:25:22Z")
salt cod? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/22 "2007-01-20T18:49:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] How long will prosciuto or salami last if unopened? [/QUOTE] A whole ham, smoked & salted country style (like proscuitto, or Virginia-style) will keep almost indefinately and room temps… mold forms on the outside but it doesn’t harm the meat inside. Scrape it off and.. dinner! (A virginia smoked ham is so salty you have to soak in water for 24 hours to make it edible and even so its VERY salty by most people’s standards.) Once you cut it, though, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/23 "2007-01-20T19:14:17Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again] A whole ham, smoked & salted country style (like proscuitto, or Virginia-style) will keep almost indefinately and room temps… mold forms on the outside but it doesn’t harm the meat inside. Scrape it off and.. dinner! (A virginia smoked ham is so salty you have to soak in water for 24 hours to make it edible and even so its VERY salty by most people’s standards.) Once you cut it, though, I dunno. [/QUOTE] Once you cut it, you bought yourself a one-way ticket on the putrefaction express. How long is indefinitely? 10 years? 100 years? (I don’t know what the purpose of the OP is) I was thinking about cheese. A wax sealed cheese still dries and even gouda becomes a parmesan-like rock of saltyness. Would something similar happen to ham? Would it turn to jerky? ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/24 "2007-01-20T22:11:12Z")
[QUOTE=WoodenTaco] Water? [/QUOTE] How about a Wooden Taco ? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/25 "2007-01-20T22:34:04Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Specifically, are there any nutritious foods that can be stored exposed to the air, and at room temperature, virtually forever, without spoiling? [/QUOTE] Navy Beans. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/26 "2007-01-21T00:32:52Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Specifically, are there any nutritious foods that can be stored exposed to the air, and at room temperature, virtually forever, without spoiling? [/QUOTE] Well, depends on how big you’re willing to go and what your definition of “food is”. Does it all have to be food? Cause I nominate a forest. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/27 "2007-01-23T00:33:52Z")
Those of us saving for the apocalypse prefer flour and honey. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/28 "2007-01-23T00:36:26Z")
Rice. Vegemite. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/29 "2007-01-23T03:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Vegemite. [/QUOTE] The OP did specify **food**. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/30 "2007-01-23T05:29:06Z")
> [@](#): > > The oldest of all edible foods might be a 5,600-year-old ear of popcorn that archeologists dug up in New Mexico in 1947 (though it may date back as little as 1,752 years). It still popped. More recently, researchers in Utah found 1,000-year-old popcorn that was still perfectly fluffy and delicious. [On the Edibility of Very Old Food](http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=1180) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/31 "2007-01-23T13:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Christopher Lambert? Shouldn’t be too bad if you boil him long enough. [/QUOTE] I hear the tastiest part is the head. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/32 "2007-01-23T15:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=JeffB] > [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Vegemite. The OP did specify **food**. [/QUOTE] OK then, Marmite. Dwarf bread? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/33 "2007-01-23T15:08:23Z")
I second plain old sugar. Energy-dense and lasts indefinitely. Especially in loaf form, sugar can sit out for a loooooong time and won’t spoil. In very humid conditions it might go a little sticky after a while though. If plain sugar is too dull, how about Kendal mint cake? (Yum!) If you’re not somewhere too hot, chocolate lasts for ages. It tends to go white but doesn’t go bad AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/34 "2007-01-23T15:29:10Z")
Although the honey exposed to the air would crystallize, wouldn’t it just form a “crust” on top? So, you could break through to the good stuff beneath? Some of the products could be protected from bug infestation by putting them in a jar and covering the opening with a wire mesh or cheesecloth; it’ll still be “exposed to the air” but protected from visible nasties. That’d surely take care of rice and beans, and still technically satisfies the original criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/35 "2007-01-23T16:23:30Z")
we are still not sure of the original criteria. I say that if a lid is off-limits, then the whole jar is. Honey needs to be suspended mid-air by a powerul fan. It would then crystalize in spheres. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/36 "2007-01-23T16:50:57Z")
[QUOTE=fighting ignorant] How about a Wooden Taco ? [/QUOTE] A hermaphrodite? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/37 "2007-01-23T17:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] Although the honey exposed to the air would crystallize, wouldn’t it just form a “crust” on top? So, you could break through to the good stuff beneath? [/QUOTE] I’ve had honey that was decades old and crystallized completely throughout a 3L jar. It was actually quite good. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681/38 "2007-01-23T17:09:56Z")
[QUOTE=Common Tater] Navy Beans. [/QUOTE] This makes me wonder, if I may piggyback a question onto this thread: Can someone get nutrition from dried beans, more or less ingested like pills? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-immortal-nutritious-foods-that-will-never-spoil/388681.md?page=1)