# Expired dry/canned food? (Need answer fast; I'm hungry) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792 "2016-06-08T00:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/1 "2016-06-08T00:36:54Z")
Visiting home and looking for a snack. Lo and behold, the pantry has microwaveable bowls of Chef Boyardee, canned Chef Boyardee, and Kraft Easy Mac. Perfect. Unfortunately, the latter has a best by date of last November, the second of last December, and the first of September… Of 2014. Which, if any, of these are the most edible still? Not in terms of safety, necessarily, because modern preservatives, but taste. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/2 "2016-06-08T00:45:26Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Visiting home and looking for a snack. Lo and behold, the pantry has microwaveable bowls of Chef Boyardee, canned Chef Boyardee, and Kraft Easy Mac. Perfect. > > Unfortunately, the latter has a best by date of last November, the second of last December, and the first of September… Of 2014. > > Which, if any, of these are the most edible still? Not in terms of safety, necessarily, because modern preservatives, but taste. My guess is that all are perfectly fine and you won’t really taste the difference. Otherise, you can obviously go by the most recent expiration date. I would just go for whatever I have the taste for most at the time. Personally, I’d just do the Easy Mac because that’s what I like best of the three. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/3 "2016-06-08T00:54:42Z")
isn’t easy mac dry? I would trust that longer than the others. I know, people say canned food lasts forever, but boy-ar-dee didn’t even taste good when it was new (it was never really fresh, was it?). Old macaroni, with or without the cheese, sounds ok IMHO. I’ve been eating for more than 40 years and I’m still here so trust me. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/4 "2016-06-08T01:02:34Z")
It’s fine, it won’t make you sick so long as the can isn’t bent. It may or may not have the taste of a new can but likely you won’t notice. There was a story where someone found cans of caviar scavenged from a ship that sank like some 200 years ago. The cans sold for quite a bit I think, but they tested one and found it was perfectly edible. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/5 "2016-06-08T01:04:15Z")
The taste may be more bland than usual, but with Chef Boyardee, how could you tell? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/6 "2016-06-08T01:16:22Z")
A few years ago, I found an out-of-date bag of a salty snack food in the back of a cupboard. I tried it, but the food had absorbed a plastic taste from the bag, so it tasted awful and I spat it out into the sink. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/7 "2016-06-08T01:40:06Z")
If the can is puffed up that the top and bottom don’t eat it ! It has gone bad! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/8 "2016-06-08T04:29:45Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > isn’t easy mac dry? I would trust that longer than the others. I know, people say canned food lasts forever, but boy-ar-dee didn’t even taste good when it was new (it was never really fresh, was it?). Old macaroni, with or without the cheese, sounds ok IMHO. I’ve been eating for more than 40 years and I’m still here so trust me. If it’s in a microwaveable bowl, it’s probably ready-to-eat. Just peel off the lid and nuke it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-dry-canned-food-need-answer-fast-im-hungry/756792/9 "2016-06-08T04:47:05Z")
If you’re eating Chef Boyardee, abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting may have nothing to do with its freshness.