# Very old food , still good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718 "2020-04-28T12:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/21 "2020-04-28T23:55:33Z")
All Backpacker’s Pantry sells is dehydrated/freeze-dried foods. The stuff ought to be just fine, as long as the packaging is still intact. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/22 "2020-04-29T00:04:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’d prepare it and try it. YouTube has hundreds of MRE videos with people eating army food that is decades old. Let’s get this out onto a tray… …nice! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/23 "2020-04-29T00:12:55Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Let’s get this out onto a tray… > > …nice! 😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/24 "2020-04-29T05:47:11Z")
**Tourist** at restaurant in France: Waiter! Waiter! This bread is terrible! **Waiter** : But monsieur, the bread is superb! Napoleon LOVED this bread! **Tourist** : Sure, but it was FRESH then! MrsRico is very suspicious of foods aging past any displayed date so she regularly churns our stuck-at-home-again supply. Hoarding edibles doesn’t happen here. Well, some spice cans may date back to the 1980s. Might sell those as collectibles. Of course [XKCD games the idea](https://xkcd.com/2178/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/25 "2020-04-29T08:29:14Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It’s backpackers pantry. The date does not say if it is use by the date. [Here is a link to Backpacker’s Pantry shelf life](https://www.backpackerspantry.com/media/Backpacker's%20Pantry%20Shelf%20Life%20Guide.pdf) The date is the “best by” date, not a “use by” date and based on date of manufacture. So presumably your bag o’ food was made in 2004. The shorter durations are for items with a high fat content which may undergo rancid changes. The hot apple cobbler has a 10 year shelf life so presumably it has a low fat and/or dairy content and thus should not be likely to have those problems. Dehydrated food in a sealed, intact pouch should still be safe to eat even six years past that date. Flavor may or may not be as wonderful as it used to be. If the pouch was in a cool, dark place though it should still be edible. Mountain House gets to claim a 30 year shelf life because they have empirically tested it, sampling 30 year old packages of their food. Not sure how backpacker’s pantry does it, although they’ve been in business long enough to do some empirical testing on long-term food products. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/26 "2020-04-29T13:45:03Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Let’s get this out onto a tray… > > …nice! Just for anyone who’s wondering at this ref-- it’s a guy (YouTube handle Steve1989) who tries MREs of all ages, and his videos are oddly captivating and entertaining. Oldest thing he’s tried eating: hardtack from the Civil War. > **[Steve1989MREInfo](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA)** > > Military, Rations, Entertainment, and History. Reviews from the distant past to current! I only post my videos on YT. This is like a virtual museum at times, opening hard to come by food relics that many times have not been filmed, or at least not... ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/27 "2020-04-29T14:20:07Z")
Nice hiss. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718/28 "2020-04-30T00:04:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For camping food in a sealed container, I wouldn’t even start to worry until it was about 50 years old. Dates printed on food are completely meaningless. This. I regularly eat freeze dried food that’s 5 - 10 years past the date. I honestly can’t tell the difference between that stuff and new stuff. I’d go with Chronos’ 50 year cut off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-old-food-still-good/852718.md?page=1)