# Cupboard opened after 30+ years



## djrich (Apr 1, 2014)

Thought this might interest a few on here http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1111...re_than_30_years_reveals_its_secrets/?ref=mry


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## MrDan (Apr 1, 2014)

Send it all in to that Ashens guy on Youtube  See if he dares to eat any of it!


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## magmo (Apr 1, 2014)

MrDan said:


> Send it all in to that Ashens guy on Youtube  See if he dares to eat any of it!



I once made a cup of tea from some tea bags I found in my cupboard, it was auful and then I looked at the date on them, they were 25 years old...


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## krela (Apr 1, 2014)

Canned food lasts forever. Bully beef from WW2 is technically still edible now.

Scary stuff really considering supermarkets can't make a cauliflower last 2 days.


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## Dirus_Strictus (Apr 2, 2014)

krela said:


> Canned food lasts forever. Bully beef from WW2 is technically still edible now.



Until I was 10 years old we lived in a flat, which was basically the first floor of a large Victorian semi. My mother and my aunt (dad's sister) had moved into it in 1940 and Dad took it on after war's end. In one of the cellars, which obviously had been fitted out for food storage when the place was built, was a large mesh fronted food cupboard. I think I was about 8 or 9 when I discovered that it contained dozens of tins of food, put in there evidently during the 'phoney' war by the residents in the top flat. I remember this because in my first year at senior school, I wrote an essay about how we all tried various tins and then gave the rest to some displaced people who lived next door .Nobody laughed or thought it strange - No silly sell by dates then and nobody suffered food poisoning - different times when food was not wasted because shortages were still there.


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## Ninja Kitten (Apr 2, 2014)

this is facinating thanks for posting this..


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## Mr beady (Apr 2, 2014)

cheers for the share looks a good mooch


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## smiler (Apr 2, 2014)

Thanks for posting the link I enjoyed it.


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## wirelessmast (Apr 2, 2014)

krela said:


> Canned food lasts forever.



This is not_ quite_ true, although its true enough for most purposes!

Theres actually two classes of canned goods. The ones that last the longest are classed as 'shelf stable', this relates in particular to good that may become toxic during perishing, ie meats and fish. The classic shelf stable tinned meat is the 'peardrop' tin! designed to stand on the shelf in a larder.

Old tins were not completely tin coated, so they would rust. Up until the 90s it was also still legal to seal tins with lead based solder.

Essentially though, if the tin is still its proper shape, with no deep dents, no bloating etc, and with no serious rust (it needs to come off when rubbed) which could lead to perforation, the chances are the contents are still technically edible, whatever the age!

Whether they are appetizing, thats another matter! Many foods will degrade due to acidity etc and whilst technically edible, might not be the most appealing of sustinence!

Undamaged tins, kept cool, out of corrosive atmosphere, and containing a non acidic foodstuff, can and are edible a very long time after being filled. Hence the crew of a stranded sailing boat in South Georgia in '82 who survived on tins left in the abandoned Christian Salveson whaling stations from the turn of the century!

I myself am still working my way through an old stock of ration packs dated late 80s, although im annoyed that ive run out of cheese possessed.


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## night crawler (Apr 4, 2014)

Reminds me of when I empried my Mothers cupborad at home after she passed away, found tin of baked beans that resembled a rubgy ball. There was also a fare bit pre decimal as well. Some find that wonder what they will do with it, toss it inthe bin


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## Richard Davies (Apr 4, 2014)

When my parents were clearing out my Gran's kitchen they found a lot of tins.

One had some meatballs in that some time later my parents tried out & wern't impressed with them!


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## Walrus75 (Apr 14, 2014)

wirelessmast said:


> ...
> I myself am still working my way through an old stock of ration packs dated late 80s, although im annoyed that ive run out of cheese possessed.


Jesus man, you must be sooooo bunged up!  Gotta say that the cheese was particularly nice though


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## Paulytwotanks (Apr 14, 2014)

That's an interesting piece! When he says about the shops they came from, and states that some simply had 'International' on them, that name refers to International Superstores - we had one near us in Wymondham in the late 1970's that our parents used to shop at. It had previously been called 'Pricerite'


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