Risky Bean Rotation???

[jennyjj01]

I didn't dare to post this last night in case I'd killed someone or made them ill

I'm pretty rubbish with stock rotation, and yesterday I did a fry up and brought out the oldest tins of beans and tomatoes.
The Branston Baked Beans were BBE July 2018, which normally wouldn't bother me for one second. But this time, I noticed that the tin slightly fizzed when I pierced the can. There was no sign of corrosion or other deterioration. This 'fizz' was something I've not encountered before and I think I handled it badly... Very badly. I lost sleep over this one.
Smell, colour and tentative taste were all normal, so I chanced serving it up to the 3 of us. I did nuke it extra in case of bacteria, but I realise that botulism toxin is a risk that would not die. Afterwards I was uneasy with the risk I'd taken, not for myself, but for my loved ones.
Since over half my cans are BBE 2019 or older, I have to decide whether to chuck some of them out or use them faster. Common sense tells me to chuck them or at very least, not serve them to loved ones.
My conscience is clear rotating in other expired stuff... But maybe I should reconsider: This is not actually the zombie apocalypse yet

Yes... I think I've decided. I will only risk serving such dubious tins to myself and if there's even that tiny pressure, I'll bin it. I won't use popped jars.

However, nobody died. Nobody ill, this time ( yet?) I seem to have got away with it.

Anyone care to chew my ear. Or, less likely, care to reassure me?

Can anyone tell me which foods would be most likely to have botulism or similar which would pass the sniff test?

[Jamesey1981]

Anything acidic is unlikely to contain botulism, so tomatoes and stuff like that, basically it's the tins with the visible plastic lining, all tins are lined but these are thicker, they can still spoil but botulism is unlikely, sometimes the acid will eat through the lining, this will result in it smelling and tasting metallic but it will still probably be ok to eat, (although horrible) as long as the seal hasn't been compromised. Anything else is at risk.

Any pressure in a can is a risk, as then you MAY have had some bacterial growth.

Most cans are good for years past their best before date, but if it's under pressure then bin it just in case, you can't smell botulism.

A hiss is not always high pressure, sometimes cans are vacuum sealed, but not the ones that you will commonly find in a supermarket.

You've probably got away with it if no one is ill, but I personally would have chucked it.

[jennyjj01]

You've probably got away with it if no one is ill, but I personally would have chucked it.

Thanks. With hindsight, I agree, wholeheartedly.
Now... About that 4 year old egg powder. LOL.

[itsybitsy]

Anything acidic is unlikely to contain botulism, so tomatoes and stuff like that, basically it's the tins with the visible plastic lining, all tins are lined but these are thicker, they can still spoil but botulism is unlikely, sometimes the acid will eat through the lining, this will result in it smelling and tasting metallic but it will still probably be ok to eat, (although horrible) as long as the seal hasn't been compromised. Anything else is at risk.

Any pressure in a can is a risk, as then you MAY have had some bacterial growth.

Most cans are good for years past their best before date, but if it's under pressure then bin it just in case, you can't smell botulism.

A hiss is not always high pressure, sometimes cans are vacuum sealed, but not the ones that you will commonly find in a supermarket.

You've probably got away with it if no one is ill, but I personally would have chucked it.

I've had that metallic taste before and it's rank.

[Jamesey1981]

When myself and my mum cleared out my nan's flat, along with the box full of live hand grenades that still baffle me, we found a packet of powdered egg from the war!

I didnt eat it, and mum wouldn't let me keep the grenades, bad times.

[Yorkshire Andy]

along with the box full of live hand grenades that still baffle me,

would make digging my allotment over a lot easier bet the police and rlc were not happy fact remains many people were trained and equipped to act as sabotage squads if ze Germans made landfall on UK soil

Be aware of the wartime generation many were trained to kill with their bare hands

And they could russle a meal out of what ever they could find in date or not

[pseudonym]

The bbe 2016 meatballs were fine.

I'm on the last two bbe 2016 chill con carne....

[jansman]

Best before is just that.After that date it may lose taste ,colour,nutritional value etc. Use by is just that,and applies generally to high risk foodstuffs.

Anyhow,if you open a tin,and it doesn't ' seem' right,i.e. Fizzes,then bin it.Use your instinct. Trouble is,as Jamesy said,you cannot see ,taste or smell food poisoning pathogens. I could go * nuclear* and bang on about food safety ( its a meat industry thing), but in the end it is all about common sense.What I must say however,is that proper rotation is imperative. Dates are there for a reason.And before anyone chimes in,it is NOT about legal arse- covering.If I ran stock control at work in a haphazard manner,ignoring rotation,I would be sacked.End of.

If anyone has that much out of date stuff,then they are not really using it ( and won't,just like in the pictures on social media of panic- bought food in wheelie bins) in my opinion.I appreciate that Prepper Stores are for the apocalypse but that is where real longterm ,deep storage,such as dried beans,rice etc. come in to their own.Sorry if that upsets anyone,but wasted food is ,frankly,wrong.It comes down to store what YOU eat,and eat what you store.

[Arzosah]

On my new thorough stock-taking binge, I've discovered a single tin of ood sweetcorn - 2018, but only one, the rest are 2021, so that was just a mistake. I have 1.5kg of cornmeal exp December 2016 and I'm imagining that's safe. I have enough salt and sugar to stock my own shop I think because sugar has been such an easy buy to bulk out a supermarket delivery. Never again!

[Jamesey1981]

On my new thorough stock-taking binge, I've discovered a single tin of ood sweetcorn - 2018, but only one, the rest are 2021, so that was just a mistake. I have 1.5kg of cornmeal exp December 2016 and I'm imagining that's safe. I have enough salt and sugar to stock my own shop I think because sugar has been such an easy buy to bulk out a supermarket delivery. Never again!

Salt and sugar are good things to have a lot of, both are useful for preserving fresh produce if the shortages last longer than we have planned for.

I keep about 30kg of salt, that's one of the things I store that don't get used up, I use a big chunk every now and then when I decide to cure something, but nowhere near often enough to rotate what I have, but it's good to have it.

Sugar I do get through as I make jam and marmalade, and I also make wine, so I keep a lot of that and it does get rotated.