So I’m at the lease waiting for it to warm up a bit before I go about my outside chores and while looking through the canned goods I noticed a can of Wolfbrand chili with “best use by” date of 08/2018. No bulges or any obvious abnormalities with the can. What are the chances it won’t kill me if I try it?

It won’t kill you. However you might be in the bathroom quicker that a in date can date of Wolfbrand!

You’ll be fine. Just stir it a lot.

Cold drinks on the other hand mean what they say.

Smell it.

Just might not taste as good as new.

I’ll eat a lot of things that are out of date but wolf brand chili wouldn’t be one of them. Maybe it’s just the mental image of that going wrong.

It'll stil come out the same way.

Lol

Add 100 degrees and 500 FPS.

I’ll open it this evening and then make the call. I have some Pepto in case it all goes wrong. Going home tomorrow and don’t want to be stopping every 30 min!!

Won’t even notice a difference! Freshest or the oldest you are gonna spray

Verdict is in… I couldn’t stand the suspense. It had a little mold on the top. I opened another store brand chili that had a 2021 date and though it looked ok, I thought better and trashed it too. Leftover Popeyes chicken tonight for the win!

I’d go find a fresh squirrel or something before doing that. Good call.

Old chili is likely the ingredients of those Allsups burritos ya'll rave about so much. Be tough. Just eat it, washed down with cheap beer, and have some leftover fruitcake for desert.

Bon Appétit

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Lets do the math, it is basically 6 1/2 years past the use by date To me thats a no brainer, no need to open it just trash it.

My take on how far past the use by date will vary on the type of food. Can foods usually chunk them once they get past a year, bread if it smells good, still soft no mold then good to go.
On most things it is common sense, if it looks good, smells good then it is still good!

You could find that freshness at Lowe’s Market anywhere in far west Texas! We have to check EVERY date on food before buying.

I have eaten canned veggies over 10 years past the best by date and lived to type and tell about it. I dont eat canned meats that far out of date and had to toss a can of Ranch Style Beans that was well past the best by date and looked pretty bad. Have seen refried beans past the 8 year mark and those looked bad also. But for veggies I have never encountered any that looked or tasted bad. I dont buy Chili so cant comment on that. I really think its ingredient separation that makes the food look disgusting though and its probably still safe to eat. Google gives mixed opinions on it but the general consensus is that if the can is not compromised in any way then its probably still safe.

Why do all you guys have stuff that far out of date? I make sure my wife rotates any canned goods when she puts them away. A practice I acquired working in the grocery business for 31 years.

Only infant formula dates are required by the feds. The rest of the dates are from the manufacturer, your best guide always is personally checking the product - Smell, mold, consistency before eating it. I dont take chances anymore after a few bouts with foof poisoning.

That’s as simple as food in the camper. We keep all sorts of ready to heat and eat can goods in the camper like raveoli, beef stew, etc. we don’t plan to eat it at all. It’s back up for when you’re hungry and just don’t want to deal with it.

Most of mine stems from leaving it at the deer lease in the trailer. You forget what you have during the off season and wind up buying more of the same thing and it just piles up.

Ever been in the army? Have you eaten "c" rations? Check the date on them.

Exactly! Only reason I even looked was because I was alone and bored.

When stocking up a few years ago I bought way too much at one time of each and they're all dated the same. You can only eat so many cans of green beans and then you have all the others you have to eat. I have a row of can corn that the best buy was 25june2012 nothing wrong with them I just bought too many and didn't eat them as often as others. Now I spread it out when over time and need when I buy, and I don't buy so many cases at one time.

Just add a double handful of Frito's, one cut up Jalapeno, half a small onion diced up, and a handful of cheese and chow down. Wash it down with a couple of cans of your favorite beer and let us know how things came out.