Today I Ate a 42 Year old Package of Long Term-Food Storage

long-term food storage

It has been my contention that properly packed products will last beyond what most people would consider their shelf life.  Personally, I have limited my own purchases of long-term food storage to a few companies.  In the last, few years I have seen a number of new companies enter the long-term food market.  The majority of these companies seem to be just trying to take advantage of the demand for food and I would not trust their products to keep my family alive.  Some companies I do trust and today a friend and I ate a Mountain House pouch of beef stew dated the ninety-sixth day of 1972.

Yes, that was 1972; 42 years ago and we are talking about a pouch not a can.  At that time they were never expected to be kept for this period of time.  But they were packed with the best technology available.

As many of you know, I try to get my hands on all the very old long-term food storage I can find.  I have opened many cans and have refused to eat products from many companies.   Long-term Food Storage, 30 year Old Cans I Opened Today

Friends are always giving me all cans and packages that they are concerned about.  Anyway, I ended up getting several old pouches of Mountain House Beef Stew.  The pouches were in good condition and the food looked good so we rehydrated it and ate it.

long-term food storage

One thing that I have learned about older food freeze-dried and dehydrated foods is that you need to let them set in the boiling water a little longer than normal.  Second, they seem to require a little more water than the recommended amount.

See also  Mountain House vs Wise Foods

The 42-year-old beef stew tasted fine and I enjoyed it.  Now I don’t know about how nutritious it was, but I know it filled me up and provided me with calories.  Now I am not advocating that you keep your food this long, I believe in rotating it regularly.  But if you run across some old Mountain House don’t be in a big hurry to throw it away.  It might still be good.

Howard

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6 thoughts on “Today I Ate a 42 Year old Package of Long Term-Food Storage”

  1. funny you post this today – last night we had this same discussion as we enjoyed powdered chocolate milk with the kids. the can had been opened 4 years earlier, and we were skeptical but adventurous. 3 things we found:
    1) still tasted reasonably well. we could tell it was older, but all enjoyed it (esp the teenager boys home from football… they polished it off). good to know in hard times.
    2) chocolate flavored anything is much better than plain. and added bonus as “comfort” food when times are hard. we always get chocolate when it is available if we can.
    3) raising chickens or pigs is a big bonus whenever stored foods to become unpalatable. they will eat it (and benefit us) long after we will toss it. waste not, want not.

    great posting!

  2. Veteran Who Is Preparing

    I wonder how their old LRRPs would be now? The originals from the 1960s. I see them for sale every so often.

    1. I think they would last at least as long as the stew that I ate. The only LRRPs I have are to new only 5 years or so old.
      Howard

  3. I totally agree about expired food. They are legally required to put that on there. I have eaten expired foods often.

    1. Veteran Who Is Preparing

      I’m not talking about the LRP/MCW which are issued now. I’m talking about the actual LRRP ration packs from the 1960s. I see them come up on auctions on ebay sometimes. I know in theory they should be ok but I do wonder if they still are. I’ll stick to buying and using the new ones though.

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