A Food Storage Failure

The other day a friend dropped a five-gallon bucket of organic soybeans off at my house.  The container was dated as being sealed 1/24/84.  In other words, these soybeans are over 30 years old.  Now being that old does not automatically make this a food storage failure.

As soon as I took a good look at the bucket, I knew there was a problem.  The bucket had a label on it showing that it had held dryvit Quarzputz finish.  This is a product that is still manufactured and is a 100% acrylic based coating that is used for wall coverings.

food storage failure

A couple of minute’s research on the inernet found the material safety data sheet on this product, which states the following.  “If ingested, product may cause irritation of mouth, throat, stomach, and digestive and central nervous systems; signs and symptoms may include headache, drowsiness, dizziness, swelling, abdominal discomfort, and/or burning sensation”.

Now in 1984 Mylar bags were not available, so when I opened the bucket I was not surprised that the beans had been placed directly into the bucket.  The bucket appeared to have been well cleaned prior to putting in the beans.  But there is no way I am going to eat these.

However, my curiosity got the best of me so I have a few of the beans sitting in the kitchen getting soaked, as I am going to see if they will still sprout.  I will let you know if they do.

As you can see, there are a couple of food storage failures here.  First, they didn’t use food grade buckets (Food Grade Containers and Why You Should Use Them)  that had only contained food.  Second, since this was packed so many years ago without the use of Mylar bags, the beans should have been rotated years ago.  Sealing Food in 5 Gallon Buckets   

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There is no way I will use these beans; the age does not bother me, but the chemicals do.

Howard

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