Beans, Rice and Noodles good for thirty years...
 

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695260521,00.html

"....Some low-moisture foods, such as dried apples, beans and rice, can be safe, edible and nutritious up to 30 years after being packaged, if properly stored, according to Pike. He recently conducted research to find out how long foods in long-term storage fared, asking for donations of food that had been stored for a number of years in large, restaurant-size cans.


"A lot of people were happy to get rid of their old food storage, so we received sufficient samples that we could look at the quality," Pike said.
They tested the food for nutritional value and prepared samples for 50 taste-testers, in a cross-section of ages, to rate. They used a nine-point hedonic scale, with one being "dislike extremely" and going up to nine for "like extremely."

"Our acceptable cut-off point was "dislike slightly, because this was food that people would be willing to eat in an emergency but that was still well-accepted in sensory perception," Pike said.

In some cases, there were changes in flavor, appearance, texture or smell that some of the tasters disliked slightly. "But the wheat kernels hardly declined after 30 years. They made a great loaf of bread," Pike said.

And the 30-year-old apple slices were so well-liked that people continued to nibble on them.

Wheat and white rice were deemed acceptable at 30-plus years. Pinto beans, apple slices, macaroni, rolled oats and potato flakes all were acceptable at 30 years, and powdered milk at 20 years.

Pike points out that these findings apply to the large, food-storage size cans, stored with oxygen-absorption packets, and stored at room temperature or below. Heat, light and air will cause the food products to deteriorate more quickly.

"It doesn't apply to foods packaged or stored in other ways," Pike said. They sampled dried milk stored in cardboard packages for 20 years, "and it was terrible, in both nutrition and taste," Pike said. He noted that in determining a "best if used by" date, manufacturers don't go down to a "slightly dislike" level of acceptability. "They don't want any decline in the quality, because they want to please their customers. They won't stand behind the food after that date."

Re: Beans, Rice and Noodles good for thirty years...
 

I opened a #10 can of powdered milk just a while back that I bought in 1998....it seemed as good as any other powdered milk, which isn't GREAT like fresh, but I couldn't tell it was 10 years old either. Stored at 60 or less.

Re: Beans, Rice and Noodles good for thirty years...
 

Great find. Thank you for posting!

Dave