Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

First Question: What prepackaged foods, if any, normally sold in supermarkets, have a shelf life of at least 20 years? Obviously, I do not mean jello, but foods that will be nutritious if TSHTF scenario occurs later rather than earlier, that is, about two decades out?

Second Question: What are the most essential foods to store in those 5 gallon storage buckets (with Mylar) and what kind of shelf life do they have?

Pardon my noobiness. Thank you.:spam4:

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

don't know about 20 years
but i've read posters here telling about opening canned items 10+ years old

for myself, i'd be happy with 5+ years
who knows what life will be like in 5 years

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

I'm fairly clueless in this area as well, but from what I've read, wheat, white rice, corn, sugar, pinto beans, rolled oats and macaroni are a few items that should store OK for multiple decades.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

i think people have been trained to think 'sealed food goes bad quick' so that they'll throw it away and buy more.

2 years ago, a buddy and i ate sealed MREs from the vietnam era. they were my dad's, he brought them home as souvenior when he got out in '75. that would have made them at least 30+ years old.

they tasted fine, and nothing bad hapened to us. just buy sealed stuff and store it accordingly.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

One of the items you seek is in your original post.



























:spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4: :spam4:

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

whole grains, wheat, unpearled barley, unrolled oat groats and beans in an O2 free container are the best keepers. I've read that rice is one of the shorter keeping grains (at least 5yrs -O2 though).

FYI, the shoprite can can sale is next week I think. Might be worth checking out. Buy long dates if you can.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Its free, just skip the religious stuff in the beginning:
http://www.green-trust.org/freebooks/Preparedness.pdf

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Very true. A five year window should get one through what's to come and start a garden and such.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

canned salmon and tuna can last up to 20 years if stored in mild temperatures without too many temp changes.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Or not. I bought a bunch of stuff from Walton Feed in February 2004 right after I discovered Peak Oil and joined the GIM forum -- coming up on 5 years real fast now. And I'm beginning to wonder about those dehydrated eggs and cheese powder :) TS doesn't always HTF when you think it will and shelf life is a valid concern I think.

I started my garden right about the same time. But there may be a time of civil discord during which I wouldn't want all my hopes for food growing out in the backyard available to one and all.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

NONE!

You might try honey for about five years, but supermarket foods are so adulterated even something like honey, which in a natural state has lasted since the time the Pharaohs were buried, could be unsuitable for consumption after a few years.


The most important factors involve controlling water content, heat, oxidation and vermin access.

Properly packed freeze-dried or dehydrated foods, nitrogen flushed, in a can, could last 30 or more years.

I would not recommend home-based, amateur disaster packaging. Buy it from a professional, or get connected with a group that does it professionally (like the Mormon canning brigades). You could probably package salt or sugar at home for indefinite storage, but anything of significant nutritive value needs special attention.

To reinforce what Sukhoi Fan writes, don't depend only on ultra-shelf-stable foods for survival. Fresh food, even minimal amounts, greatly improve health, due to the components which get cooked out of long-term foods.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Whatever they used on Keith Richards seems to have worked ...

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

The ultimate long lasting doomer food? TWINKIES!!! Enough preservatives to last 20 years and still be fresh. :bear_w00t:

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

That's one food storage rule that's supported by unassailable logic. It's also extremely difficult to implement in practice. Unless you're going to subsist, even in good times when fresh produce is available, on re-constituted powdered milk and dehydrated eggs, cheese and vegetables (not to mention textured vegetable protein instead of real meat), you'll find it difficult to establish an effective rotation. So, if you don't store what you're reluctant to eat during the good, fat years, come the lean years you'll live without eggs and milk and any vegetable that doesn't come in a can. I know someone will tell me to get out of the suburbs and raise chickens and milk cows; but we're old folks with health problems. Isn't going to happen.

For that reason, I've been comforted by the stored foods that have a long shelf life and troubled by the dehydrated eggs, cheese and milk that I have in my pantry. I don't really see a good solution to the problem.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Yeah, somethings you have to have as plan b in prepping for shtf. I've got some flour and dry milk I cycle to the homeless shelter about twice a year. (Toss the pancake mix with eggs as some kind of fungus grows in there after the expiration date.)

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Anyone thats lived in Alaska has eaten Pilot Bread (like hardtac) it takes about 10 years to make stale.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

I disagree. I trust my home packed food way more then professionally packed grains. That way I know its done right, with more then enough O2 absorbers that I know are fresh at the time it was packed. For all I know the stuff packed in a cannery was done by a high school kid who didn't take the same type of care. For one example, Walton Feed only uses 1 O2 absorber per super pail since they are double their rating and packed at high altitude. They use just barely enough absorbers even under ideal conditions. Meanwhile at home I use 5 or more. Plus they are packed in a more sturdy bucket and it all costs less then if I bought them already packed.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

I agree, It's a real problem. We don't eat a lot of canned food usually so rotation can be a problem if you wait to the last minute. At some point there are bound to be losses, although we haven't had much. It's insurance after all. You could pay home fire insurance your whole life and never use it.

I've been meaning to build some shelves where cans and boxes can move forward when stocked from the back.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

i have a few gallons of RAW HONEY..

raw honey NEVER EXPIRES!!!

also i have lots of canned salmon, coconut oil and vitamin supplements. of these will last 5 years+


i figure with that and a big garden and maybe a future chicken coop, i should be set for awhile..

i just need a good water source.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

I didn't see it mentioned, but what would be the life of dried meats, e.g. beef jerky and similiar?

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

I immediately thought SPAM as its canned with lots of salt.

Hmm hormel says 3 years.


----------------------
What is the shelf life of a Hormel Foods product in an unopened can?


The processing techniques utilized by Hormel Foods makes the canned product safe for use indefinitely if the product seal remains intact, unbroken and securely attached to a can that has been well maintained. It is suggested that all canned products be stored in a cool and dry environment to keep the flavor adequately preserved. For maximum flavor it is recommended that the product be used within three years of the manufacturing date. After that period of time, the product is still safe to use however, the flavor gradually declines.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

[QUOTE=BlackJack616;1497483]i have a few gallons of RAW HONEY..

raw honey NEVER EXPIRES!!!


Actually, it depends on the moisture content. You don't want a high moisture

honey, if you are storing it for very long.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

:cry1::cry1::cry1::cry1:

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

[quote=The Shadow;1497869]if it candies/crystalises and the moisture is kept out you can be pretty sure it will out last us all.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

i guess the best thing would be get a garden going and buy about 12 chickens....

that plus canned foods, etc. would take you a long time.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

Oxygen absorbers are not sufficient. Nitrogen flush is required for the longest duration.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

But is it really raw? If it's in a supermarket, it probably isn't, even if it says it is.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

In the Army, on KP, in 1972 we opened a can of weiners that were dated Dec 1950. I didn't eat any of them, but heard no stories of people getting sick.

Re: Longest Shelf Life in Supermarket
 

It's the same thing only it conserves O2 absorbers. Most professional companies like Walton Feed don't nitrogen flush anyway since its redundant. O2 absorbers leave nothing but nitrogen in the container, assuming you use enough of them. Anyway its simple to nitrogen flush at home if someone is inclined, but I would personally NOT do it since there is no real advantage. Instead there will be so little oxygen left to absorb that the mylar probably wont vacuum seal like a brick which makes it harder to know if you have a bad seal or if your O2 absorbers were no good.