SPAM Shelf Life Failures - Important Food Safety Info MUST READ!

[Winger Ed.]

What happened to the sealing process that kept items usable for years not months but for years,C rations canned meats etc.

They were heavy duty, lined, steel cans, and not the thin Alum. ones everybody uses now days.
The can itself, and the process to close/seal it is much more expensive there by being less profitable to produce.

The 'easy open' feature further thins the can's wall thickness on the lids.
We end up with a very thin, softer, and more fragile can.

Storing stuff in the cold will help too.
One of the expeditions to the S. Pole not too long ago found 'left overs' in Adm. Byrd's old camp.
They ate canned goods from 1928 made with the old processes that were still good.

[brass410]

A can "o" spam (bush caviar) cracked and placed near the exhust on the sled(snowmobile), is a pretty welcome thing,on a cold ride to your favorite secret ice fishing pothole/lake with fishin buddy's, when it minus 30 somthin coupled with a good cracker (ritz perhaps) rivals the finest beluga caviar and snooty crowd anytime !!!

[Electrod47]

What happened to the sealing process that kept items usable for years not months but for years,C rations canned meats etc.

I was on KP in the field Germany 1967. We were opening a hundred cans of C Rations Weenies and Beans Dated 1958 and filling a pot for the chow line. Tell the truth we fought each other for the 1958 Weenies and Beans they were that good. Who knew?

[Winger Ed.]

Tell the truth we fought each other for the 1958 Weenies and Beans they were that good. Who knew?

C RATS were really pretty good--- except that egg mess stuff in one of the cans.
The turkey loaf wasn't that great,,,, but the eggs--- they were just awful.

A old buddy told of his Dad working at the plant I think in either Oregon or Wash. state that made them during WWII.
I can't remember the exact number, but I think he said they made something like 4 or 5 BILLION of the box meals.

More than a few of their truck drivers got hurt, or were killed in wrecks while trying
to drive down and catch the supply ships before they sailed.

Anyway-
Out of all that, and the gazillions of different batches---- not one single person ever got sick from eating them.

[Baltimoreed]

Prefer corned beef but I did buy a can last month but haven’t tried it yet. If Monty Python liked it how bad can it be?

[Winger Ed.]

If Monty Python liked it how bad can it be?

Corned beef is good.
However; I'm not so sure I'd agree with them so quickly on just anything.......

I never got drunk enough to try any of them, but those people over there also go all crazy over kidney pie,
black or white pudding, jellied eels, and a bunch of other things that would remind ya of raw sewage..

[Baltimoreed]

Well they certainly found it humorous if not tasty.

[JWFilips]

Regardless: if you fry it in enough bacon fat it is safe! Enjoy!

[Finster101]

OK you have convinced me not to buy any SPAM but truth be told last can I purchased was in 1978.

Do you still have it?

[armoredman]

I have plenty of SPAM on site, never once had any issues with it going bad. I also store them carefully along with other canned goods, and follow the usual protocols - if it's swollen or rusted, it's bye bye.

[GregLaROCHE]

How did spam become the word for unwanted emails?

[farmbif]

good question? and quite so fitting so from the man who lives in the cradle of the land where the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity originated.
my devices her in USofA are bombarded with at least a dozen message every day that tell me if I want to be a REAL patriot I need to donate and send them money right away.
but back to the spoiled spam
like any food or packaged product for eating your inventory needs to be rotated, eat the older stuff and replenish stocks on regular basis, everything will go bad in its own time.

[Loudy13]

Now I want some spam ....You couldn't get me to eat it as a kid but now its a treat. Spam with shells and cheese is amazing!!
or Fried or with eggs!

[Outpost75]

Regardless: if you fry it in enough bacon fat it is safe! Enjoy!

Frying does not kill botulinum toxin.

[Alasgun]

Most Alaskans hunt off of wheelers or out of a boat or plane; so we’re always in places of great scenic wonderment!
With a little effort; Denali can bee seen from several of my former haunts (haven’t hunted for 15 years) so we always carried a can of Spam, some Beachcliff sardines and a bag of nachos that were never eaten but used as props for the photo sessions.
Whenever “the mood would hit”; typically during a boring part of the day; we’d stop for lunch or a snack on top of some hill and orient ourselves for a shoot. I have several pictures around here of me standing there holding a can of spam or sardines or nachos; up by my shoulder with the mountain perfectly centered on top of the can or bag.

The plan was to send in one of these pictures hocking any particular product with some sort of catchy phrase like
‘beachcliff sardines are the pinnacle flavor and favored by many Alaskans”.
Our thinking was that we’d secure some sort of advertising gig; kind of like the Marlboro man? Well, we ate all the rest of the stuff each trip but i still have that can of Spam and we never sent any pictures to anyone but i do have a lot of fond memories from that one and only can. Roll the can over and see how many of those words you cant pronounce! I call that stuff “scrotiummutinate”.

[BadgerShooter]

If you are ever on I-90 in Minnesota, a trip to the Spam Museum is actually pretty interesting. A lot of history and a jillion flavors that they make that are not sold in the US. Worth a couple of hours.

[farmbif]

how can you tell if somethings got botulinum in it?

[Winger Ed.]

how can you tell if somethings got botulinum in it?

All bacteria is alive, and part of its life process is breathing/exhaling a gas of some sort.
If you see a can that has swollen from internal pressure--- its probably got it.

If not botulinum, then something else that will make you sick-- or worse.

If you open a can or other food storage container that's bad,
even if it hasn't swelled and bloated out, it smells like rotting food too.

[Finster101]

Even in the early 80s we were getting C-rats out in the field, still had the 5 cig. pack in them. Some were pretty good some not so much. The much-maligned fruit cake was actually pretty tasty when heated by my tank heater, especially if I had a canteen cup of instant coffee to go with it.

[dverna]

I keep a case or two of Spam on hand. Waiting for the next sale and getting three more cases. It is awful stuff so stop buying it.