Almost everyone keeps at least a small supply of canned food products, whether it is for day-to-day use or emergency supplies. In this guide, I want to give a little bit of helpful info on your canned foods.

First of all, consider the date on the can. In most cases, canned products are edible for longer periods of time than the date on the can. This date generally means that the manufacturer guarantees that the product will be fresh up to this date. If you have multiple cans of the same item, always use the one with the oldest date first. "Rotate your stock" like the grocery stores do so that freshness is not affected. Some date codes on canned foods are not as straightforward as "use by Dec. 31, 2008". In this case, you can look for a toll-free phone number or web address of the company on the label, and they will tell you how to decipher their date code to determine the date on your can.

Second, and probably the most important part of my guide, is to inspect the condition of the can BEFORE opening it. It is normal to find a can with small dings, scratches, etc. from time to time. This can occur during handling of the canned item. But, if the can is rusty, bulging, or otherwise looks abnormal, DO NOT OPEN IT! A bulging or bloated can has been contaminated at some point (possibly from the factory, or more commonly it was dropped on the floor just right at the grocery store, or maybe you even dropped it). BLOATING OR BULGING CANS INDICATE THAT THERE IS SOME SORT OF CONTAMINANT IN THE CAN. This can range from harmless bacteria to botulism, so you do not want to risk serious illness or death by using this canned item.

If you find that you have a can with any of these conditions, DO NOT OPEN IT!! Remove the paper label to discourage scavenging, mark the can with an "X" or simply write "BAD" on it, and put it in the trash UNOPENED. Then, get it out of your house as soon as possible, since there is a possibility that a swollen can could explode from the pressure inside it. This will protect you and your family from coming into contact with any harmful contaminants that may be in the can. Better to lose that one can of food than to lose a member of your family or have huge medical bills.