Originally Posted by
Art
It isn't just how long it will last. How long a food retains its nutritive value is also important. Both rice and dried beans begin to lose nutrition value after 5 years on the shelf. the longer you store after that the closer you are to just bulk with less and less value to the old bod. eventually it will be just something to make you feel full.
All food has a "best by" date. This is not an expiration date but the date by which it starts to loose its actual food value. Canned goods, for example, are edible several years after the "best buy" date they just aren't as nutritious. We date everything in our prepper pantry and start using it when that date is reached. Some foods, especially freeze dried foods already are compromised to some extent by the preserving process when you buy them which is one of the reasons they are called "emergency foods."
We had some loose MREs that were several years past the best by period (5-6 years) and it varied from being ok, at least taste wise, to something that might have been edible but looked un-appetizing to say the least. It's a really good idea to have a schedule and periodically rotate through your "prepper pantry" food.
Buy stuff you'll want to eat. We learned that the hard way with canned food.