In EARTH ABIDES, a post-apocalyptic novel, (SPOILERS)

[raccoon]

the main characters are still eating canned foods decades after the epidemic that killed off most of the world's population. I remember thinking when I first read it (1971) that the canned foods probably wouldn't have been edible after such a long time. Does anybody know about that?

(And even if they were, you'd have to be pretty hungry to eat it.)

[Speck Tater]

1. Extreme shelf life

--quote--
The steamboat Bertrand was heavily laden with provisions when it set out on the Missouri River in 1865, destined for the gold mining camps in Fort Benton, Mont. The boat snagged and swamped under the weight, sinking to the bottom of the river. It was found a century later, under 30 feet of silt a little north of Omaha, Neb.

Among the canned food items retrieved from the Bertrand in 1968 were brandied peaches, oysters, plum tomatoes, honey, and mixed vegetables. In 1974, chemists at the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) analyzed the products for bacterial contamination and nutrient value. Although the food had lost its fresh smell and appearance, the NFPA chemists detected no microbial growth and determined that the foods were as safe to eat as they had been when canned more than 100 years earlier.
--/quote--

more at: http://www.foodreference.com/html/cans-extreme.html

That was an awesome book!

[codjh9]

4. Hey - no joke - my mother-in-law pulled some frozen cherries out of her freezer in

the 90's that had been IN THE FREEZER SINCE THE 50'S!!! And what did she do? Why, got my father-in-law to taste 'em! :^) They're both gone now, and I'm divorced as well, but that's one of the most hilarious memories I have of them. Who'd believe it?

[SheilaT]

2. Actually, that's one of the badly-thought-out parts

of an otherwise excellent novel.

My science-fiction book club group read and discussed that book a couple of years ago, and several pointed out that the canned food in the one supermarket they seemed to be accessing would have run out within a few months of the disaster. We called it the Magical Supermarket. The real interesting thing about the reliance on the canned foods was that the adults never did anything at all about getting food any other way. They never planted vegetable gardens, never seemed to gather wild fruit, and didn't hunt.

The real issue about very old canned food would probably be a nearly complete loss of nutritional content. If the can isn't bulging, indicating growing bacteria, it's probably safe to eat in that it won't hurt you.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Earth Abides!

Man, I read the book oh-so-many-years-ago in Jr. High...Great Read!