Will food banks accept expired canned goods?
I have a lot of canned goods that have passed their expiration date that I want to donate to Second Harvest. They're canned so they should still be good, right?
Canned food will expire on whatever date is specified on the can. Don't give away that food. Even if Second Harvest does accept the food (which they probably won't), it would be kind of rude to be giving away rotten food.
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December 31st, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…….they have an expiration date on there for a reason.
Giving expired canned goods to a shelter is like the Sienfield episode when George took a book into the bathroom with him then tried to return it.
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I guess it depends how far past the date. If it's a year past, then no, it's not okay. If the expiration date was last week, I guess so. None the less, I don't know if that's the sort of stuff they're looking for.
December 31st, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Toss those out! Don't donate something your not sure isn't spoiled because you can't tell unless you open the can if its still good or not. Expiration dates are on there for a reason and passing it on to someone else could cause issues. My local food bank does not put these typs of things on the shelf, they are forced to toss them for safty reasons.
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December 31st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Most food banks hand out expired canned goods on a regular basis. Or about to expire. If Second Harvest doesn't want those goods some other group most likely will.
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December 31st, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Canned food will expire on whatever date is specified on the can. Don't give away that food. Even if Second Harvest does accept the food (which they probably won't), it would be kind of rude to be giving away rotten food.
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December 31st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
no, if you wouldn't eat them and you shouldn't eat anything that's expired its shelf life , don't foist it off on the poor. They have enough problems without having to experience botulism and other diseases.
Rule of thumb give food banks what you would eat yourself .
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December 31st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Would you accept expired canned goods? Think about it!
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December 31st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
do you not like the people who go to the food banks??
why would you give them food that would make them sick. It expires because it wil;l only stay good for so long then gos bad- and make you sick
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December 31st, 2008 at 8:52 pm
i doubt it.
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June 10th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Here in my town .its very hard to find work .being 48 constructions taking a turn here .i went to the food bank here today .n was very pleased to get a food box my three children are very hungry and i only get around 250 a week .rent n utilitys are overwhelming .lost my home to foreclosure two years ago .so anyway i recieved a lote of pees yes pees are good for you. i now have thirty cans of pees in my cabinet .also i recieved fruit bowls that expired 5 days ago .the lids popped off n the liguid that was inside the bowl is in my car now rotten smell .there isnt enough food in the box to even sustain a weeks worth of one meal a day ..i thank god for people who go to the stores n collect all the waste and distribute it to the needy .i bet thier cabinets aren’t full of pees like mine ..
August 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hmmm…funny how everybody assumes you are giving away the food *because* it is expired. I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason your cans expired is because you got them and never used them. Perhaps you finally realized that you really never are going to use them after all
We have some stuff like this hiding in the back of our pantries as well that probably should be cleaned up because they are just using up space.
As long as the can is undamaged, sealed and still “popped down” the food in it should be fine. But quality and supposedly nutrition will deteriorate over time. Just like medication — medicine begins to loose potency after the exp date (many doctors take donated expired medication to third world countries and use it to treat people there — badly needed treatment that would not be possible without these “expired” donations).
If you don’t want the food because you are worried about the date then by all means throw it away. I wouldn’t donate something that I’m not willing to eat myself. But if you just find that you don’t care for baby peas after all, given the choice of throwing the food away or giving it to somebody who can use it — I’d give it away in a heartbeat.
October 1st, 2009 at 6:57 pm
The cans I’ve seen have a “best by” date not an expiration date. If you check around you’ll find that most experts say that non acidic canned good are good for 3-5 yrs as long as the can isn’t bulging and acidic goods are good for at least 18mo. As for the rotten fruit bowls and 30 cans of peas, shame on the person who put that in a box. Anyone knows you can’t make a meal out of that. If you lived close to me I’d help you out with some decent food.