I learned a long time ago in grad school that you can definitely eat canned food that is well beyond its expiration date, and I never had any negative consequences. That said, I would never risk it as a prepping habit, especially not if I had other options.

I'm always in this boat. As I have always liked the "Get it and Forget it" Approach.

As such I have switched to mainly Dehydrated and Freeze Dried Foods as my long term storage.

I still find myself throwing out a lot of the normal foods I buy or having to eat near outdated stuff just so I don't have to throw it out. So your not alone in this.

Squeeze in a few Dehydrated or Freeze dried products from time to time and due to their rather extreme shelf lives you'll soon find your throwing out less and less and as such you'll end up saving money in the long run.

Check out the 16 minute mark for the Calgary eye opener for Nov 23/12 It's about expiration dates on food...

http://www.cbc.ca/eyeopener/

I would suggest not worrying too much about the expiry dates, especially on canned foods...they should be good past the date. Here in Canada, food banks will just throw it out now. They can't distribute the expired foods, just like grocery stores can't sell expired foods.

We've been getting loads of groceries from the 'back doors' of grocery stores for a few years now and there is nothing wrong with it (except the date).

They're best before dates and not expiry dates on cans/packaged foods in Canada and they can and do indeed sell them and it's not against the law...meat and dairy they are not allowed to sell after the date for obvious reasons.
I've bought many items off the discount shelf in several different grocery stores that were past their best before/sell by date.
I've also worked in grocery. Many stores do get rid of out dated BB cans/packages as a matter of policy in order to maintain consumer confidence in their stores.

The thing with grocery stores are they are supplied by a supply chain that can not be broken. From what I am told, stores move meat and veggies out the door way before BB/exp dates because they have a minimum order every week. Some chains offer discounts to the stores that maintain higher volumes of food so it's cheaper to push out week old veggies and bump up the order for new stuff. Sometimes we can pack the fridge with meat and veggies for about 20 bucks worth of gas picking this stuff up. Lately though, there have been a lot more people 'gleaning' this source.

I was just going thru some of my preps and realized I did not rotate properly some of my preps will be MFG date out dated in a month or two.... Time to step up and take to local food bank.... Anyone else do this

haven't read all the replies, so i hope this isn't stated many times, but. .

i have PERSONALLY TESTED canned food that was more then 2 years out of date for things like soup, ketchup, beans (kidney, brown beans in tomato sauce, black beans, lentils, chick peas) canned tomatoes, canned stews, canned fish/chicken/ham/turkey, pineapple i think. . .(ok the wife ate the meat not me but it was fine) and maybe a few others, nothing was wrong with any of them. of course the nutrient will be slightly less, but there was no spoiling, or bad tastes! (or should i say a different taste lol i understand the canned meats were pretty bad to start with)

i've done this with more then one can of each of the above, never a problem.

the ONLY thing i've had a problem with was tomato paste, it gets pin size holes in the can and it leaks out. i haven't 6-10 cans do this on me. they didn't look bad on the inside, but i sure as hell didn't taste it. i found this problem when it look like there was mouse poop on the top of the can, but when i wiped it off it smeared, it was in fact tomato paste that leaked out, and hardened from exposure to air.

if there was no resupply you wouldn't be throwing this stuff out, so start testing and find out what will keep.
i've heard but don't have any (or many) that the pull topped canned foods (alphabet pasta and sauce, screarios, animalgette etc) don't last long, the pull top lid being a weak point. i guess they make soup like this now, but i don't like those lids much so i don't buy them. . .

look at things like wheat too, the LDS studies 5 years ago said wheat properly packed was good for 25 years (they tested that) NOW they said it's good for 30 years. in 10 years from now, they will be tested it at 40 years and i bet they are going to say it's still good to eat. the flour might not be as good, but it'll sprout, and you can eat it!

don't worry so much about dates, it's LAW in Canada everything has to have a date, even things that don't go bad!

if you look, the date is actually a best before date, not an expiry date. basically, the food starts to lose its taste at that point. i would still eat it. just make sure the can isnt dented. if so, i would toss it.

i've also had dented cans that i didn't want to use, but after sitting there two or more years, i've opened them up and they have remained sealed and there was no problem with the stuff in side.

dents don't equal cracks, i'm not sure where all this dent stuff came from, i'm not saying there isn't cause to be mindful of it, but i've never had ANY TROUBLE with a dent. . . i won't buy a dented can, but i've never had to waste one that was only dented.

I just ate a can of kernal corn that was AT LEAST 8 years old. Color and texture and taste was fine. I have had the same problem with a tomato based products. I believe it is the high acid content that eats the tin. Dents have the potential to create a breach in the coating inside the can letting the food react with the actual steel of the can. That is the concern. It would take a long time for that to be a problem though.

Never throw out or give away outdated food. I'd rather eat something outdated then have something to eat. This assumes the food is still edible (most go well above and beyond their expiration dates).