Perhaps the most important issue to people who are planning for long-term food storage is “Food Product Dating”. This issue can be very confusing, especially when you have a variety of food types in your emergency food storage.

Why Do I Need To Rotate My Food Storage?

Rotating foods by the product date is important to ensure your food storage is both safe to eat, and that the quality has been maintained to ensure that your family will get the most nutrition possible.

What Is A Sell-By -Date?

The Sell-By Date is the date the store should pull the article from shelf. No food articles should be sold after this date.

What Is A Best-If-Used-By (or Before) Date?

This is the date the food product should be used for the best taste and quality. It should be noted that this date does not represent the date that the food turns bad; it only looses flavor and some of its’ nutrition.

What Is The Use-By-Date?

The Use-By-Date is the last date that the product should be used for the best quality recommended by the manufacturer.

Do I Have To Discard Food Once The Use-By-Date Has Passed?

The Use-By-Dates were not necessarily documented for long- term food storage and even when the dates have expired, foods maintained properly don’t have to be discarded. For instances, canned goods have a packing code that enables interstate commerce tracking. These codes aren’t meant to be interpreted as “Used-By-Dates”. Canned goods usually have a “Best-Used-By” date that represents the dates to use for the best nutrition and quality.

As a rule of thumb, if the cans are stored in a cool, dry, and dark place:

12-18 Months for high acidic foods such as pineapple and citrus fruit.

18-24 Months for boxed goods such as mixes, pastas, puddings, etc.

18-24 Months for foods in foil-lined bags such as potatoes, onions, etc.

2-5 Years for low acidic foods such as fish, meat, poultry, and most vegetables.

Since I can’t Depend On The Product Dates, What Can I Do?

We’ve determined that for long-term food storage, food product dating doesn’t provide a very good method for safe product use. The following general guidelines will help in this determination.

Food should always be purchased before the expiration date.

Refrigerate perishable food immediately after purchase.

Frozen products can be kept indefinitely after the expiration date, as long as it still has ice crystals.

Always follow recommended handling on all food.

One of the most important things you need to do when starting your long term food storage plans is to come up with a way to label your stored foods to make it easier to monitor and rotate foods that require it.

There are numerous ways of setting up your food storage inventory and rotation method. I always like to label everything, and inventory items by category and date within the category. I recommend trying different methods until you find the right methodology for your unique situation.

Jane Alexander. I live in Texas and I am a mother and grandmother. I enjoy reading, sewing, going to political events and especially visiting historical sites! I am very interested in Food Storage and Emergency Preparation and writing. I believe that we all need to be prepared just in case unexpected events catch us off guard. For great articles about Food Storage go to: http://GlennBeckFoodStorage.org

Jane Alexander. I live in Texas and I am a mother and grandmother. I enjoy reading, sewing, going to political events and especially visiting historical sites! I am very interested in Food Storage and Emergency Preparation and writing. I believe that we all need to be prepared just in case unexpected events catch us off guard. For great articles about Food Storage go to: http://GlennBeckFoodStorage.org

Author Bio: Jane Alexander. I live in Texas and I am a mother and grandmother. I enjoy reading, sewing, going to political events and especially visiting historical sites! I am very interested in Food Storage and Emergency Preparation and writing. I believe that we all need to be prepared just in case unexpected events catch us off guard. For great articles about Food Storage go to: http://GlennBeckFoodStorage.org

Category: Family Concerns
Keywords: Food Storage, Glenn Beck Food Storage, Food Storage Glenn Beck, Survival Food