So way long ago when i wuz a youngun, there were no expiration dates printed on anything.  U had to use your brain, and usually your nose, to determine if something had gone bad.  Smell is a great indicator that foodstuffs have lost the battle to bacteria.

Then our government stepped in to save us all from needing to sniff.  It seems like today everything sold has an expiration date.  Like do brake caliper pads go bad if too far removed for manufacture date?

I jest!  ha ha ha ha

But seriously you know of which i speak (type).

Then, remember?  how i needed to make a wider path though my basement for the oil tank swap?  Yeah so in doing that, i found this:

  So what you see here is sticky icky.  The bottle is an empty windshield washer jug.  But the real interesting thing is the sticky.  What the heck?  This stuff is like dried tar, the bottle was glued to the shelf with it!

So here is the clue, really the answer:

 

Just a tip, if you see a can that looks like this, do not buy it.  The ends should b flat.

When we purchased the juice, the can looked like it was supposed to.  We stored it on the metal shelf you see above.  Then the clutter closed in and the can went to long long storage phase.  How long, you ask??

Well lets say the exp date was like 6-7 months after we purchased it, we shall estimate we purchased juice in late 2000.   Now fast forward to 2018, the tank chore, making room etc, and i find the plastic bottle glued to the shelf, and this can has like nothing left in it.  Shake it and a little noise from a little bit of crust or whatever.  But the thing weighs like an empty can.

So here’s the scoop.  Pineapple is acidic.  So too the juice of the pineapple.  So at some point between 2000 and say 2015, the acid ate through the can, just enough to let bacteria into the juice.  Those little bugs said:  “YUM  i like pineapple!”  the can turned into a fermentation vat, and the pressure increased, and i would say we were lucky that fermented pineapple juice didn’t explode all over.  Instead it gradually leaked out and evaporated down to the road tar substance that glued the bottle to the shelf.

So what do we learn from this?  Well the expiration date is useful as an archeological tool.  otherwise i would have not any clue when we purchased it.  AND  do we really need a date to tell us if canned goods are no longer good??  Well i repeat the above advice, if you see a can that looks bloated, do not purchase, nay i say, and if you find a bulging unit in your home storage, gingerly place into your garbage can.  OR you could put it down range and shoot it.  bet that would b fun!  just make sure you are far enough away.

Anyway this science experiment is over.  Have a nice day.