10 Signs Your Canned Food Has Gone Bad

Do you know how to tell if the can or jar of food in your stockpile is safe? Some dents are ok, but these 10 signs mean that your particular can or jar is not safe to eat.

1. Bulges in the lid of a jar, or the lid or sides of a can are a sign that something is seriously wrong with the contents. Canned food should not create a bulge. If you see a bulging lid or side, it’s a sign of pressure from gas, bacterial activity and spoilage. Don’t eat the contents of any bulging can or jar with a bulging lid.

2. Excessive pressure release when opening a jar is a sign something is wrong. It’s normal to hear a light “whoosh” when opening a sealed jar, but a lot of pressure or even a surprising amount of pressure releasing on opening is not a good sign. It could mean gas has built up inside the jar as a byproduct of bacterial activity. If something doesn’t seem right, throw out any can or jar that does this.

3. Bubbles are a sign of spoilage. Bubbles usually indicate some kind of fermentation, a bacterial process which can be perfectly fine IF intentional and under certain specific conditions, and makes excellent pickles, wine, beer and other foods.

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However, unintentional fermentation is rarely a good thing, and under low-acid or low-oxygen environments some bacteria can lead to deadly problems, including botulism. If you open a can or jar that’s been sitting on a shelf and you see bubbles, something isn’t right.

4. Foam is an indicator of bacterial activity. Botulism and other dangerous bacteria can survive (and even thrive) in very low-oxygen environments like canned food.

5. Cloudy liquid that should be clear is another sign that food may no longer be good.

6. Signs of mold on the underside of a lid means the food should be discarded. No matter what the color is, mold on the underside of a lid is a bad sign, and the food in that can or jar should not be eaten.

7. Inadequate seal. If a lid can be pushed up and down, it’s not safely sealed. When you first can a food, the lid is sucked down as the jar of canned food cools. You should not be able to depress a lid and have it pop back up. That indicates it did not seal properly. Unsealed and unrefrigerated jars are not safe to eat.

8. Leakage means the container is compromised. If there are traces of food on the outside of the container, it likely leaked from inside the same container. If there’s a leak, the seal is compromised, and the food is likely unsafe. When in doubt, throw it out.

9. Does something smell funny? If the contents of a can or jar smell “off” or unusual, or somehow different that you remember, then the food might have gone bad. If it doesn’t pass the sniff test, throw it out.

10. Rust on a can is a sign the container may be compromised. If you can clearly see the can is fine, then it’s probably ok, but your containers should not be getting rusty. Evaluate your storage location and rotation plan to ensure you aren’t keeping food too long or in less-than-ideal conditions. Rust is a clear sign that something isn’t ideal.

Be smart and bon appetit!

What tips would you add? Share your advice in the section below:

‘If God Is Loving, Why Does He Send People To Hell?

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Some our deepest longings, played out in box office hits, call for swift justice against wrongdoing. Yet, our society is built on the foundation of the rule of law and justice for all — the very antithesis of this spirit of vigilantism. We go to great lengths to ensure even criminals receive equal protection. We settle for procedural justice, knowing it isn’t perfect, while longing for a primitive yet perfect justice, where the criminal meaningfully pays for the wrongs he committed.

Yet, who among us is capable of determining and executing this perfect justice? We reject vigilantism in real life because it is private, unaccountable and quickly corrupted. We fall back to a legal system built on procedure, and vicariously enjoy our desire for vengeance on the movie screen.

Must we always choose between the two? Is there any hope for real justice in the world?

God has revealed Himself as an avenging God (Nahum 1). We recoil at the thought, but the omniscient, holy God is the only one capable of dispensing perfect justice. We are conflicted, because we know this vengeful God can finally judge evil — but we also know that puts us in jeopardy, because we, too, have done evil. So we imagine that God is like us, that He hates the things we hate, and will put the Hilters and Stalins and serial killers of the world in hell … but not people like you and me.

But what kind of God is that? The sort of God who is partial and plays favorites isn’t one to trust.

Because God is perfectly and always good, He isn’t partial; He must put an end to sin, and all sinners, for His justice to be perfect. Therefore, a good God must be a God who judges all evil—including the evil in me. If real justice is what we seek from God, the irony is that very goodness is what we can least endure about Him in our own lives, because He demands perfection.

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And in Jesus Christ, the God of towering, unimpeachable and unbending justice shows mercy to any and all sinners who bow their head and put their faith in Him.

What is our situation (Romans 3:10-20)?

In a word, bad. Everyone is in trouble—separated from God. We are spiritually condemned. We are characterized by faithlessness, unrighteousness, sin and rejection of God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans makes it clear that we’re depraved. We have rejected God.

You have a problem with justice—or, perhaps, it’s more accurate to say that justice has a problem with you. If you don’t understand this, you won’t understand Jesus’ claims.

Paul’s indictment is also aimed at you. People have two defenses they tend to make against the accusation that they are sinner—either: “I’m not that bad,” or “God isn’t really that good.” The Bible says you are, in fact, that bad. The human reaction to these truths might be a resolve to “do better,” but Paul sweeps that hope away. No one can make themselves righteous.

God is holy—He does not just fudge to get His children out of trouble. The perfect Judge will condemn sin, including yours and mine.

Where does that leave you?

How can we be saved from this Judge (Romans 3:21-26)?

Your greatest need is for God to declare you righteous, and Paul declares that need can be met. God’s throne is built on righteousness and justice; this demands our sin to be dealt with.

How can He show mercy to the guilty?

God showed mercy and provided Christ to prove His commitment to justice. We often act on a presupposition that we deserve to be forgiven. But if you understand who this God is, you know this isn’t the case. God owes you nothing.

Christ’s death was an atoning sacrifice. Jesus took God’s wrath on our behalf, and God punished all our iniquities. This means the justice that demanded our death now pleads our case. God’s sword is no longer raised to strike us, but rather, to defend us.

This salvation is for all who will come (Rom. 3:26). It’s not something you work for or earn; it is a free gift by grace (Eph. 2:8-9). You must reject any notion that you play a role in your salvation. It is all by faith alone, in Christ alone, by His grace alone.

So, why would God send people to hell?

The world says, “How can God be love and send anyone to hell?” But heaven says, “How can God be just and allow anyone into heaven?”

The one who minimizes the gravity of hell minimizes the gravity of the cross. If hell isn’t real, Jesus was all bluster. If hell isn’t real, we ought to say, “Give it a rest, Jesus. We all know you’re just being metaphorical.” But not even one door in hell is found the word “exit.”

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The fact that God is love doesn’t mean there is no hell. It means that if God abides in you and you in Him, there will be no hell for you.

Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven during His three year ministry (Matthew 13:41-50; Mark 9:43-49; Luke 16:19-31, etc.).  And the Bible isn’t sentimental about heaven and hell—not hesitant, not mushy. The message is clear and alarming (Isaiah 65:13-15).

All sin costs. It is very easy to go to hell. Simply do nothing. Or lots of things. Either way. Part of our sin is that it blocks out a feeling of sin. The “little” sins of everyday life will send us to eternal hell. The Quran says that God sends bad people to hell. The Bible says that, at the cross, God went to hell for bad people (Galatians 3:13). If God let every person run head-long into hell, He would still be just, and His reputation would remain untarnished.

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The wages of sin cost God His Son and Christ His life. It costs believers repentance and unbelievers hell. Sin always costs. The next time you think you’re a good person, remember that God had to kill His Son to keep you out of hell. God says the worst about me (I deserve hell) & the best (I am loved & justified), so what you say about me is held in this perspective.

There are many paths to hell, but only one way to heaven. If everyone escapes hell and goes to heaven without trusting Christ alone, then Jesus was just wasting his time. Salvation is not just getting man out of hell and into heaven, but getting God out of heaven and into man.

Why, then, is it that some people are more sad by how many people unfollowed them on Instagram and Twitter and unfriended them on Facebook than by how many unbelievers went to hell today?

And if, at your church, you never hear about the righteous wrath of God, unleashed either at the cross or in hell, run.

The word of Christ’s finished work changed me, rescuing me from sin, hell, shame, depression and suicide. No church marketing gimmick can do that.  If we really believed in hell, our teaching, preaching and evangelism would be far more convincing.

One of the most loving and merciful things Jesus did was preach about hell. Unless you believe in hell, you will never know how much Jesus loves you. Hell is full of sincere, religious people, never born again, and heaven is full of immoral people who repented and believed in Christ.

Friend, if we didn’t wake up in hell today, we should be dancing. If we don’t know we deserve hell, we don’t know Christ.

This is why the great preacher C.H. Spurgeon said:

“When men talk of a little hell it’s because they think they have only a little sin and believe in a little Savior.”

God is good, and He’s a refuge to everyone who trusts in Him. But because He is good, He will also judge those who oppose Him to the bitter end. The cross is proof of that. On the day you appear before God, He will be good. The only question is what His verdict on you will be. Trust in God, trust in His goodness, and find Him to be good to you—all through Jesus Christ.