Food preservation is a marvelous and revolutionary step for human survival. We used to smoke, sundry various foods to keep them edible for a long time. Later we developed the method of pickling using salt & vinegar.
But people always had a hard time preserving food like bread, biscuits, and similar dry food. Adding salt and vinegar might not do the trick for keeping the biscuits edible and adding any chemical preservative will make it unhealthy to consume.
So, canning the biscuits was the safest and efficient way to keep them edible for a long time. Let’s find out more.
Do canned biscuits go bad?
Canned biscuits may go bad if they face any fungus or mold buildup. Generally, the canned biscuits go through a sterilization process before getting delivered to the market. So an unopened and refrigerated canned biscuit may still be good to eat even after passing the expiry date.
Canned food is sterilized and preserved in a variety of ways. It is simple to preserve canned beans, canned fish, and similar foods by merely adding salt, vinegar, and a variety of other herbs and spices, which can reduce or eliminate the possibility of fungal growth.
But for canned biscuits the preservation options are limited. Adding salt, vinegar or anything else to the biscuits may ruin the taste and texture completely. Also, the biscuits need to be crispy and crunchy, a customer would never pick soggy biscuits.
So the manufacturer needs to keep an eye on lots of things, and through research, they have developed a way to keep the canned biscuits safe for a long time. Canned biscuits can be a great survival food, it can stay edible even after passing the specified good to eat date.
If not refrigerated:
Refrigerating food ensures a temperature control environment. Bacteria, fungus, and other microorganisms need certain temperatures and moisture to survive, and in low temperatures, they may freeze or get into a hibernation state.
Manufacturers, retailers all prefer to refrigerate both raw and canned biscuit for keeping them fresh and safe. Biscuits have a high risk of getting affected by mold and fungus, if not refrigerated the chance can certainly increase.
Do canned biscuits expire? Can I eat expired canned biscuits?
One of the great things about canned biscuits is that they will still stay edible for a long time.
You can eat a canned biscuit that may have reached its expiry date only if you see no discoloration or mold build-up, you can even eat it after a month or two after the expiry date passed.
However, it shouldn’t encourage someone to go for all the expired canned biscuits without any sort of concern. It won’t be wise nor a safe decision to eat canned biscuits that have expired.
If you are stuck in a difficult situation and have no other option but to eat canned biscuits that may have outreached their expiry date then avoiding biscuits with dark mold or rotten smell should be your first choice.
If the biscuits have lost their crispy crunch texture then heating up can restore it back but moldy biscuits should be avoided as much as possible.
When do canned biscuits go bad? How long do unopened canned biscuits last?
A canned biscuit can go bad if there is any damage to the container and bacteria and other organisms get a chance to infiltrate inside. In ideal conditions and properly refrigerated, the biscuits will stay good until reaching the expiry date.
In some cases, the canned biscuits will stay good and edible after weeks past the expiry date if unopened. However, the chance of getting food poisoning is high if you consume an expired biscuit.
How can you tell if canned biscuits are bad?
There can be many signs by which you will be able to know that the canned biscuits are not good anymore. Let’s check on the list to eat safe foods.
Passed expiry date:
First red flag would be it has passed its expiry date. For all food manufacturers, it’s mandatory to put the manufacturing date and expiry date on a can or packet, doing so provides the customer a sense of safety that the food stored inside is good to eat.
For canned biscuits, most people say it stays edible after a week or even a month after the expired date, unless you are stuck in a drastic situation you shouldn’t try your luck on an expired canned biscuit.
Bloated container:
It might seem bizarre but it’s quite possible. The biscuits container may look puffy, bloated, or out of shape, and keep in mind that it has become inedible & there is a reasonable explanation for it.
Bacteria and other microorganisms have infested the canned biscuits and after eating, breeding, and thriving inside of the can, the byproduct of their digestion is the gas.
The gas is stuck inside and trying to force its way out, either the can will stay bloated or have a large pop sound and you will have to clean chunks of broken inedible biscuits.
Discoloration:
Discoloration can be a massive red flag for canned biscuits. The discoloration or the biscuits getting darker might be a direct result of mold buildup.
Sometimes the fat, seeds and the ingredients of the biscuits react with each other and may turn green, gray, or brown but they won’t be that much of a problem.
However, if the biscuits turned black or filled with black spots then it has gone bad and inedible.
Rotten smell:
The rotten smell is an obvious giveaway that the biscuits have gone bad. Bacteria, fungus, and other microorganisms thrive on sugar, so biscuits like food are more vulnerable to developing a rotten smell over time.
Can you get food poisoning from out of date bad canned biscuits?
Yes, you certainly can get food poisoning from consuming out-of-date bad canned food. The flour, dry fruits and nuts, and other organic ingredients of the biscuits are really vulnerable to bacteria build up, fungus and mold buildup, and many more.
It’s assumed that canned biscuits will stay good to eat even after the expiration date has passed but you may never know if there is any trace of mold or other microorganisms in their initial buildup state.
After consuming the out-of-date biscuits, the symptoms of food poisoning may take time to come out. And if you consider the vomiting and diarrhea experience, consuming out-of-date canned biscuits isn’t worth the trouble.
What will happen if you eat bad expired canned biscuits?
There can be many reactions of eating bad canned biscuits. Lets check below to know them.
No reaction at all:
Most canned food stays good to eat even after the expiry date has passed out.
So in your visual inspection, if the canned biscuits look good to eat then they actually are, and the good thing is you may face no adverse reaction at all.
However, if you ignore the red flags like mold buildup, discoloration, foul smell then you may have to deal with harsh consequences.
Gastric distress:
One of the mild reactions you might get from eating expired canned biscuits can be gastric distress.
Heartburn, frequent burps, rise in body temperature, the runny nose may be the obvious reaction from eating expired canned biscuits.
food poisoning:
The most harsh result of consuming expired canned biscuits would be food poisoning. The symptoms might trigger in minutes or it might take more than a day to show any sort of food poisoning symptoms.
If you feel nauseated, vomiting, dizzy after consuming expired biscuits then it’s a sure sign of food poisoning. In a worst-case scenario, you may go through diarrhea which may lead to high dehydration.
The fungus or mold development in outdated biscuits may not be visible to the eye but eating it will undoubtedly ruin your health.
So, when considering the risks and benefits of eating an expired biscuit against going to the hospital for treatment, the option of throwing it out may be the best.
Final Thoughts
Before being sent to the market, canned biscuits are usually sterilized. As a result, even after the expiry date has passed, an unopened and properly stored canned biscuit may still be edible. However, if the Canned biscuits are exposed to fungal or mold growth, they are sure to get spoiled.