Food Spoilage

[ • Nutrition • Healthy Eating • Miracle Diets? • Handling Food • Food Trouble• Food Facts • Food Fun! • Discussion • Archive • ]

Doesn't you feel cheated when the canned food you just bought from a supermarket is spoiled? Below, you will find ways to tell when your food may be spoiled. For information about storing food so that it won't be spoiled, click here.

Appearance of Spoiled Canned Foods

Normal Canned Food

A normal can looks slightly concave or flat at both sides.

Spoiled Canned Food

Spoiled canned food can be detected by observing the appearance of the cans themselves:

1. Hard Swell Cans have bulging ends due to the pressure inside the can produced by gases resulting from microbial or chemical reaction. They are permanently distended.
2. Soft Swell Cans have ends that can be moved by thumb pressure but cannot be forced back into normal position.
3. Springers are cans in which one end bulges. Upon forcing this end back into the normal position, the opposite end bulges out.
4. Flippers appear normal but one of the ends "flip" out when the can is struck against a solid object; the end snaps back to the normal position when very light pressure is applied.
5. Rusty cans
6. Deformed cans, with marked deformed seams.

Canned food can be contaminated after the can has been opened. So after opening a can of food, transfer the food into a plastic container and store it in a refrigerator if you do not intend to eat it immediately.

Back to Top

This page has been authored for participation in the 1997 Thinkquest Competition. For problems, questions, or suggestions regarding The FOOD Files, send email to tq1997-11960@advanced.org or page the webmaster for quicker results. Last updated: July 31, 1997 See the Links!