"Cat Protector" wrote in message news:cTAGc.46535$rh.11597@okepread02...
Are you willing to bet a cat's life on that? They put dates on the cans for
a reason.

Most certainly - Since I have examined and tested canned foods that
are many many years past the expiration date I know whereof I speak.
Some years ago, (I won't bother to admit it has been multiple decades)
I was fed C-rations by the US Government that had been packaged over
20 years earlier in canned form. They tasted horrible - but they were
perfectly safe. My bet is they tasted horrible the day they were
canned so nothing much had really changed.

I have reviewed analyticals on canned foods that were over a decade
old, well beyond any expiration date. The nutrient values remained
within 10% of the original canning product. I have access to a
"library" of canned products going back to the early 50's. Unless the
seal is broken and some bacteria gets into the can, something you will
note in a "bulged" can lid and likely smell immediately when you open
it, the chance of any harm at all is extremely remote.