Eli5 How can canned meats like fish and chicken last years at room temperature when regularly packaged meats only last a few weeks refrigerated unless frozen?

Question

Eli5 How can canned meats like fish and chicken last years at room temperature when regularly packaged meats only last a few weeks refrigerated unless frozen?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Canned food will eventually go bad because metal rusts/degrades and eventually the seal is breached, even if not noticed. If you ever find a can that has been sitting for, say, 50 years, I wouldn’t trust it. Besides, by then the contents would likely have become quite disagreeable…