Ok, having safely and enjoyably eaten a 5 yo. can of tuna and an 8yo. can of soup, I decided to check on my water bottles and cooking oil.  Storage conditions in my basement were 65 deg. F unchanged with moderate humidity.



I bought four 1 liter cases of Deer Park water bottles in 2003 and they have sat undisturbed in my basement since then.  Well, our in-house water purifier broke down, and making coffee with tap water was simply out of the question, so I opened up one of my old Deer Park's and figured I'd give it a go.  Taste and smell were indistingquishable from a fresh water bottle.  Could some of the plastic from the bottle have leached into the water in the time frame?  Possibly, but not to the extent that it was noticeable.



In 2002 I bought five one gallon bottles of vegetable oil (soy) that I've also kept in the basement for the past 6 years, still in the original thick plastic bottles.  The bottles were sealed with a foil top under the lid like most liquids you buy these days.



Taste and texture were virtually unchanged from fresh oil.  My wife is really sensitive about rancid stuff and she couldn't smell/taste anything.  In fact, I blind tested her with my old oil and a newly opened bottle of Canola oil and she thought the Canola was the old oil!



Anyway folks, from my own tests and research I can tell you that your factory sealed stuff (meat, soup, oil, water...so far) is tasty for at least 5 years.  Obviously rotating is the best and safest method.  However, for those who don't or for those who havn't built up sufficient stores then you may want to keep that old stuff handy.



Throw away any dented/bulged/rusted cans, as botulism cannot be cooked out or sterilized and will kill you.  Cans that are intact and sealed are safe in the long run, perhaps indefinately, and from my own testing taste and texture are not noticeably compromised within 5 years.