I helped a friend of mine load up his uhaul truck for his move over the mountains.  He ran out of room and gave me about 300-400lbs of food - hard red wheat, rice, and pinto beans - stored in buckets without mylar.  The buckets previously held pool treatment "calcium hypochlorite".  The food has been in the buckets for a number of years.  My wife thinks the food is ruined and wants me to get rid of it.  I'm not too excited to get rid of any amount of food storage.  

My friend also gave me 50 gallons of diesel - not sure how long it's been stored, but it's in semi-opaque containers - one perfectly sealed, the other has a small hole in the top.  I planned to treat both containers with PRI-D.  Thoughts?

There is no doubt that the food has been contaminated.  The question is how much so.  The packer was an idiot.  Labels on the original containers say 'not for reuse'.  There is a reason for that.  The rule of thumb is 'when in doubt, throw it out'.

BTW I was involved in food inspection and regulation for the Navy, Marine Corps, and the State of Florida.  I have ordered the destruction of food.  For any of those places it would be dumped with NO hesitation.  The food would be destroyed by legal order.

would you destroy food past printed dates?



i would toss it, because its old, was not packed by me, cheap to replace, not because it was packed in those buckets.

the worse case is any chlorine left would oxidize the food, causing a bad taste.

Good grade buckets are cheap. Even Lowes sells food grade buckets and gamma seal lids. I would not store or eat what you where given. Would I keep it for hand outs, yes.

Thanks for the replies gents.  Good info.

Not knowing the history was always a concern.  Luckily, we aren't dependent on what we received and can afford to let it go.  We had another friend ask if she could use it to feed her chickens, so we'll likely let her take it.

@lowdown good thoughts on the diesel thanks.  I was going to treat it and mix it, but I hadn't thought of filtering it first.  We have a diesel excursion we plan to run it through.

Not knowing the history is a concern.  They are great buckets for general storage since they stack, have the screw on lids, and hold a fair amount of goods.  

I have some food put up in such buckets, but it's all repacked in mylar or glass.  My dad had a line on those from his work and I can tell you the chlorine odor weathers out after a period of time and cleaning. Dad would soak them in water, leave them out in the sun for days (weeks?), and then put them in a barn until needed.  I would eat out of dad's buckets if I had to....but I think direct contact is less than ideal.  Also, the lids are not water/air tight unless they are hammered on just right.

Fyi.
There's a chlorine nuteralizer you can by from pool supply shops.
I treat all the buckets with it first and rinse several times before repurposing them ( not for food though().

Good to know, thanks.