When looking for a location to store your emergency food storage, there are several things that are important to keep in mind. Proper storage is crucial to maintain the foods nutrition, taste, texture, and shelf-life. With every “can” that goes along with proper storage, there is a “cannot” to counteract.
Can-“Cans”:
- Temperature: For best results, store your food items in 50-degree to 70-degree temperature. This area will preferably be within your home. Although many people think of food storage being kept in a garage or storage unit, these locations can vary too widely in temperature. Food storage items need a consistent temperature to keep properly.
- Label: You should always label your canned food items for storage purposes. In the label, you should include the name of the food and the date when it was received. You might also want to add an estimated expiration. This label will likely prove most useful on the inside and the outside of the lids on the cans. Use a permanent marker when labeling so it doesn’t fade as easily and will last as long as your food. One of the greatest advantages to freeze dried food storage is that it doesn’t need to be rotated out for 25 years!
- Lighting:You should try to store your food in a dark room away from sunlight. This will help keep the temperature consistent for the storing area and maintain the quality of the food.
Can-“Cannots”:
- Temperature: Do not store cans in areas that get much hotter than 70 degrees. This means avoiding places in the house that go by pipes, a furnace, an uninsulated attic, or in range of direct sunlight. Food will lose its quality much faster in this kind of heat. After being exposed to hot temperatures, your canned foods cannot be expected to last as long as its intended to.
- Rotation: Do not expect for your canned food to stay good until you need it during an emergency. An emergency will not come when you are expecting it. It is important to continuously rotate through the canned foods in your food storage. Because this is the case, it is recommended to have foods your family actually enjoys eating as you will likely be eating them throughout the rotation. Food Insurance can’s have a shelf-life of 25 years, so this should not be an issue.
- Hesitate: Never trust canned food whose top is popping out, leaking, or loose. The food inside can be spoiled. These are good things to look out for when buying and storing cans from the grocery store.
