How old is the oldest canned food you have ever eaten?

[ladyhk13]

Just wondering how old the oldest home canned food ya'll have ever eaten and what was it? I have jams that are about 4 years old, the seal is still good but wondering if they are ok. I opened up a blueberry one a couple of months ago and the fruit on top looked all dried out and discolored. Not sure if its because the top is the area that's exposed to the air or what. I did the big no no and scraped the top off and tried it. It tasted fine and I didn't get sick or die......so is it normal for this to happen and I worried for nothing?

[bacpacker]

We have opened pickles that were several years old to no ill effect. Kraut on the other hand we have had fail after 4-5 years. At least it got dark and we decided not to eat it.

[helomech]

If properly canned it should be safe to eat for many many years. Probably over a decade. There was a article about some that was found that was over a 100 years old and even thought it lost lots of its nutrition value it was still safe to eat.

[ladyhk13]

That's what I thought...so although it kind of looked funny on the top it was still fine and probably just the fruit got a little hardened due to it being exposed to the air that was not covered by the other fruit?

[piranha2]

Lady, that is correct.