Is it safe for me to eat a salmon/tuna packet that's been in the car all summer?
Apparently I've had various salmon/tuna packets in the my car for months, likely being heated near 100° F, off and on.
Other info:
- Still before the confusing 'BEST IF USED BY' date of August 2018.
- Sealed in an aluminum lined packet.
I'm torn between it being sealed and the obvious summer month temperature changes.
Are these things safe to eat in this context?
Best Answer
The standard processing for this type of "flexible can" or "retort pouch" packaging is a certain amount of time at 250F or so to completely sterilize the contents. There's nothing alive in there to cause spoilage, or the process would not work at all.
As such, I find the comment stream remarkably uninformed - will 130F damage the package? If so, it would never have made it out of the factory...and the widespread precursor to the civilian application of this package (as mentioned in a more informed comment) is the MRE, and you can bet those go through some roasty-toasty temperatures in desert war zones.
If the packages are sealed, they are still sterile. Nothing that happened in your car is anywhere near the temperatures that were used to sterilize the contents in the first place.
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Quick Answer about "Is it safe for me to eat a salmon/tuna packet that's been in the car all summer?"
If the packages are sealed, they are still sterile. Nothing that happened in your car is anywhere near the temperatures that were used to sterilize the contents in the first place.Can tuna sit in a hot car?
Canned tuna has a long shelf life when it is stored properly. Excessive heat can dramatically shorten the life span of canned tuna. Tuna that has been exposed to high temperatures can spoil, even though it is canned, and become unsafe to eat.Do tuna packets have to be refrigerated?
Because the StarKist Flavor Fresh Pouch\xae Tuna is a vacuum-sealed product, there's no need to refrigerate the pouch before opening.How long are tuna packets good for?
The shelf life of the pouches is 3 years from the processing date. The \u201cbest by\u201d date is printed on the back of the pouch. As long as the pouch is not damaged and was stored properly (not exposed to freezing or high temperatures for long periods of time) the quality will be good for at least 5 years.Can Tuna Give You Mercury Poisoning?
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Answer 2
The short answer is that it's impossible to provide a definitive answer.
The shelf life is highly dependent on the temperature. Being kept in such a warm environment should have shortened the shelf life dramatically. Whether that means that it's unsafe is a difficult question to answer. And even if it's safe, it might not be pleasant to eat.
It's entirely possible that it's safe to eat. MREs, which are similarly packaged, have been shown to be safe to eat after decades. https://beprepared.com/blog/3496/mre-meal-ready-to-eat-shelf-life/ However, that doesn't mean that all old MREs are safe to eat. It also doesn't guarantee that old fish is safe to eat. It just shows that it's plausible that it might be safe.
A car is a rough environment for packaged food. There's a chance that one or more packages were compromised by repeated flexing, abrasion, or high internal pressure from thermal expansion. The result would be unsafe food. I recommend throwing it out.
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