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As we said last week, we are too lazy to decant canned foods, but Scott has been in touch to tell us how we can expect to die from doing so:
I work at a hotel so I’ve attended many a mandatory food safety training course. I can tell you as far as I know there are three (dubious) reasons why you shouldn’t store food in opened cans:
1. Botulism. Historically you could get botulism from canned food. Apparently the botulism spores stick to the inside of the can, so storing the food in the can will increase exposure to the spores. However with modern canning processes, botulism has been pretty much eradicated.
2. People tend to leave metal utensils in the cans as well. Two different metals in a liquid that is salty or acidic can create a battery. This electrolytic reaction can alter the chemical composition of the food which could be bad. i.e. corrode the metal in the can into the food.
3. In commercial kitchens chefs who don’t decant cans are lazy and therefore may be too lazy to have good hygiene practices. (This is the main reason I was given.)
I do know that if you own a commercial kitchen and you have a visit from an environmental health officer, there is a pretty hefty fine if they find any food stored in opened cans – I think it’s in the thousands.
Thanks, Scott! We are unlikely to change our lazy ways; in fact we will be intensifying the laziness by no longer answering the doorbell, in case it is an environmental health officer.
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