Wet food cans

ms waise

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I bought a couple of variety pack cat foods that come with resealable lids.

Backstory: one day my mother came over to my house and looked in the fridge. I had been eating canned peaches and didn't finish the can. I put the opened can back in the fridge. Why didn't use a bowl? Cause some days I'm a barbarian..... Anyhoozle, My mother threw a fit and told me to never let food sit in an opened can and then eat out of it. It would cause some type of poisoning....can't remember the name of it though... So my question is if it's not alright to eat out of an opened can is it safe to use the resealable lid? Is there a difference between tin and aluminum? Or is the tin can thing a wives tale? I've been putting the food in a plastic container once opened anyway just to be on the safe side. But I would like to know for sure.
 

raintyger

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The food poisoning used to be a huge concern, but I heard on the radio show Food News with Melinda Lee that this is no longer so. Storing cat food in the can can cause it to taste different, though, which is why some cats will seemingly only eat freshly opened cans. If the can is BPA lined the food also spends more time in the can absorbing resins.
 

dianamc

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Perhaps the issue was that you may have contaminated it by eating out of it and then putting it back?  I don't know how likely this is to cause illness (probably not as much as I think) but I certainly was brought up to discourage it.  It would introduce bacteria from our mouths into the food which might then grow.  Again, I have no actual statistics on this, but nobody does it here. I don't know that it would cause "poisoning" but more of a foodborne illness.
 

beckbjj

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I grew up with a dread fear of "ptomaine poisoning", so that may have been what she said, if she was raised with the same old wives' tales as my mother was. ;-)    Turns out that ptomaine poisoning isn't really a thing. 

Which isn't to say that foodborne illness isn't a thing.  But my understanding is that since most food cans are now steel or aluminum and no longer contain lead, short term storage of food in a can is fairly safe assuming proper handling (can opener was clean, utensils used in the can were clean, etc.).  I understand that now that cans are safer, the potential for contaminated food is more from non-can-related things.

I do put my cat food cans back in the fridge, but they never last longer than a day (or actually two if I have the 13 ounce cans, but that's rare).  I also put leftover human canned foods, like, say, a half can of tomatoes or beans, in the fridge right in the can if the half I used was poured out of the can or scooped out with a clean utensil. 
 

momof3b1g

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Add me. I always grew up thinking it was bad to leave it in the can. Why take a chance. I think it would stay fresher in a storage container. 
 
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ms waise

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The food poisoning used to be a huge concern, but I heard on the radio show Food News with Melinda Lee that this is no longer so. Storing cat food in the can can cause it to taste different, though, which is why some cats will seemingly only eat freshly opened cans. If the can is BPA lined the food also spends more time in the can absorbing resins.
Sorry about the late response. None of these messages popped up in my little subscription box. Anyhoozle. I wonder if putting it in the storage container makes it taste better if it sits. Kinda like left overs taste better the next day.... Curious to know, not curious enough to taste lol!
 
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ms waise

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Add me. I always grew up thinking it was bad to leave it in the can. Why take a chance. I think it would stay fresher in a storage container. 
This was about 5 years ago when my mom told me this. The bad part is I had Tupperware I just put the can in the fridge.... Then forgot about it. Lol I eat out a lot because it seems like too much work to cook a bunch of food for one person. But now with Kimbo here the only food in the fridge is hers.... I guess the information stuck because when I saw that lid, I immediately hopped on this site. Lol
 
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ms waise

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I grew up with a dread fear of "ptomaine poisoning", so that may have been what she said, if she was raised with the same old wives' tales as my mother was. ;-)    Turns out that ptomaine poisoning isn't really a thing. 

Which isn't to say that foodborne illness isn't a thing.  But my understanding is that since most food cans are now steel or aluminum and no longer contain lead, short term storage of food in a can is fairly safe assuming proper handling (can opener was clean, utensils used in the can were clean, etc.).  I understand that now that cans are safer, the potential for contaminated food is more from non-can-related things.

I do put my cat food cans back in the fridge, but they never last longer than a day (or actually two if I have the 13 ounce cans, but that's rare).  I also put leftover human canned foods, like, say, a half can of tomatoes or beans, in the fridge right in the can if the half I used was poured out of the can or scooped out with a clean utensil. 
Ahhhh! Okay. You made it makes sense to me. I know canned foods have come a long way since my m was a kid. My grandmother used mason jars to store just about everything. She would buy them bulk and everything was stored in them so I'd never really had anything straight out of a can until I was grown..... Not to go on a tangent, but why does everything taste better out of a mason jar?
 

raintyger

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I think the concern that our grandparents/parents had was botulism. I was told not to buy dented cans, and if the can was bulging don't even open it.

But just thinking about it--Companies make plastic pet food can covers. The ones that fit 3, 5.5, and 12 oz. cans perfectly. Since this is such a common practice I doubt there are large safety concerns about storing pet food in opened cans. If there were dangers the companies would be leaving themselves open to all sorts of lawsuits.
 
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ms waise

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I think the concern that our grandparents/parents had was botulism. I was told not to buy dented cans, and if the can was bulging don't even open it.

But just thinking about it--Companies make plastic pet food can covers. The ones that fit 3, 5.5, and 12 oz. cans perfectly. Since this is such a common practice I doubt there are large safety concerns about storing pet food in opened cans. If there were dangers the companies would be leaving themselves open to all sorts of lawsuits.
BOTULISM!!!!! That was what she said I could get. Lol I couldn't remember that for the life of me. :) thank you kindly. I hadn't heard not opening dented cans though...... Now I'm kinda wondering if I should stay away from those too.... :( aw you gave me a smile and then yanked it back. I kid . I kid.
 
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