Canned food froze during shipping

[DillandAnnie]

Somewhat of a strange question, but we recently had a shipment of canned cat food delivered. It's cold where we are (20F) and before we could bring it inside, the cans froze. Is it still safe to serve? On some websites, it says not to serve canned food if it was frozen since the seal may have broken if the can expanded during the freezing process. Has anyone ever had anything like this happen?

 

[P+P's Meom]

Are any of the cans bulging, even a little? That'd be a definite do not feed sign . . .

 

[catsknowme]

I would inspect the cans carefully and keep them in the refrigerator and heat them before serving. I have had stray cans freeze in the car before and if there is any kind of puffiness, I throw it out. I can't recall losing any cans due to freezing, though, but I have had cans with puffy lids that arrived that way and, sadly, they were put in the waste pile. I have quite a few ferals so I have to thin out their food with boiling water anyway; I add the boiling water and stir thoroughly then allow to cool to desired temperature.

 

[LTS3]

Canned food is a cooked product so freezing won't harm the food. Many people freeze canned food into portion sizes to use in a timed feeder. If the can aren't bulging or look compromised in anyway, the food is still safe to feed.

 

[goingpostal]

I live in northern MN, delivery trucks aren't heated nor is my porch. Deliveries don't stop just because it's -30 but I've never had a problem with canned food from it.

 

[DillandAnnie]

Thanks, everyone! I think I was overthinking things . Most of the cans are in good condition and aren't bulging so they should be safe to serve.