CHECK STORED FOOD AND WATER PERIODICALLY

A couple of months ago, one of my bottles of water leaked and flooded a cabinet. This ruined 2 20# bags of rice! It seemed there was a crease in the plastic bottle that weakened over time.

Today, I smelled something awful near my canned goods area. One of the chicken broth cans rusted through and had been leaking (this left a permanent dark stain on my wood floor). The cans were in a six-pack so I did not see the rusted can when I bought it.

Everyone should: 1) inspect all bottles, bags, cans individually before buying or storing.

2) Don't stack too high. The containers might not be able to stand the weight (esp of dis-similar dimensioned containers on top)

3) Periodically inspect for damage or pests.

Good luck!

-- serio (survival@y2k.com), September 01, 1999

Answers

BTW, does anyone know how I can clean that dark spot caused by the chicken broth?

-- serio (survival@y2k.com), September 01, 1999.

I too recently had an "uh-oh" situation with my stores. Seems something I bought recently had a few little beasties. Since I didn't have time to store it properly, I just stuck the packages in a corner. When I got supplies for storage together and picked up the packages, I had lots of little beasties.

First, panic, then disgust. Then the thought that these packages can be replaced - now. But not next year.

Don't put anything off. Do what you have to do. Today.

-- Mom (Mom@123.456), September 03, 1999.

You really should be " storing what you eat and eating what you store" so that this stored food isn't a surprise to you and your family if you need to use it. If you were doing this, you could be rotating your storage stock and therefore checking it regularly. It's not a good idea to store stuff that you don't normally eat, as in times of stress people don't want to eat strange food.

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), September 03, 1999.