Can I eat this? Some old relishes

April 13, 2025 9:54 AM

Back, back before the pandemic, I bought several jars of fancy relishes from a local farm stand. Saving them for a happier time, I have not eaten them yet. They have been unopened in the refrigerator.

Can I eat them? The jars look fine, nothing is discolored.

Obviously I can open them and see, but I'd like a more general read on this question in case they taste delicious but are full of POISON.

Seriously, these things are like over five years old.

My feeling is that actual happier times are unlikely to arrive, so if they're still good I will make my own happiness by eating them.

posted by Frowner to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

I'm assuming these are canned jars that have never been opened. The taste and texture might not be ideal, but canned foods are good for a very long time, so go ahead and eat these without worry.
posted by ssg at 10:00 AM on April 13 [1 favorite]

Canning facilitates long term food preservation and makes food shelf stable. It entails the application of heat and sometimes pressure for specific amounts of time. Over years, texture and colour may suffer but as long as the seal is not broken, there should be no spoilage. So if your relishes were canned, they are fine to eat as long as the lids pop when you open them.

If they were just cooked and then simply stored in a jar without further heat processing*, the food would not become shelf stable but would keep in the fridge for a few days or weeks. Sugar and vinegar are key ingredients in relish and reduce the rate of spoilage but not for five years.

*it’s not just heat processing, there are also guidelines around acidity and sugar content etc.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:46 AM on April 13 [1 favorite]

I would open the jars, smell the contents, and look for visible signs of spoilage -- and then if all appeared good, I would taste a small sample. If the taste was fine, I would eat them. Certainly, I've eaten stuff that was older than five years (though it was canned, not in glass jars).
posted by alex1965 at 10:58 AM on April 13

I don't know for me it would depend on how homemade it is. How much do you trust the local person who sold it to the farm stand to be completely exacting in their possibly home kitchen canning methods? I would eat things from a home kitchen canning operation in a few months that I wouldn't in 5 years. Things in even lovely kitchens can just ... go a little wrong.
posted by ponie at 1:09 PM on April 13

Man, my cousin sent me a jar of apple butter and one of kudzu jelly and I don’t want to tell you how many years it took me to open and eat them and they were fine.

I don’t think it could hurt to at least open them and give a sniff
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:23 PM on April 13

I don't want to be a downer, but maybe make sure you have the number for poison control before you start tasting these.
posted by freakazoid at 6:35 PM on April 13

Generally, if they are full of acid and/or sugar then you can tell when they've gone off.

I discard anything fuzzy or bad smelling, but if they are sealed (pop when opened) and have vinegar or lemon juice as an ingredient, I would eat.

But I'm from a "put hot jam in a sterilised jar and it'll last for 10 years" preserving background, and hate throwing out food. Your risk tolerance may vary.
posted by kjs4 at 7:18 PM on April 13 [1 favorite]

It depends on the quality of the jarring process - but if it passes the eye test (and the "button" on the jar top is still good), then it should be safe.

How palatable it will be will depend a lot on how (absolutely) hungry you are.
posted by porpoise at 12:46 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]

Sealed, home-canned, likely to be okay if the seal is intact. If acidic, even more likely to be just fine.
posted by theora55 at 12:28 PM on April 14