Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Bored Panda

Entertainment

Mantas Kačerauskas

87 Things People Found While Cleaning That Had Clearly Been Forgotten For Decades

World War I Pepsi

There are two types of people in this world. Those who throw stuff out the exact moment it expires, down to the second, as if one minute past the date turns it into radioactive material. And those who hold onto things for years, convinced that a bottle of salad dressing from 2011 still has plenty of life left in it.

The latter crowd has found their spiritual home on r/GrandmasPantry. It’s a subreddit where folks post ancient relics they’ve unearthed around their homes, from mystery cans buried in the back of a cupboard to cleaning supplies that haven’t seen the light of day in decades. Scroll down for the best finds.

#1 100 Year Old Sandwich Found

#2 In My Grandma’s First Aid Kit…

#3 38 Year Old Brownies

There’s a sad story to these nearly 4 decade old brownies. My great aunt, who lives with dementia, had a son who tragically passed away at 12 in 1986. Not long before, he baked these brownies for her, and ever since then they have sat in the back of her refrigerator. We found it while going through her fridge. I won’t take off the lid until we decide to throw it out (which surely will be soon) but it seems like they’ve aged without growing mold, which is mildly concerning, but pretty cool.

Of course, most of us probably don’t keep expired things around because we’re trying to build a little museum of forgotten groceries at home. It’s just surprisingly easy to put off jobs we don’t feel like doing, and clearing things out is one of them.

Before we know it, that bottle of sauce we bought for one recipe to impress a date has been sitting in the fridge for five years, while a jar of fancy jam we got in a Christmas hamper is still tucked away at the back of a cupboard. We keep telling ourselves we’ll sort it all out later, but somehow “later” never seems to arrive.

#4 My Mom’s Full Unopened Coca Cola Gallon Jug. 1966

#5 I Will Never Throw These Away

#6 My Grandma Passed Away In 1982. I Went Back In Her House For The First Time Since That Day

At least when something has survived several birthdays in the fridge, we usually know we shouldn’t be eating it, even if we still can’t bring ourselves to throw it away. Things get less obvious when the expiration date has only just passed.

Say we wake up to make coffee and notice the milk is a day or two past the date on the carton. It smells perfectly fine. Do we pour it away anyway, or can we still use it?

#7 World War I Soup On My Great Aunt’s Fridge

This soup was made for the German Army in World War I. It went unused and sat in the back of a store owned by my great aunt.
When she retired, she put it on her fridge, where it stayed for decades. This is a picture of it in 2017.
In 2022 she passed away at 96 and the house was sold.
Found out today the soup was trashed.

#8 Medicine Collection Found In Grandmas Stash

#9 My Dad Bought This Ham Back In 1992. It's Been In His Freezer The Whole Time. He Refuses To Throw It Out And Says "It's Still Good. Frozen Meat Doesn't Go Bad"

That depends partly on what the label actually says. In the US, the USDA explains that “Best if Used By” or “Best if Used Before” is about when the food should be at its best quality. It isn’t a safety deadline. So if that date passed yesterday, the food didn’t suddenly transform at midnight.

The USDA says properly stored food can still be eaten after a best-by date if it shows no signs of spoilage. Infant formula is one important exception. The FDA requires it to carry a use-by date, and that date should be followed because the formula needs to provide the nutrients stated on the label.

#10 Phillip Just Turned 9

#11 I Was Given 6 Bags Of Food, And Nearly All Of It Expired More Than A Decade Ago

A family friend made a big deal all weekend about bringing me six bags of food for me and my wife to go through and dump the rest off at the "blessings pantry".... This is some of it!
The best part: The Ghirardellis mint chips and dumpling mix are so antique they don't even have an expiry date. Exciting, we love old food youtubes!
The sun-dried tomatoes (2009) are congealed into a whole new product, may patent it...
Thought about eating that 2008 dark chocolate because damn! The caviar has no date, not sure if it's even that old, but... no.
The rancid smell coming off that Crisco (2007) was intense. The cheese fantastico bottle was creating a vacuum, may implode one day, may keep for science. And wtf is Molly McButter!!
She even suggested I give all the pouch tunas (2011-2014) to my elderly dog, so basically I'm thinkin she's trying to end us all.

#12 Found Some Coppertone Sunscreen With The Original Logo At My Parent’s House

Eventually, though, food really does start to go bad. This happens because microorganisms such as bacteria are already present around us and can make their way onto food. Once they have enough moisture and the right temperature, they begin multiplying and feeding on the nutrients in it.

As they do, they produce substances that can change the food’s smell or texture, which is when we start noticing that something is off. Refrigeration slows their growth, but it doesn’t stop spoilage completely. That’s why a carton of milk can stay fresh for days in the fridge and then gradually turn sour as microorganisms continue to grow.

#13 Unopened Welches Jelly Jar From 1994

#14 Found In My Papas Medicine Cabinet

#15 Radium Hand Cleaner Found In Grandma’s Pantry

At the same time, the FDA warns that the bacteria that make us sick can be different from the ones that make food obviously spoil. Something can still look and smell completely normal while harmful bacteria are present.

So our senses can help us notice when food has gone bad, but they can’t always tell us whether it’s safe to eat. When there’s a real reason to doubt something, especially if it hasn’t been stored properly, it’s safer not to take the chance.

#16 A Few Gems From My 102-Year Old Grandmother’s Kitchen Cabinets

#17 My Mom Is Upset I Won't Give My Kids The Candy She Had Saved "A While Back"

#18 Found In My Boyfriend’s Pantry

Some foods, however, can technically last forever under the right conditions. Honey is one of them. According to Utah State University, commercial honey can have an indefinite shelf life because its high sugar content and low moisture make it very difficult for microbes to grow.

It may crystallize or change over time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has spoiled. Salt can also last indefinitely as long as it stays dry and free from contamination.

#19 Unopened Soap From 1940

#20 My Septuagenarian Mom Still Has Her ‘97 Softsoap Container To Match Her ‘97 Fish Bathroom

#21 Found A Relic From 1988 While Cleaning At Work

At the same time, bacteria aren’t always the enemy. We humans are a creative lot, and we’ve figured out how to put bacteria to work on purpose. Instead of ruining what we eat, the right ones can actually make food taste better and help it last longer. That’s exactly what happens during fermentation.

Certain bacteria feed on the sugars in foods like sauerkraut or pickles and produce acid along the way. As the food becomes more acidic, many unwanted microbes have a harder time growing. So when fermentation is done properly, those helpful bacteria can preserve the food while giving it the distinctive flavor we’re after.

#22 Grandma's Guest Room Bathroom Drawer. 30 Years Old?

#23 Living In My Freezer Since Late 1999

Millennipede! The blue things used to be stuck on its back but it molted.
My mom gave it to me late 1999. It sat on the counter for a while and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away before New Year (you can tell it would taste terrible so eating it never crossed my mind) so I stuck it in the freezer.
On my 3rd freezer, but original Millennipede.

#24 Old Box Of Nerds

All of this means the date printed on our food is useful, but it doesn’t always signal an immediate trip to the trash. Something that slipped past its best-by date yesterday is very different from a mystery jar that’s been hiding in a cupboard since the ’90s.

Still, it’s always worth being careful. If something has been stored improperly or gives you any reason to doubt it, leaving it uneaten is probably the smarter choice.