I briefly read a news article online yesterday where I learned that some emergency first responders have been instructed to have enough food stored for their families to last three months.
3 months?
How many people do you know who seriously have three weeks of food on hand?
Here are some webpages about those weird numbers on the canned food.
I'm not buying another item from another food manufacturer who believes that their expiration dates are a STATE SECRET - that is really rude, what a disgusting way to treat your customers.
Canned Food Code & Shelf Life Info
http://www.y2kkitchen.com/html/can_code_decoder.html
Closed Dating Codes in use by some manufacturers
http://www.waltonfeed.com/grain/faqs/vb.html
Food Storage Guidelines for Consumers
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/348-960/348-960.html
Surprising Expiration Dates
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple...676079,00.html