Conference turris::cooks

re: .0

>    Has anyone heard of this happening?

Yup. A swollen can is the first clue to toss it out.

>    Do you think it would have been safe to eat the tomatoes?

Nope. Not a chance.

Consider - the can couldn't have been sealed in a "swollen" state, which means
that it could only have gotten that way after being sealed because something
was happening inside it (fermentation, spoilage, etc.).

-Jack

What Jack says is absolutely right. Never eat anything from a swollen
can. And if you want to be a good doobie, you should report this to the
store where you bought it, so they can determine if they've got any
more cans like that. Most store managers want to get those off the
shelves as quickly as possible, for reasons you can well imagine.

Having said all that, there's some more info you should be aware of:
tomatoes are very acid, and the nastiest of problems with canned foods
is botulism, whose bacteria can't grow in acid environments (which
includes most fruits). So if at any time in the future you hear about
someone who ate tomatoes from a swollen can, you can relax that they're
not going to die from botulism poisoning (though a bad case of
salmonella can be pretty rough).

Next, all canned goods are sealed under a slight vacuum, and *all*
should make a hissing or "whoosh" sound when you open them as the air
rushes *in*. Once this happens, the can should appear more "swollen"
than it was before opening. The time to check a can for being swollen
is *before* you open it. Always. Every time. If the top and bottem
aren't concave (curved inward) that's when you should worry. Once you
break the seal, you can't know for sure which way the can was at the
start (unless you were the one who saw it before and after).

    "Once you break the seal, you can't know for sure which way the can
    was at the start (unless you were the one who saw it before and
    after)."
    
    ... unless the can goes "sploosh" and sprays you with its innards
    as you open it, instead of going "woosh".  Then you can drop it in
    the trash without looking.  (It happened to me only once -- a can of
    cat food.)
    
    						Ann B.

RE: .3

I never drop it in the trash.  I take it back to where I bought it and 
demand a replacement or a refund on the product.

--PSW

    re .4
    
    Yep,
    
    My grandmother takes great delight in sending faulty produce back to
    the manufacturer.......she usually gets a nice apologetic letter and
    some freebies!
    
    You should try it!
    
    Steve.

  <<< Note 3827.4 by GEMGRP::PW::Winalski "Careful with that AXP, Eugene!" >>>

Hey! When did you boot OSF on that AXP?! And xnotes, no less!

    Sam's Club give double your money back on bad produce.   I once
    needed some tomatoes for a recipe and Sam's weren't very good so
    I would normally have gone elsewhere but I was in a rush so I
    bought Sam's anyway and used the good ones and returned the rest
    of the batch.
    
    ed

    There was no ambiguity about the swelling - the can was positively
    *bulging*.  And there was no ambiguity about whether it was a vacuum
    whoosh or a pressurized swoosh.  Not only did it sound like a swoosh,
    it sprayed me with tomato juice.
    
    I finished openning the can to see if the contents were "interesting". 
    They weren't - the looked and smelled normal.  But I'm glad to opted
    for a new can.
    
    I didn't think of taking it back...doubt I could have because Lord only
    knows how long it had been sitting on my shelf.  I don't used canned
    tomatoes that often.  Could have been 6 months or a year!!
    
    D!

>>    I didn't think of taking it back...doubt I could have because Lord only
>>    knows how long it had been sitting on my shelf.  I don't used canned
>>    tomatoes that often.  Could have been 6 months or a year!!
    
       There should be a date on the can.  If you opened the can after
       that date, too bad, unless you also bought it after that date!  

       I usually can't be bothered to return bad food items.  Bought
       a jar of mayo once, opened it a few weeks later and it turns
       out the seal had been broken so it was bad.  Well, I didn't have
       a receipt any longer so who could I bring it too?  I was tempted
       to go buy a good jar, then use that receipt to bring the bad
       jar in but never bothered.

       Karen

After six months, I wouldn't bother bringing back a tomator product,
either, because by then, there's probably nothing the store or
manufacturer could do, anyway. But if it's only a day or two, I'd still
go back to the store. For one thing, a good store (our regular
supermarket is one) will refund the price without any discussion. For
another, you may be doing a service for the store, the manufacturer,
and other consumers.

For stuff in which botulism can grow, I would report it even after six
months. The chances of it doing any good might be very small, but a
life is a life -- for such a small effort.

    What about dented cans?  I recall reading somewhere that they can be
    unsafe.  Yet I occasionally get one from the supermarket, use it, and
    haven't yet had a problem.
    
    Laura

My opinion:

If it's a minor dent on the side, top, or bottom, I don't worry. If
it's a nasty one on a seam (side or rim), I toss it.

       I have a can of Bon Vivant soup that's been on the shelf for
       several years.  Should I offer it to my boss?
       
       --Mr Topaz

    Sure, as long as it's not vichysoisse (sp?).
    
    					andrew

The only danger from dented cans is that there might be a microscopic crack, 
large enough to let bacteria in, and more importantly, also large enough to let 
the gases from bacterial fermentation out, so that the usual bulging top or 
hiss of escaping air doesn't alert you to the fact that bacteria have been at 
work spoiling the fod.

--PSW