1) There are ready-made canned meals. If you heat it on an open flame and eat it from there, you save washing up. However, is it not harmful to health?
2) Once the can has been opened, can you keep it in the fridge (or is it better to put the contents in something else)
Answer
Dear sir,
With regard to question 1: food cans consist either of tin-coated steel or, the latter more and more, of an epoxy-coated-tin-coated steel. This means that the food is in contact with either a tin layer or a polymeric epoxy layer. The latter often contains a component about which there has been quite a bit of controversy in recent years, namely bisphenol A. This component is also used to make polycarbonate (former baby bottles, now forbidden to use for this purpose), CDs, etc. Bisphenol A is a so-called estrogenic molecule, so it mimics the female sex hormone estradiol. Hence the concern about the presence of this component in our diet. However, so far it is assumed that the amounts ingested are not harmful. If you start heating the materials, however, bisphenol A will migrate more quickly from the coating to the food. So the risk does increase. Tin will also be used more quickly in foodstuffs, but this is less relevant from a toxicological point of view. Personally, I’d rather do some more washing up!
In connection with question 2: is actually mainly a microbiological matter (which is not my specialty); when the can is closed, it is basically sterile and can therefore be stored for a very long time, because it is microbiologically stable. Once you open the can, bacteria, fungi and yeasts return, which greatly shortens the shelf life. You can store it in the fridge for a few more days, but over time microbiological spoilage will occur (e.g. mold growth on tomato paste).
Hopefully this has helped you further.
Regards
Bruno DeMeulenaer
Answered by
Prof. Dr. Ir. Bruno De Meulenaer
Food Science Food Chemistry
http://www.ugent.be
.