10 Times Food Ignored Its Expiration Date to Live Forever

Your pantry might not contain any good-looking items that are decades or millennia past their prime, but such freaky fare does exist. And their fossil-worthy age is not the only strange thing about them.

Some mature groceries appear in unexpected places, like at the bottom of the ocean or under the floor of a historical figure’s home. Others veer into darker territory, including a toxic potion of immortality and a macabre Roman urn (where one man hugged his wine a little too closely). Whatever you’re craving today, here’s a tasty menu to look at…but best not touch…

Related: 10 Foods That Have Alleged Occult Powers

10 Canned Salmon (With Worms)—46 Years

In 2025, a natural history museum donated expired salmon tins to the University of Washington. The cans, dating back to 1979, had been set aside as a quality control test. Ecologists at the university gladly accepted the now-unwanted cans, not because they wanted to examine the salmon. Nope. They wanted the worms in the meat.

The cans held four types of salmon: chum, coho, pink, and sockeye from the Pacific Northwest. The idea was to check the fishy fillets for anisakids, a marine parasite measuring about 0.4 inches (1 cm) long. As gross as worms in your seafood may be, their presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem, as they require the presence of many other species to complete their life cycle.

The study found that the parasites increased over time in pink and chum salmon, and remained stable in coho and sockeye. This difference is puzzling. The canning process destroyed any chance of identifying the anisakid species, but it’s plausible that one type increased in a great ecosystem that included pink and chum salmon. The worms that infected coho and chum likely lived in a system barely stable enough to keep the parasite population level.^[1]

9 An Arctic Snack Stash—60 Years

In 2015, a team of archaeologists temporarily camped out at Centrum Sø Lake in northeast Greenland. They explored the caves nearby, and then decided to pack up and head back to base camp—where nothing but porridge and dried milk powder awaited. This bland diet might have encouraged the hungry researchers to do what they did next—eat 60-year-old meat they found on the ground.

While trekking through the desolate Arctic desert, they found old tins dated “09-55” or “09-60.” The cans bore the stamp “combat ration individual,” which suggested that the cache belonged to the Army expedition that had discovered Centrum Sø Lake about 60 years ago. The soldiers probably stashed the cans to lighten their load and secure a food source on their way back. For some reason, they never reclaimed the cache.

The archaeologists opened the tins and found pristine meals, including jam, crackers, beans, cocoa powder, and meatballs. As expected, the extremely dry and cold weather had prevented the rations from spoiling. Once back at base camp, the team didn’t waste any time and savored every morsel, apparently unbothered by the fact that the food was likely older than they were.^[2]

8 McDonald’s Fries In A Wall—63 Years

In 2022, the Jones family from Illinois decided to renovate their home. The couple was replacing a toilet paper holder, a task that required removing a section of the wall, when they saw a towel hidden inside. Considering all the effort that someone went through to hide the bundle behind brick and mortar, the family feared they had uncovered evidence of a crime.

The “cold case” turned out to be cold fries. More specifically, the towel revealed two hamburger wrappers and fries that didn’t look all that bad, which is a little disturbing, considering that the potato strips were 63 years old. The fast food’s age was determined with the help of the Crystal Lake Historical Society and the wrappers, which showed “Speedee,” McDonald’s 1950s mascot that predated the clown, Ronald McDonald.

The Jones family decided to keep the fries. To each their own. But the question remains: Who sealed the fries in the wall, and why?^[3]

7 A Forgotten Fruit Cake—106 Years

The first buildings in Antarctica appeared in 1899. Located at Cape Adare, this site is now a time capsule frozen in time and ice. Due to their historical importance, about 1,500 artifacts were removed for restoration in 2017. The haul included a fruitcake in a rusty tin. The 106-year-old cake was wrapped in wax paper and had a slight smell of rancid butter, but otherwise looked good enough to serve.

Who did the cake belong to? The words “Huntley & Palmers” on the tin’s label offered a clue. Robert Falcon Scott, a British polar explorer, used this bakery to supply his expeditions with cakes and biscuits, so the fruitcake was probably his. Scott became famous for his tragic attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole. After being beaten by a Norwegian team, Scott and his party perished on the return trip in 1912.

Researchers removed the tin’s rust and restored the label. The torn wax wrapper was also preserved with chemicals. Once ready, the cake will be returned to Cape Adare with the other artifacts and replaced in their original positions as a type of museum display. There, the cold weather will continue to keep the cake “young,” as it has for the past century.^[4]

6 George Washington’s Fruit—250 Years

In 2024, archaeologists were restoring George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate when they stumbled upon preserved food jars. Now, such bottles are designed to last, but this batch was over 250 years old.

The historic find started with two bottles of preserved cherries. When workmen lifted the brick floor of a cellar from the 1770s, they noticed a storage pit. It held a pair of glass jars from the 1750s or 1740s. The bottles contained well-preserved cherry pulp, pits, and stems in liquid.

A few months later, the cellar produced five more pits containing 35 bottles. Only 29 were intact, and tests revealed that some jars held more cherries, while others held berries. The fruit likely hadn’t seen the light of day since before the American Revolution and could have been abandoned when George Washington left the estate to lead the Continental Army.

Currently, the jars are unique in North American history. Few other examples of centuries-old fruit exist, and certainly not on this scale and in such well-preserved condition. Interestingly, we might one day see cherry trees coming from this project, as researchers want to grow some of the seeds they found.^[5]

5 A Submerged Royal Pantry—500 Years

King Hans of Denmark and Norway’s flagship, the Gribshunden, was built in 1485 and served as a symbol of power, a mobile government, a cultural center, and a warship that held his kingdom together. In 1495, the ship anchored off Sweden’s southern coast and mysteriously sank to the bottom of the Baltic Sea while the king wasn’t on board.

The wreck was rediscovered in the 1960s, but nobody realized its provenance until the early 2000s. A few years later, the ship revealed something remarkable. Many of the luxury spices and foods that King Hans had brought along had survived. Indeed, an underwater excavation found a pantry stocked with 40 types of vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals, spices, and more.

The find was remarkable for several reasons. For starters, it’s uncommon to find a royal medieval larder that is relatively complete. The inventory also shows that the Baltic elite imported spices from distant places, including mustard, ginger, clove, dill, and peppercorns. The pantry even contained saffron, a rare and expensive spice. Hans also snacked on grapes, berries, cucumbers, almonds, and hazelnuts.

Despite being in the water for centuries, the royal groceries remained well preserved and fragrant. We can thank the Baltic Sea’s freezer-like temperatures and low salt content for that.^[6]

4 A Raw Egg—1,700 Years

Chicken eggs are fragile goobers. They crack in the carton, roll off counters, and generally don’t last long outside the fridge. Thus, when archaeologists found four Roman-era eggs in the British town of Aylesbury, they weren’t surprised when three broke the second they were pulled from the earth. After all, they were 1,700 years past their sell-by date. The fourth stayed intact and made history.

In 2024, researchers scanned the remaining egg, expecting to see an empty shell. Given its age, the egg’s contents should have leeched out or dried up hundreds of years ago. But the scanner revealed a shocking surprise—the shell still contained an air bubble and degraded liquid remains of yolk and egg white.

How is this even possible? Apparently, the recipe for an immortal egg is part soil, part water, and no oxygen. Exposure to air causes organic material to rot, but the eggs were found in waterlogged soil where oxygen couldn’t reach them.

During the third century AD, when the area belonged to the Roman Empire, someone might have thrown the eggs into a pit as an offering to the gods. They weren’t the only things in there. The team also found leather shoes, tools, wooden bowls, and a basket.^[7]

3 A Pompeii Fast Food Stall—2,000 Years

The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed in AD 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried everything in ash and pumice. The exact death toll is unknown, but experts estimate that up to 15,000 people could have perished in the disaster. The sudden burial preserved Pompeii in near-pristine condition, and new discoveries are being made every year.

In 2019, archaeologists uncovered a large outdoor snack bar. Incredibly, the colors and artwork remained vibrant, showing mythological scenes and animals like ducks and roosters (probably the menu items). The fast-food stall was roughly 2,000 years old and, in life, the owner had enjoyed a prime location at a busy intersection.

The stall held a row of earthenware pots. A look inside revealed what Romans liked to eat on the go. Researchers found the remains of goats, fish, pigs, and snails. One jar contained crushed fava beans, an ingredient used to alter the taste of wine. Apparently, it was a “bar” in the alcoholic sense, too.

The counter appeared to have been abandoned in a hurry, likely due to the eruption. But today, it stands as a valuable glimpse into daily Roman life and a beautiful blend of practicality and art unmatched by modern food stalls.^[8]

2 A Cremated Guy In Wine—2,000 Years

In 2019, archaeologists made a bizarre discovery in southern Spain. While exploring the Roman necropolis of Carmo, they opened a rare, unlooted mausoleum that contained several individuals. The chamber was packed with luxury items like perfume, jewels, and fabrics. They also found a lead box that contained a sealed glass urn. Inside the urn was a red liquid.

A battery of tests identified the fluid as a 2,000-year-old white wine. While this is considered the oldest preserved vintage ever discovered, there is a more pressing peculiarity. Why is the white wine now a red slosh? The truth is grisly. The urn also contained a Roman man’s cremated dust, and his remains stained the wine with a crimson color. As creepy as this seems, pouring wine onto the cremated ash of a loved one was a common practice during Roman times.^[9]

1 A Fabled Elixir Of Immortality—2,000 Years

In 2018, archaeologists excavated a Western Han Dynasty-era tomb in China’s Henan Province. The dig produced amazing artifacts, but one item stood out—a bronze pot filled with a transparent, yellow liquid. Amazingly, the fluid still had an aroma despite being buried 2,000 years ago. Researchers described the smell as a “rich wine,” something that suggested the pot was a final alcoholic cheer to the deceased.

True enough, “grave liquor” made from sorghum and rice had been found in the past in similar burials. However, tests showed it wasn’t rice wine. Instead, the concoction consisted of alunite and potassium nitrate. This combination matched the ingredients for a legendary “elixir of life” described in ancient Taoist books, one that supposedly bestowed immortality on whoever took a gulp.

Sure, seeing this elixir for the first time provides a great glimpse into the myths and alchemy of ancient China. But hopefully, nobody ever consumed the potion. Drinking potassium nitrate is more likely to be fatal than adding any more years to your life.^[10]