Medicine: Foods in Cans

The U. S. Bureau of Home Economics (Department of Agriculture) last week aimed a bulletin at a conviction widely held by U. S. housewives: that it is unsafe to leave food in tin cans after opening. “Under proper conditions of storage,” said the Bureau, “food is perfectly safe . . . spoils no faster and no slower in the open can than in any other container.” Some acid foods “like fruit and tomatoes, when stored in an open can, do tend to dissolve iron. This may give the food a sightly metallic taste that is not harmful. If the label on the can advises removing the contents as soon as the can is opened, it is because the canners think that an open can, partly filled with food, is not attractive in appearance.

“Another wrong notion about canned foods is the idea that the liquid in a can of vegetables, like peas or beans, should be drained off and not used. Formerly this liquor was sometimes too salty, but not at present. That juice contains valuable nutrients, and discarding it is a distinct waste.”