Canning provides a
shelf life typically ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances it can be much longer.
A freeze-dried canned product, such as canned dried
lentils, could last as long as 30 years in an edible state. In 1974, samples of canned food from the wreck of the
Bertrand, a steamboat that sank in the Missouri River in 1865, were tested by the
National Food Processors Association. Although appearance, smell and vitamin content had deteriorated, there was no trace of microbial growth and the 109-year-old food was determined to be still safe to eat.