Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/09/old_tinned_chicken/
Man eats 50-year-old chicken for golden wedding anniversary
How romantic
Posted in Science, 9th February 2006 10:36 GMT
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A sentimental husband in Denton, Greater Manchester, has celebrated his golden wedding anniversary by eating a 50-year-old can of chicken.
Les Lailey had been saving the tin of Buxted Whole Cooked Chicken in Jelly from a buffet he and his bride Beryl received as a wedding gift – in 1956. They kept hold of the tin through numerous house moves, explaining to the BBC: “I always said 'on my 50th wedding anniversary I'm going to eat that chicken' – so I did.”
He added: “It was all right. But I don't like chicken.”
The couple ate everything else in their wedding hamper, but with post-war rationing still in effect, a whole canned chicken was a rare delicacy. Les reported: “It tasted just like ordinary chicken. A little bit salty but that was my fault for not cooking it like I should have done.”
Beryl was not too impressed with her husband's romantic gesture: “If it was a diamond ring or something like that, that would be different.”
Les apparently has felt no ill-effects from the fossilised feast. Experts say tinned food can last almost indefinitely if sealed properly, though the normal shelf life is about six months. Indeed, a panel of food scientists recently tested several foods from the seventies [1] and found many were still palatable.
Food science professor Ted Labuza of the University of Minnesota told Wired last year that a seven-year-old canned chicken he had eaten was still "very edible".
With the ancient-chicken-eating world record safely back in British hands, canny Les Lailey now has plans to put the empty tin up for sale on eBay. "It's a part of history," he says. ®