Food bank receives 46-year-old soup can as donation

The Cardiff Foodbank in Wales unexpectedly found their noble cause going viral today when they revealed one of the strangest donations they’d ever received: a tin of soup determined to be at least 46 years old.

The can was priced in shillings – a currency not used locally since 1971.

While the can had no expiry date, it’s safe to say it’s seen better times:

It’s a record!! Never had a donation with 10d on before! Please could we remind everyone that food donated needs to be in date! Thank you 🙂 pic.twitter.com/EVf5qMulA6

— Cardiff Foodbank (@CardiffFoodbank) October 5, 2017

Cardiff Foodbank’s parnership and fundraising officer Helen Bull assumes the donor hadn’t noticed the product was out of date at all – let alone by decades.

“Unfortunately what sometimes happens is that when an older person dies the family will clean out the cupboards and they want to donate and don’t necessarily realise that it was out of date.”

Thankfully, the donation wasn’t in vain. Twitter users quickly embraced the find, teaming up to identify the can’s decade of origin. Even Heinz and the original packing plant got involved in the unfolding investigation…

Wow! That soup was discontinued over 35 years ago. Should be in a museum rather than a food bank! 🙂

— Heinz (@HeinzUK) October 5, 2017

10d was 10 pence back in the day. Back when it was shillings and pence and all that jazz.

— Overblown (@OverblownZine) October 6, 2017

It means it must be pre 1972

— Vaun FrankeNormstein (@VaunEarl) October 6, 2017

@CardiffFoodClub @HeinzUK probably one of ours, don't you think @TataSteelPackag? Manufactured at Port Talbot then Trostre or Ebbw Vale https://t.co/efIKncqeSq

— Tata Steel in Wales (@tatasteelwales) October 5, 2017

According to the Daily Mail, this comes just one day after Colchester Foodbank in Essex shared a bag of macaroni pasta with a use-by date of 1977.

Fess up: what’s the oldest item you have hidden in the back of your pantry?