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Photo: DPA

Tub of lard found fit to eat after 64 years

Published: 1 Feb 12 15:52 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120201-40487.html

A 64-year-old tub of American lard has been deemed fit for human consumption by food safety authorities in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Millions of tins of “Swift’s Bland Lard” – a pig fat which was used as a spread similar to butter or as a cooking fat – were distributed by US soldiers to West Germans after World War II in care packages that included other essentials like powdered milk, cheese and sugar.

Some of those made their way to communist East Germany, including one to Hans Feldmeier, a pharmacist from the Baltic Sea town of Warnemünde who never opened the can.

Worried that the lard had passed its expiration date, the 87-year-old recently decided to turn it over to the state for a comprehensive inspection.

The response was surprisingly positive.

“Overall, the product has a degree of freshness and material composition necessary to be assessed to be satisfactory after 64 years,” according to the State Office for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Security.

The authorities did, however, find minor deficiencies in the lard’s smell and taste, discovering that it was slightly gritty and appeared old, meaning it could not compete with the quality of a fresh sample. Still, it appeared to be fit for human consumption, they said.

The office credited the air-tight US can and preservatives for maintaining the lard in such pristine condition over the years.

Feldmeier promptly asked for his tin of lard back, calling it “beautiful” and saying he couldn't imagine parting with it.

So the authorities sent it back to him – empty.

The Local/DPA/mdm

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

17:00 February 1, 2012 by haberdave
For the first time in my life.....I am speachless.....
17:03 February 1, 2012 by mikel taylor
A tub of Lard in the US generally refers to a very fat person. as well as lard for cooking. the shelf life of lard might explain why it's so hard for fat Americans to loose weight, Few Americans still cook with lard which was very popular in earlier times, cooking oils have replaced lard, Authentic Mexican cooks still use lard. I think most Americans don't have lard in their kitchens
17:03 February 1, 2012 by Grebo
I think after being here for 64 years it deserves to be called German lard.
17:19 February 1, 2012 by raandy
Thats correct , I have not heard the old school taunt "you tub of lard" for a long time.

It would not have the same effect as then as more than half the kids are tub of lards these days.
18:40 February 1, 2012 by franconia
From the 60s into the 70s I still made Pies in Bakeries and Hotels with Lard. Best Pies the US of A ever had, but most of you do not remember. Crisco and other shortenings took over. It had to do with price, workability and last but not least, complaints from Jews and Moslems. I am not making this up, but i had to deal with many of the complaints myself during that time.
19:39 February 1, 2012 by Gretl
I still make my pie crust with lard and butter.
20:16 February 1, 2012 by iseedaftpeople
so what's in the can that that 64-year-old tub of lard is holding up in the picture?
23:06 February 1, 2012 by MaKo
What a relief, as I'm sure that the pot of random congealed cooking fat at my mother-in-law's is at least that old.
01:39 February 2, 2012 by DavidtheNorseman
Grandfather was right...they don't make tins of lard like they used to :-) Congratulations to the high quality canner from all those years ago!!
01:55 February 2, 2012 by volvoman9
Hmm . Good to know. Yanks made the best lard. Bet those preservatives are yummy.
08:52 February 2, 2012 by Mh0926
thumbs up! they should be very good manufacturer. : )
13:43 February 2, 2012 by n230099
@mikel taylor: "Authentic Mexican cooks still use lard."

Here in Arizona we have said for many years that if you leave a Mexican restaurant saying "that was great Mexican food!!" you can bet they were cooking with lard. There have been some places that touted "healthy Mexican food" and claimed they were cooking with canola oil. They're no longer in business.
16:27 February 3, 2012 by Tanskalainen
It also makes a great sexual lubricant.
19:21 February 3, 2012 by Illogicbuster
Back when the US was the premier manufacturing country. Before leftists ruined it.
20:50 February 3, 2012 by nedmesis
Deemed fit for consumption but nobody would eat it? Speaks a lot about the authorities.

We have had German pork for sale in Sweden. Deemed fit for human consumption but as it tasted like a dung heap.
01:00 February 4, 2012 by beebupnz
Do a search on "oiling of America" to find out why butter, eggs and lard are good for you and oils like canola oil definitely are not.

http://www.drcranton.com/nutrition/oiling.htm
04:43 February 4, 2012 by volvoman9
@illogicbuster. Would that be the era when the U.S. permitted slavery or more recently when child labor laws didn't exist? Perhaps before unions when OSHA and the EPA didn't keep the 'Job Creators" from saving us all. Oh that's right it's regulations that stymie the economy. Drill baby Drill! No matter that the U.S .has more oil in reserve than at any time in their history. No matter that they consume 27% of the Earths fossil fuels. No matter that the top 400 wealthiest individuals in the U.S. have more combined wealth than the poorest 20%.

Every Right Wing 'Joe the Plumber" thinks that they are just one clogged toilet from joining the 1% and becoming the GOP elite. I've got news for you the GOP is not a friend of the working class. They don't give hoot about your religious beliefs or unborn children. Plenty of them ARE gay and if you think they are bringing back manufacturing to the U.S. then you are a sad delusional fool. This drivel is simply the potent narcotic of reassuring simplicity that they drug you with so that you will swallow their greedy agenda. The GOP ARE about enriching the few on the backs of many and creating a theocratic authoritarian regime that has nothing to do with America. Wake Up! You are the 99%.
15:27 February 4, 2012 by Bruno53
Read somewhere that when Americans POWs of the Nazi German Wehrmacht knew the war was over when they saw the cans of Spams meat and the Aunt Jemima pancakes dropped by the C-3 planes in April and May of 1945.
07:18 February 5, 2012 by MLT
This article reminds me of my youth. Years ago Americans had an expression for people who were 'especially slow moving' - namely - 'lard ass'
18:27 February 7, 2012 by Illogicbuster
volvoman9, What Are you babbling on about now? What cave do you live in?
05:41 February 8, 2012 by volvoman9
@illogicbuster.... Well.... I guess you certainly showed me.
15:46 February 8, 2012 by vonBeavis
@illogicbuster . . . ain't you a paragon of intellect. Wingnut.
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