This might be the first bit of good news to have come out of the shutdown. During the 16 days of downtime, essential personnel in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chicago office decided to clean out the employee fridge. Beyond the usual brown paper bags of dubious origins and tupperware containers with unusual smells, some brave soul found a 16-year-old can of soup.
In a letter sent to employees, EPA head Gina McCarthy wrote
During the shutdown, we made every effort to water accessible plants. And of necessity, the refrigerators were emptied of all perishable foodstuffs last week. The oldest food found? A can of Campbell’s soup dated 1997! So, please remember it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the refrigerators clean.
For those curious, a quick search around the various survivalist forums on the internet indicate that you should adhere to the expiration date on cans of soup. Like you didn’t already know that.
