Tinned soup in your emergency supplies

What the date on the label means

• Food past its use-by date is deemed unsafe and can't be sold. Past best-before, food may be safe but lower in quality.¹

Store tinned soup somewhere cool and dry, and check each tin for damage before you use it.

How much to store

SupKit estimates one tinned soup 400g at about 180 calories, deliberately on the low side so stores aren't overestimated.² An adult needs around 2,250 calories a day in SupKit's planning figures.

Nobody should live on one food, so this table assumes tinned soup makes up a quarter of the food.

The calculator above changes the household, the days and the share of food.

When to start using it

At everyday pace, two adults get through 44 tins of tinned soup in about 11 weeks, so SupKit starts suggesting it about 13 weeks before the date.³

Eating your reserve in everyday meals and replacing it as you go keeps it fresh, so nothing ends up in the bin.

Allergies, dietary needs and children

Plan around everyone at home: allergies, intolerances and diets come first, and familiar food matters most for children. Recipes vary between brands, so always read the label of the product you buy.

Typical allergens and diets are SupKit's guide to the main ingredient, not a product's label.

• Irish (EU) law names 14 allergens: gluten cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs.⁴
• On packaged food, allergens must stand out in the ingredient list, for example through font, style or background colour.⁵
• For unpackaged food, allergen information must be in writing and easy to find before you buy.⁴
• 'May contain' warnings are optional, used only where cross-contamination can't be ruled out, and can't replace good manufacturing practice.⁵

Young children

• Don't give whole nuts to children under five; crush or grind nuts, and spread nut butter thinly.⁶
• Don't give honey to babies under 12 months, and don't add salt to a baby's food.⁷