networkn:
If they had labels that showed the age, I doubt it would make any difference, as once people put them in the cupboard, they are usually forgotten about till it's time to eat them. Do you go through your cupboards annually to ensure you are rotating your stock and ensuring you eat items within the safe timeframe? I doubt it, which isn't really a problem as I don't think anyone else does as well.
I think expecting stuff like a tin of food to be safe after 10 years is probably unrealistic.
If Watties issued a public release saying people should ensure they do rotate their items to avoid exploding tins, no chance it would make 95% of households change their behaviour past maybe year 1.
I seriously doubt MPI will be doing anything significant given the age of these containers.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, it sounds horrible, but I am not really sure what realistically you expect Watties or MPI to do ?
I get what you are saying but these tins really are dangerous. They exploded when they were barely touched. The explosions may or may not have permanently affected my hearing, but they could have easily done other major physical damage. In a country as risk-averse as this one is, surely that is not acceptable?
I still think the lack of consumer-readable date information on the label is extremely questionable. I can't speak for other people, but I do read the labels and if I saw the tins were 10 years old, or even 5 years old, I would have immediately discarded them. What is wrong with providing people that information?