Is my self canned tomato sauce safe to eat?

[wyoDreamer]

Leaving the rings on encourages moisture to collect between the lid and the ring, causing rust and eventual failure.
Every time I get ready to can , I go through the rings and throw away the ones that have gotten too rusty. At the present time, I store all the canning stuff down in the basement. However, this is Wisconsin and we get humidity during the summer. Metal on metal causes rust.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Agreed. And, given that I re-use my lids (if they are in pristine, like new condition) I remove rings when jars go into storage.

 

[Hinotori]

I use a ton of the 10 oz oyster jars. Those don't come with rings and lids when you buy them. All rings are removed and washed thoroughly to remove fish oil before being stored. I usually wash them again before using JIC I missed some oil.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

BWB tomatoes....we never PC tomatoes. We've also consumed 30 yr old raw honey...best honey I've ever eaten.

I can't imagine an 8-year-old canned tomato can still be consumed, I mean, even "properly canned branded tomatoes have expiration dates that won't be more than 2 years right?

 

[wyoDreamer]

I have eaten apple pie filling that I canned 5 years ago. The taste had faded some, but it was still good.

 

[Britesea]

I can't imagine an 8-year-old canned tomato can still be consumed, I mean, even "properly canned branded tomatoes have expiration dates that won't be more than 2 years right?

Those expiration dates on commercial goods are there because they are required by law. I have even found "best by" dates on containers of salt! They were designed to protect the consumer, but what they actually do is cause people to waste money by throwing out perfectly good food and buy more.
That being said, I know that canned tomatoes and other acidic foods like dilly beans and pickled beets DO have a shorter shelf life, because the acid can eat the metal of the can, particularly if it's dented so that the metal's strength has been compromised. That takes years though, and it's easy to tell when it happens.

 

[Hinotori]

The dates aren't even required on most things in the USA. It's used as a tactic to get people to toss perfectly good food and buy more. There has been talk on making them standardized because it's all over the place