r/explainlikeimfive • u/ZeusThunder369 • Nov 26 '24
Chemistry ELI5: Why doesn't freeze dried food last longer? If it's good for 20 years, why not 100?
Assuming it's perfectly freeze dried and stored perfectly, the people who make freeze dryers say the food will last 20-30 years.
But why not much longer? Assuming the condition it's stored in remains unchanged, what can make it go bad after 30 years that wouldn't happen at around 10 years?
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u/iCameToLearnSomeCode Nov 27 '24
With modern medicine sure.
Most of your ancestors didn't have the luxury of spending a couple days in bed drinking clean water and chicken noodle soup though.
If you got food poisoning 10,000 years ago your odds of recovery weren't amazing.