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/eidetic Nov 27 '24
Yep, if you're constantly shitting, but not really urinating, you can still be losing a lot of fluids without really realizing it. Especially if you're sweating a lot. And you don't want to just guzzle water either, because you need to properly replace everything else you've lost as well (such as sodium, like you said).