German pensioner eats 64-year-old US lard

A German pensioner who received a tin of American lard 64 years ago in an aid package has only just tasted it, after discovering that it is still edible.

"I just didn't want to throw it away," said Hans Feldmeier, 87.

Food safety experts in Rostock, his home town on Germany's Baltic coast, said the pig fat was still safe to eat.

Mr Feldmeier was a student in 1948 when the US was running a huge aid programme to rebuild war-ravaged Germany. He kept the tin of lard for emergencies.

A retired pharmacist, he decided to get the lard tested because of the debate about expiry dates and food safety.

A food expert, Frerk Feldhusen, said the lard was rather gritty and tasteless and hard to dissolve, though quite edible. Mr Feldmeier provided some black bread to go with it.

The red, white and blue tin of Swift's Bland Lard bore no expiry date.

Mr Feldhusen said the test result might make some consumers think twice before discarding food immediately after the expiry date.