Potential foods

• Twinkies will last no longer than similar treats. One Twinkie has been kept in a time capsule for up to 44 years.
• Honey is almost impossible to spoil because it is high in sugar and low in water. Some honey samples are 3,000 years old.
• Very fat-rich foods like butter and cheese, tallow or oils can last for a long time. Bog butter, a highly fermented butter, is up to 4,000 years old.
• The world's oldest champagnes, 200-year-old bottles of Clicquot, was perfectly palatable.
• Ancient frozen flesh may look perfectly edible but quickly becomes putrid after defrosting.
• Fish is even worse at surviving the freezing process. Meat tends to have all kinds of microorganisms, which makes it unsuitable for long periods of storage.

Most foods spoil because of the growth of microbes. Preserving food is an attempt to limit microbial growth. Food can be preserved by drying, salting, chilling, or storing in air-tight containers.

• Drying is the most effective because microbial growth is inhibited.
• Salting is...