Results from a survey of stocks of unopened and opened food cans in 452 U.K. households are reported. About 8840 unopened cans were found, representing an average of ∼ 19 cans/household. Twelve per cent of the unopened cans were found to be more than 2 years old, 5% more than 3 years old and 3% more than 4 years old. A total of 156 open cans were identified in 88 households, that is in 20% of the households in the survey. Almost 30% of these cans had been stored for more than 2 days and about 10% had been stored for≥7 days. Since tin concentrations tend to rise in both unopened and opened cans on storage, this information confirmed the need for better stock rotation in the home and the need for further publicity.