A version of would you eat this.

1. Depends on what is inside.  fruit or vegetables--probably as much as a year.
2. Is the can bulging and swelling? NO!

Define “long since passed” - a month? 6 months? 4 years?

I think I average 6 months.

Maybe 6 months. Honestly, most canned goods are so inexpensive, I would not eat it years past the date.

6 months is my limit. When you think about how far out those dates are put on canned goods, anything more than 6 months to a year starts to make me question every stomach rumble that follows.

Provided the cans were not damaged in anyway I would just open it and see. Have a small taste and go from there!

That is interesting.  It is a very large area food bank that then distributes to area food pantries.  I am sure they are following the health department rules - perhaps they differ by state? (and the volunteers are never allowed to take any of the donated food home - out of date or not).

Here is a link to the USDA website that says expired food can be distributed by food pantries.  USDA

I used canned tomatoes last week that expired in April 2017, so I think a year is probably my limit - but it depends on what it is, and the can must be in perfect condition

Open it. If it look "worn out" toss it. I have a jar of very tired looking peppers that has long since expired. The seeds are on the bottom of the jar and the peppers are faded. I tossed it and my husband found it and put it back in the pantry. He eats anything.

I think it's probably dependent on local rules. Our food pantry won't take anything past the expiration date or even really approaching it. I put that stuff on Freecycle (if it's something I don't think we'll eat soon) and it goes in a flash. 

As for me, I think expiration dates on canned goods are ridiculous. If the food is good, it's good, and there's generally no reason for canned goods to go bad in less than many years.

When I find an old can in the pantry, I put it out so it can be used quickly or else I give it away. I think I once tossed a can that was, like, eight years old or something. Otherwise, we just eat it. Assuming it looks okay, smells okay, tastes okay.

ETA no one has ever gotten sick from my cooking!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! I don't even read the expiration dates. Now if I open up something and it doesn't look or smell right, even if the date hasn't passed, out it goes.

Something like soup or beans, I might go six months or so past and still eat it. We don’t really buy any canned fruit other than the occasional can of pineapple to put on kabobs. I usually buy a can only when I’m planning on making that specifically. Other stuff DH would be more likely to eat something expired than I would, but then again when his mom died there was canned food in her pantry that was easily 6-8 YEARS past the expiration date on the can or package! She was known for keeping stuff long after it should have been tossed.