Yes Ray, the government issued old stock C-rats to us in 69'-70' when I was in VietNam. We had .50 cal. ammo dated 1945 ! However, it worked just fine, and the C-rats taught us to LOVE the dehydrated meals we received a couple of times when we were in the mountains.

As far as regular canned meats go, they will last quite a while past their expiration or "use by" date. It's always a good idea to rotate stock by using them occasionally.