64-year-old tub of lard found in Germany - still edible

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A German pensioner who had kept a tub of lard in his cupboard for 64 years, took it to authorities who pronounced it very much fit for consumption - if a little tasteless.

Retired chemist Hans Feldmeier, 87, said he had received the pig fat as a student in 1948 near the northern city of Rostock as part of the post-war US aid programme.

Feldmeier said he had been given the tub together with two tins of noodles and some milk.

"I just didn't want to throw it away," he explained.

Finally, after 64 years, he took it to food safety agents and was astonished at their appraisal.

"There is of course a slight lack of smell and taste," sniffed Frerk Feldhusen, from the office of agriculture, food safety and fisheries in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Moreover, the lard was "of gritty consistency, difficult to dissolve and looked a bit old," the officials added.

However, "all in all, given its level of freshness and its material composition, the product is assessed as satisfactory," Feldhusen said, adding it would stand up to today's definition of being fit for the dinner table.