Should you store cans upside down? While Heinz changes its packaging, MailOnline tests the storage hack on seven popular canned goods – with surprising results

It’s official: we’ve been storing our canned food all wrong.

Last week it emerged that Heinz has released a limited edition ‘Upside Down’ can, designed to make it easier than ever to tip out the entire contents of the can, without having to scrape the last few out.

Apparently the Beanz Meanz Upside Down tin will make us all aware of the simple hack of storing tins upside down to ensure we can get the contents out with ease, and even if the £1.40 special edition is finished, we will continue to save our cans. the wrong way.

A cynic might dismiss it as a marketing stunt, but it has been suggested that there might be some point in storing your cans upside down.

Professor Charles Spence from the University of Oxford, who specializes in food design, agreed that storing a can upside down would mean the beans would not be left at the ‘bottom’, making it easier to enjoy the taste of every last can to enjoy.

Like a lot of people on the internet, I’m not entirely convinced, so I decide to try it out for myself, picking out some of the most popular canned goods and comparing how they empty from the can after being put in the refrigerator. have been preserved. ‘right side up’ by storing them upside down.

Maybe it will be life-changing, or maybe it won’t make much of a difference and I’ll have to resort to the tried and true tactic of using a fork or spoon.

I choose a selection.

Beans of course, because that’s where it all started. But I opt for a normal can of Heinz instead of their special Upside Down can.

Spaghetti hoops are also on the list, along with plum tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, custard and rice pudding.

I think this is a good selection in terms of sauce thickness, texture, size of the ‘lumps’ and other variables, so we can consider it a thorough experiment.

I get two of each, keep one right side up and the second upside down so they can settle for a few hours before I start my very scientific test.

Beans

First come the beans, as they are the star of the show.

Predictably, the can properly stored facing up empties quite easily, but the stand leaves about ten beans at the bottom.

I’m excited for the magical moment when whoever has been upside down empties itself of every bean inside – which turns out to be the easiest hack ever and saves us all the joy of scraping out those last few beans with a spoon.

With bated breath I grab it, turn it upside down and pull the top of the can off using the pull ring.

It goes upside down, and pours out the beans. I shake the can as before and look inside eagerly, but I see almost exactly the same number of beans as in the other can. Oh.

But the game is not quite finished yet. After all, it could have been a one-off and I have many more cans to try.

Spaghetti hoops

Next up are spaghetti hoops – another common culprit when it comes to always leaving a few behind.

This time the reverse serve seems to have worked.

There are quite a few more in the can from this one than from the one that was at the very top. Maybe there is something in this after all.

Chickpeas

Strengthened, I try chickpeas. They aren’t that different in size from baked beans, although they are in water rather than a thick sauce, so maybe that can make a difference.

This time it’s the other way around and there are fewer chickpeas in the can that was stored right side up.

Canned plum tomatoes

Canned plum tomatoes are easy to empty from both cans and leave nothing behind in either can.

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is similar, but it does manage to go through my entire kitchen, so how much is left in the can is the least of my worries.

Custard

A can of Ambrosia custard, smooth, sweet and silky, leaves a thin layer of the bright yellow beauty in both cans, no matter how they are stored.

Rice pudding

My last and best hope for a definitive answer is rice porridge.

The tin stored right side up still has quite a bit of creamy rice in it, but when I empty the upside down equivalent I find there is a lot less.

Maybe there is something to this hack after all.

So, what’s the verdict?

Anyway, I’m not sure I’ll open any more canned food to prove it.

And I won’t be looking for a special upside-down can of beans either.

Is it really the end of the world if you scrape out the last few baked beans with a fork or spoon?