There are a few more important things to remember when storing foods. Always discard bulging cans, damp boxes, and anything that smells or looks inedible. If you see any signs of mold or foam on top of your food, throw it out.

Now for the list:

1 : Protein bars and protein drinks.
Ideal for a bug out bag, food bars are compact nutrition and
should be part of your everyday food storage. Sure, some food
bars are a sort of cross between chocolate candy bars and
vitamins, others more of a granola, but they are often high in
protein. Food bars can provide a satisfaction for a morning meal
or an addition to your other rations. Look for coconut bars too!
Another food bar that often goes under the radar with Prepper's
(but shouldn't) is Pemmican, pictured below, which contains
complete protein and gives energy. Free of isolates, fructose,
sugar and cholesterol, Pemmican is a concentrated food bar that
offers quick energy.

2 : Crackers and cookies.
While crackers have little nutritive value, they do provide a sense
of normalcy to a survival situation and will be a worthy an
satisfying accompaniment to soups and tuna salad, and peanut
butter stashes in the Prepper's Pantry. You may find some
surprising nutritive benefits such as niacin and iron in flaky
flavorful crackers. In your long term food storage you'll need to
buy some pilot crackers in a #10 can.

3 : Distilled water and seltzer water.
Water isn't a food to hoard, but you certainly can't live without it,
which is why water is #1 on this prepping list. Distilled water is
the most pure form of water. Get water now and make plans to
get more water. Consider adding canned seltzer water to your
pantry as well. Canned seltzer water lasts indefinitely, adds a
fizzy pep to your water supply and even helps relieve
constipation! Avoid seltzer if you have acid reflux.
4 : Beans and legumes.
Stock up on beans — all kinds of dried beans and canned beans,
(including refried beans). The more variety of beans you store,
the better as it provides energy and fiber. Beans pack around
1250 calories per pound. Best of all, you can sprout beans — it as
little as five days you can sprout crunchy, fresh phytonutrients for
your family from dried beans, peas, and lentils. (See the
sprouter, immediate right.) Peanuts aren't really nuts (they're
beans, but stock up on those too because they add protein).

5 : Raisins, dried fruits and fruit strips.
Enhance your supply with dried apricots, dates, cranberries,
mangos and whatever your family enjoys. You can make your own
trail mix with dried fruits.

Raisins. Just a handful of raisins will provide a full serving of
fruit. Raisins have protein, fiber, iron, and Vitamin C. Raisins
are loaded with antioxidants and potassium, too. Use them
in your Prepper's pantry to enhance the flavor of rice for
dinner and cereals for breakfasts. Remember, raisins are a
dried fruit and not a dehydrated food. There is a difference
in how you store each. Organic raisins are the best choice
so you can avoid toxic pesticides of commercial farming.
Newmans Own is an excellent choice. These raisins are
packed with juicy flavor and a pleasing texture, and are
available by the six pack in 15-oz cans for your prepper's
pantry and delivered to your door.

Fruit leathers, fruit strips and fruit ropes. Skip the fruit
rollups, which are ladened with unwanted high-fructose corn
syrups. Instead, look for Simply Fruit twists and high fiber
dried fruit strips available in a variety of flavors, such as
cherry, grape, and apricot.

The more variety, the better for your family to fight boredom in
diet and to get the essential nutrients they each provide.

6 : What's the #1 food to hoard? Well, the best prepper protein
source is meat. Go for the jerky! If you had to stockpile just one
kind of food you'd want to stockpile meat in cans. Go ahead and
Tune-in to the tuna. Stack up on the Dak! Why? Because meats
provide humans with around 90% of sustenance needed to
survive; and 90% of plants are deadly to humans. Man must eat
meat! When possible, look for grass-fed meats, like Yoder's
brand. Canned salmon, canned sardines, canned mackerel and
canned tuna are rich in necessary Omega 3 oils. Stock your
refrigerator with meats too. Smoked salmon, sausages and hot
dogs can last a long time in your refrigerator. Store organic hot
dogs and sausages, such as Applegate Farms Uncured Beef Hot
Dogs, which are made from organic, grass-fed beef. Consume
them first in a power failure.

7 : Shelf stable, ready to eat meals.
There are two kinds of shelf-stable, ready to eat meals to
include: the kind you eat, and the kind you don't.

Soup is good food and can provide a hearty meal with crackers.
For shelf-stable and ready to eat meals, think about how you can
add canned meat to boxed meals. Cheeseburger Macaroni for
example.

In uncertain times, you can also take comfort in having several
shelf-stable, ready to eat meals on hand, which require no
cooking. Go Picnic is one of them. They are the grocery store
version of Meals Ready to Eat.

8 : Jams and jellies.
Preppers love to make their own jams and jellies, but if you're
new to prepping, you can stock up on ready-made.

Jams and jellies are a canning favorite from blackberry jams,
strawberry jams, raspberry jams, grape jellies and also apple
butters, your pantry can easily have a variety of fruit spreads to
sweeten life.

9 : Drink mixes: Coffee, bouillon, tea, Ovaltine, Tang
Stock your prepper's pantry with drink mixes:

Coffee for survival purposes provides the primary benefit of
increased mental alertness, but as a morale boost it's good
too.

Tea for survival is important too, and has been around for
5,000+ years for a reason! Water quality of our ancestors
wasn't very good, so tea helped it taste better and boiling
water killed bacteria. In an emergency situation, tea can
help you hydrate quickly when you can't wait for the boiled
water to cool. Caffeinated teas provide a burst of additional
energy; while other teas can provide a calming and soothing
effect, which you may need. Additionally, many kinds of tea
have anti-cancer properties (polyphenols), and reduce the
risk of blood clotting and even lowers cholesterol levels.
Consider adding echinacea, peppermint and chamomile teas
to help combat the common cold, naturally, too!

Powdered drink mixes:

Tang is a prepper classic to enhance the water supply.
Nasa flew astronauts to the moon and back with Tang.
It has Calcium and Vitamin C to help avoid scurvy!

Gatorade powder has a boost of electrolytes.

Wylers, Koolaid or whatever tickles your sweet tooth.

Bouillon cubes are compressed stock. This salty essential
will help you flavor soups, rices, ramen style noodles and
gravies.

10 : Canned veggies.
When it comes to veggies, preppers need to think beyond green
beans! Unfortunately, green beans do not pack many calories. If
you're looking for the ideal veggies to stash, then think about
canned root vegetables, like sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet
potatoes are high in Vitamin A, plus they're filling. Add a variety
with canned sauerkraut, cabbage and beets, too. If you eat them,
carrots, peas and potatoes provide the fixing for a nice stew.
Canned olives, asparagus and artichoke hearts will help you make
easy pasta dishes. Dried veggies, right are available online. Skip
the canned corn (it's likely GMO).

11 : Iodized salt (and other salts).
Look to history and you'll find salt was an important commodity.
Salt can kill bacteria! Salt contains chloride and sodium ions, and
all living things need these components in small quantities. Not
all salt is the same! Humans need iodized salt to avoid thyroid
gland problems and goiter and to help regulate fluid balance in
the body.

We also need salt to preserve food. How does salt help preserve
food? Salt inhibits growth of germs in a process of osmosis where
the salt pushes water out of the microbial cells. Best of all, salt
lasts for ever. You can salt everything from salad greens the way
the Roman's did to curing meats and preserving other kinds food.
Indeed, salt is very useful to Preppers.

Stock up also on these special salts:

Canning salt and pickling salt: Iodized salt is NOT for
canning and pickling, so you'll need canning and pickling
salt. Canning and pickling salts are a pure granulated salt,
with no added preservatives or free-flowing agents.

Pink Himalayan salt. Himalayan sea salt contains important
minerals for health! Rich in trace minerals, including calcium,
magnesium, potassium, copper and iron.

Epsom salt. You may not know that Epsom salt has many
health benefits for the skin and can cleanse the colon. It
also has a nutritive value.

12 : Cereals Shredded Wheat, corn or rice.
Stockpile whatever cereals your family eats oat, corn, rice, or
wheat-based. We recommend Shredded wheat! The first edition
of the Boy Scout Manual in 1911 highlights the best food for Boy
Scouts is Shredded Wheat, “because it has all the muscle-
building material in the whole wheat grain prepared in a
digestible form, supplying all the strength needed for work or
play.” If refrigeration isn't an issue, pack wheat germ, which has
high levels of fiber and vitamin E to boost your immune systems.
Wheat germ is the center of the seed. Packed with protein and
fiber, wheat germ also has folate, magnesium, zinc, manganese,
selenium and vitamin E. It's considered “nutrition in a crunch.”
It's not really a meal, but one you can add to your hot cereal.

As you decide on which foods to start stockpiling, remember it's generally safe to stock up on food, but it's still always smart to use your intuition when managing the stockpile.

If you enjoyed this list, here are 25 more survival foods to add to your list at Happy Preppers.