I actually ran across this PDF by accident while searching for something else, but it's got a lot of great info so I'm meme-ing it.

My original intent was to find a list of expiration date recommendations. I'm currently going through my kitchen cabinets, throwing out a lot of old foodstuff (including leftover supplies from Y2K, heh). In most cases I'm guided by expiration dates on the container, but in some cases I'm faced with a packet of food (like pasta or rice or tea), and I'm honestly not sure how long these things can be kept around. The Red Cross pamphlet here has some good tips. Mostly it's "rotate every six months," but there are some foods which can evidently be stored "indefinitely" as long as they're packed properly.

Elonka :)

Red Cross: Food and water in an emergency