> Properly canned (or otherwise preserved via cooking in a sealed vessel) food effectively has no end date, so long as the seal remains intact.

I've certainly had some expired, but not especially old, cans pop. Took me a while to notice them, too (gross). The item was brand-name pureed tomatoes, stored in an environment that was probably warmer than it should have been (a cabinet above a refrigerator). I doubt there was anything wrong with the manufacture of those cans, I think they opened up because of their age, the temperature of their storage and the fact that the item inside was a bit acidic.

Truthfully, I don't know if inspecting cans for damage is really much more difficult than just checking the expiry date on the can. For a food bank it's undoubtedly a bit of a pain either way, compared to rolling in a pallet of new cans...