They said “the water doesn’t have an expiration date, the plastic bottle does” so how come honey that comes in a plastic bottle doesn’t expire?
In: Chemistry
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There’s two concepts of foods “expiring” One is how long can you guarantee it doesn’t go bad, and the other is how long can you guarantee it doesn’t change at all. For example, milk will spoil and be undrinkable within a few days of the expiry date. Honey in itself will never rot or go bad per se, but eventually itll crystallize and you won’t be able to use it anymore. Or the water in your bottle will taste bad due to the bottle or otherwise, even though it’s technically just the same water.
Companies will put an expiration date because they prefer you throw out their product than to use something that isn’t the best that it can be. If you drank water that was past it’s “expiry date” and it tasted bad, you probably wouldn’t buy it again. If they scared you off from drinking it you might just go and buy more.
EDIT: Yeah ok, so apparently crystallized honey is still usable TIL, but the point still stands. Eventually, it will become something that they did not originally intend to sell in one way or another. My bottle of honey I have at home has a best before date, its in about 2 years. In 2 years it will still be honey, just maybe not in a form that someone would find appealing to grab off a shelf.
Whoever said that is wrong.
The FDA and IWBA can’t find any evidence that age matters to plastic water bottles. The FDA has ruled that there is no limit to the shelf life of bottled water, and no company has even insinuated that the expiration is related to the plastic.
In 1987, New Jersey passed a law requiring all bottles of water to be stamped with an expiration date 2 years after the bottling date. Since you can’t identify which bottles will wind up shipped to NJ, companies just stamped all bottles with a 2-year expiration to ensure compliance.
They never passed that law for Honey, which is why plastic honey bottles don’t have an expiration.
Although the law was repealed in 2006, companies had figured out people will throw out “expired” water and buy more, it actually increases sales, so they kept printing it “voluntarily”.
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Took a tour of a Pepsi plant where they bottle Aquafina. It’s more for quality control. It’s difficult to eliminate 100% of bacteria and other things that can grow over time. Part of the testing is to put some of the water into a petri dish and accelerate growth, to see if there is anything nasty is in there. The water will most likely be fine after expiry but, in case there is something in there, the expiration date will provide a good idea of how long it will be safe to drink and to safeguard the company from liability.
Honey is a super saturated sugar solution. The reason it’s so resistant to spoiling is that it is so saturated that it draws all the water out of any bacteria effectively killing it. The only real exception is botulinum, which can live dormant as a spore which is resistant to those forces. This is why you can’t give honey to babies under 1 year old, they are not immune to it yet
It may depend on the plastic. The plastic used for single use bottled water are single use plastic (generally PET) and although it has good durability, it does not age well, especially when heated.
There are some rumors that it release carcinogens to the water when heated (or apparently freezed according to [this](https://www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-and-screening/reduce-cancer-risk/make-informed-decisions/myths-and-controversies/disposable-water-bottles/?region=on)). The research on this subject is controversial but if the honey is in a different version of plastic container (probable because lower quantity and higher price may mean higher margin for container cost), the producer may be more confident with the plastic not releasing chemicals with health effects.
Generaly plastic containers have some sort of marking (on the bottom with a number inside a mark) stating the material. You may compare the properties of these materials if they are different.
In addition to that, water is a good solvent and may help if there is a possible chemical reaction with the walls of the bottle.
Lastly, a water bottle is more prone to be used after refilled, as plastic containers are generally a welcoming place for bacteria, the producer may discourage the users from refilling and reusing the bottle for a long time.
They can only guarantee freshness for the amount of time tested. Many canned goods are usable well past the date on the package.
In Denmark we have a “best before often good after” expiration date to tell consumers not to stress about the date, but use their senses in stead.
Edit:Yes yes, I spelled senses wrongly. Thanks for the great scrip!
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