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?

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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

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Any food or drink sold within EU has an expiration date. Yes, even honey, sugar, oil and water.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The plastic doesn’t expire.

The water doesn’t expire.

The integrity of the caps seal is guaranteed for said period of time under normal conditions.

What after this date it will leak? no it will not.

It’s how long they’re willing to say it will keep most off tastes out under normal storage conditions.

What does that mean? The bottles are not hermetically sealed 😉 so you can migrate quite a few disgusting flavors into them if stored improperly. Keep a bottle of water near say kitty litter and you’ll end up with kitty litter flavored water…. mmm dank and musty… which is due to an abnormal storage condition.

so why the date? regulation – depending on where you live either current or expired. They needed something so they oft chose the seal which is the source of this confusion additionally some companies chose to just put the maximum possible date as per regulations.

They kept it for assorted reasons if the regulation has been lifted, one being that people will chuck it and another being it’s cheaper and faster to produce with one set of bottles than multiple. Additionally it’s easier to track production and so forth…

What about plastic taste in water if the bottle is left in the hot sun.

That’s from prolonged exposure to direct UV light via sunlight which is not a normal storage condition.

Why doesn’t honey expire?

low water content vs high sugar content. It basically exist in a state where what would decompose it can’t live. Decomposition is merely something else eating it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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!

Anonymous 0 Comments

They can only guarantee freshness for the amount of time tested. Many canned goods are usable well past the date on the package.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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”.