250.000.000 BC
250.000.000 BC
On salt?
It depolymerizes on water, but salt is extremely hydrophilic and stops that process down.
Table salt has an expiration date from the secant that keeps it as a powder, but the one in the picture doesn’t have it either.
Many places in the world mandate expiration dates on food items, no matter what the item in question actually is.
Water in a glass bottle? Expires in 24 months.
Idiots will throw this in the trash. Businesses will as well.
I watch a couple of dude’s at Lowe’s uncapping and draining several hundred bottles of Powerade because they were past expiration. Working retail really got me educated in all the waste in our system. (Someone will scream, “caPiTaLisM!”. No, it’s a legal/liability thing. And it’s dumb.)
Purchase a thing. Any thing. See all the plastic you brought home? There was 2-3x that much in delivering it to you before you took it off the shelf.
Been wanting to start a comm on “stop buying shit, here are alternatives”. Taking votes for names. I could spend a week posting things I’ve actually done.
EDIT: Should note: Trashing goods = tax write off. That’s a money saver vs. “donated” or “sold at discount”. Yes, it’s cheaper to throw shit away than to sell, even at a deep discount.
If anything it’s more of a quality control thing.
It’s the difference between “I bought frozen peas that expire in 6 months and they’re all freezer burned - I want a refund!” And “the frozen peas I forgot about that expired 2 years ago are freezer burned - I want a refund!” One of them is more likely to get their money back than the other.
Also the quality of certain canned foods deteriorates after a time. Some things get mushy or the color changes weirdly that make it unappetizing, so dates can be a good reference. That said, I’ve been utilizing food banks for the last 25+ years. Expiration dates don’t scare me, but they do inform.
My understanding is that there is no actual reason to think companies could be sued or get in legal trouble for donating expired goods, despite the common misconception otherwise.
When I worked at a Hollywood Video (so a long time ago) we were told we had to discard expired concession products because of chargebacks. Part of the chargeback process was destroying the product because the business was getting credit for it from the supplier/manufacturer.
I believe if you process it as a chargeback and donate it, you’d be committing fraud.
Yep, and you could shoplift food from a grocery store and donate it, or cheat on your taxes and use the extra money to buy food to donate, or donate the money directly.
Personally, I think it would be better to change the system. Perhaps a program that incentivizes a business to donate the food instead of charging it back or incentivizing the supplier/manufacturer to require anything usable they get a chargeback for from a business be donated or destroyed.
People shouldn’t have to forced to choose between doing the moral thing or the legal thing.
It is abundantly clear that the majority US doesn’t want that
I disagree with you here. In part because humans have a natural sense of self preservation and this is counter to that.
I actually think it’s far simpler; I think the divide between the ruling class (politicians) and the working class (those that have to work to live) has grown too far. People are tired of feeling like they are not being represented or listened to and feel pushed to extreme action.
The ultra-wealthy benefit from the current system and use their means to keep the working class fighting against each other and the ruling class distracted from their actual constituents.
I watch a couple of dude’s at Lowe’s uncapping and draining several hundred bottles of Powerade because they were past expiration.
Liquids in plastic bottles go bad after a while due to the plastic leeching. This was probably the right call.
That’s a money saver vs. “donated” or “sold at discount”.
Food banks that I’m familiar with won’t distribute expired food because it’s a liability. Of course there is a big difference between “expired” salt and meat, but it’s safer for them to have a blanket policy than count on the workers’ judgement.
If enough humidity and time gets in there, the salt can start caking and forming larger crystal clumps. However, the salt itself isn’t damaged by that process and will work fine if broken back up and used in the quality you need.
A best by date here would be a notice from the manufacturer that the product should be shelf stable at least that long before “degrading”.
Expiration dates on salt and water are funny and all, but expiration dates exist because capitalists would disguise spoiled food to maximize profit. And it takes an enforcement regime to make them care about their customer’s health. Wasted food is still preferable to wasted life.
These regulations didn’t fall out of a coconut tree.
In the US at least the dates are made up and inconsistent, like having best by, expires, and use by which all mean different things and are not regulated. For the most part they are about the taste and texture of the food, not food safety.
There is only one food product which does require a date in the US.
Does Federal Law Require Food Product Dating?
Except for infant formula, product dating is not required by federal regulations.
The expiration dates on things that do not spoil like salt were added by capitalists who want you to throw it out so you will buy more. It is abusing the voluntary made up and inconsistent date labeling capitalists came up with to weasel out of being regulated.
100% uncontaminated
IT’S PINK! It’s definitely contaminated. Maybe it’s got other things things you want in there, but that’s still contamination. It’s not pure salt.