My bottle of water can’t expire, can it?

You’ve worked up a sweat, feeling dehydrated like never before, so you reach for your bottle of water, crack the seal and lift the bottle to your lips.

Only then do you realise the expiry date printed on the plastic container has come and gone.

But water doesn’t go bad, does it?

There are a few reasons why water bottles come with an expiration date, the main one is government bureaucracy. Water is a consumable food product and as such, it is subject to laws requiring expiration dates on all consumables. Besides that, the expiration date on bottled water has certain benefits for the manufacturer.

Although water does not go bad, the plastic bottle it is packaged in does ‘expire’ and will eventually start leaching chemicals into the water.

This won’t necessarily make the water toxic, but the taste may be somewhat less than the ‘mountain spring fresh’ the packaging assures you. If consumers complain that water they bought several years earlier tastes bad, the company can point out that it’s their own fault for not drinking it by the expiration date.

Furthermore, many companies bottle water using the same machines they use to bottle sodas and other beverages which do expire and should carry an expiration date. It’s easier and more efficient to simply put a stamp on all the bottles, whether needed or not, rather than dedicating a special machine just for bottled water.

Lastly, expiration dates are usually one part of a printed code that also identifies the date, bottling plant, and other information. Even though the expiration date itself may be meaningless, the manufacturing information could be useful in tracking down contamination, bottling errors or product recall.

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?

(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)