# Expiration Date on ice tea gallon

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expiration-date-on-ice-tea-gallon/742088>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 3, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expiration-date-on-ice-tea-gallon/742088 "2016-01-03T20:30:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expiration-date-on-ice-tea-gallon/742088/21 "2016-01-05T18:40:59Z")

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> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> A friend of mine is in the honey business (it’s nationally distributed). For the last few years he’s been working on picking up some additional licenses or or certificates or something that are required to get into some bigger stores/chains. One of the requirements is that the bottles must have an expiration (or best buy?) date on them. He looked at me and said ‘it’s honey? wth’.  
> So now he has a dilemma.  
> He can put a ‘short’ date on it, say 1 or 2 years, but then he runs the risk of a lot of being returned to him in stores that don’t have enough turnover or don’t do a good job rotating their stock.  
> OTOH, he can put a 5 or 10 year date on them but then he runs into the problem of people seeing it and thinking exactly what you said ‘yikes, this stuff lasts 10 years, what did they do to it/put in it, I’ll just grab the other stuff’.

I would put the expiration date/sell by date 1002 years in the future. i.e. Expires 01/05/3018 It will probably get some free advertisement from amused people, but it avoids the people freaking out (they’ll assume misprint if they see it at all) and most importantly avoids the restocking problem. In his defense he can say that “not all of the honey from the Egyptian tombs of 3000 years ago has been eaten and verified as safe yet”.

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expiration-date-on-ice-tea-gallon/742088/22 "2016-01-05T19:13:32Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> If you’re just asking theoretically, of course it can ferment, given the sugar content. It shouldn’t if it’s properly treated and unopened, but that’s what can happen. It can also sour if infected with other bacteria. Bacteria and yeasts love sugar. This is not a case in any way similar to salt. That said, and let me reiterate, it should be fine. Just letting you know that, yes, of course it can spoil.

I buy unsweetened tea as the sweet tea has too much sugar. I add a little maple syrup if it is just plain tea but do not if it is green tea,

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expiration-date-on-ice-tea-gallon/742088/23 "2016-01-05T19:53:17Z")

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> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> I buy unsweetened tea as the sweet tea has too much sugar. I add a little maple syrup if it is just plain tea but do not if it is green tea,

From what I can find, it appears that [brewed tea can support bacterial/pathogenic growth](http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/06/did-you-know-iced-tea-safety/#.VowfphNVhBc). There don’t seem to be any confirmed cases of anyone getting sick from it, but it’s theoretically possible. So, if everything was correctly pasteurized, it should survive okay.

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