250.000.000 BC

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.

One upside is that 250mil years ago nobody threw plastic in the ocean, so not microplastics unlike seasalt
- It's in a plastic container and was processed by heavy machinery. There's definitely micro plastics and other fine particle contamination in there.
- Looks like it's in a plastic container
It's not cool to call homosexual salt "contaminated"
But at least it doesn't have any chemicals. /s
Was it sold as pure NaCl? Probably not...
- Would be cooler if it was.
- Sea salt is actually KCl

For some stupid shit reason, there is a legal limit for "best before" dates like that. You are not allowed to put a best before date that is more than IIRC three years after packaging.

Salt is the number one victim of this stupidity by far, if packaged properly it will still be usable salt a million years in the future.

But some other food items are definitely good after more than three years. Some tinned goods, or rice, pasta, dried legumes, honey, sugar.

In some cases, like water, it's more about when the plastic will start noticeably altering the taste and properties of the food
That's why EU or at least Finland at least used to have separate labels; "best before" and "use by".
One was like "this might lose some quality after the date" and one is "please don't eat it, it might be dangerous".
Although the latter was still always erred on the sage side. Whereas grandma dismissed the bunch and just sliced the mold off the cheese and ate what was underneath. And it wasn't blue cheese — originally.
And rue the day if I threw out old milk instead of letting her make some home made cheese or smth.
In Germany, the best before date is not required for things like spices, and other food that will still be consumable even decades after packaging.
This isn't true, the best by dates are not regulated by law. They are entirely voluntary.
- I wish I knew every law in every country like you.
- omgg hi hoshino

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.
Other countries have regulations, but odds are that they don't apply to salt.
While that's true, most products have a "best by" date instead of an expiration. I worked for a company that bought items past that date from major retailers and resold it at.a discount.

We all know salt every salt has 249999998 years before it expires. I mean it's common sense

While that is true, I'm still pretty salty about it

Seriously, the reason for the expiration date is pure salt draws moisture even though packaged and starts to cake. Most people don't want lumpy salt, thus the expiration date.

Honestly the sea salt I have I have to basically dry out in a cup.
I'm pretty sure they add like 1-2% moisture by weight. I've literally weighed it during the last few days and it's lost >5g from my measured 460g. That's around 1%. I'll see if it loses more.

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.

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.
Of course it's capitalism. Companies do dumb shit to avoid getting sued
edit: my bad. Actually, these companies are being overly cautious because they care about you. LOL
Hilariously best by dates aren't actually enforced by any agency or department so I don't believe anyone is legally obligated to discard it. The dates are a best guess by manufacturers, the determination if something is actually spoiled is up to the end user.
- 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.
- It could be a liability thing though. An organization that sells expired product might be in for bigger judgements if something does happen.
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.
https://youtu.be/4GDLaYrMCFo
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.
One of the communities I miss from reddit is r/ZeroWaste
- We got you covered: !zerowaste@slrpnk.net

Doesn't that have to do with the container?

Yep, the plastic dissolves
- So now the salt is full of microplastics? Well, so am I. Come on in and join the rest.
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.
- A lot of these laws have to do with expected lifetime in "worst plausible storage conditions", like poorly sealed boxes and wrong temperature and humidity