Expiration Date on Ice Tea Bottle?

Tea Question
Does the expiration day on the bottle of the ice tea or green iced tea, means that a person should not drink it after that date?

Answer

Thank you for the question about the expiry date on bottles of iced tea (any type - green or black).

I am going to assume a couple of things - first you refer to a bottle of ice tea, so I am thinking that this is premixed liquid ice tea, like Arizona Ice Tea or Snapple Ice Tea - You need to pay attention to the expiry date - or sometimes it is called the 'best before date'.

Expiry date means just that - do not drink this type of iced tea beyond the expiry date. If you think about it, it expires for a reason and is no longer safe to consume. It could be one of the ingredients breaks down over time, changing the chemistry, it may just simply 'go bad' or turn as we call it. Either way, not worth the risk - you can get very ill from consuming or drinking expired products, including ice tea. Now if it is a best before date, that tells us something else. It says it has not turned or gone bad, but that it may not taste very fresh after the date on the bottle. There is a huge difference between the comments expired and best before - so please use caution and consider these points.

For dry ice tea mix, you usually see a best before date. Many of us buy ice tea in the dry mix form and use it for a season only to find it in the back of our cupboard at a much later date (next summer perhaps?) - any way if you have ever experienced this, you know that the ice tea mix has turned into a hard lump in most instances. I am not sure as to why, and if you can break a chunk off it is still okay, but you are well past your best before date.

I hope this all helps, and if in doubt, please do not consume any type of product including ice tea past the dates placed there by the manufacturer, they are there for a specific reason.


Good Luck
Teya