"from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been removed."
The definition has four conditions
An aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken or ground form. Not one traditionally regarded as a food. Whose significant function is seasoning rather than nutritional. True to name.
And then a fifth clause that reads differently
From which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been removed.
Which is a statement about what has happened to the material
Not about what it is. The other conditions describe the substance and this one describes its history.
A spice stops being a spice if the oil is taken out
Which is the point of the clause: a spent spice, already extracted, sold as whole spice. It is an adulteration provision in a definition.
And a container that leaks volatile oil is doing the same thing
Slowly, and without intent. The physics does not distinguish between extraction in a plant and evaporation through a closure.
The pages do not claim that is what the clause means
It addresses removal, which implies an act. Nothing here says a container with a poor seal breaches the definition, and nothing here is a shelf-life rule.
But nothing in this library puts a container closer to a boundary
Elsewhere a container has to carry a mark, fit a size or bear a statement. Here the container is acting on the thing the definition is about.
Which makes the closure the interesting part of this shelf
80 heat induction seals and 44 F217 liners out of 304 closures, against 37 recorded as No Liner and 43 with nothing recorded.
And makes a clear jar a question
62 of the 205 containers are clear. Light and volatile oil are the two things a spice loses, and clear glass or PET addresses neither.
Then there is a separate gap for two of the six leaves
There is no one-way degassing valve anywhere in this catalog, and two leaves are coffee.
Fresh roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide for days
A valve lets it out without letting air in. Without one the choice is a rigid jar that builds pressure or a loose lid that admits oxygen.
Which is a catalog-wide absence rather than a shelf one
Zero products with valve in the name anywhere, checked across the whole catalog.
References
21 CFR 101.22(a)(2): "The term spice means any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken, or ground form, except for those substances which have been traditionally regarded as foods, such as onions, garlic and celery; whose significant function in food is seasoning rather than nutritional; that is true to name; and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been removed." The same paragraph provides that "paprika, turmeric, and saffron or other spices which are also colors, shall be declared as 'spice and coloring' unless declared by their common or usual name", and cross-refers to the spice lists in 21 CFR 182.10 and part 184, which are not enumerated here. The definition addresses a spice from which volatile oil has been removed and is not a shelf-life rule.
law.cornell.eduThe Davis Pack Supply catalog, checked catalog-wide on 19 October 2026. There is no product with valve in its family name or product name and nothing describing degassing anywhere in the catalog. Freshly roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide for days after roasting, and a one-way degassing valve is the article that lets it out without letting air in. Among the 304 closures indexed to this group, the only metering articles are 7 spice caps and 1 spice sifter disc.
The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. 509 rows: 205 containers and 304 closures, which is one of the largest shelves in this library. 30 to 18,927 mL with a median of 177, a 630-fold range: 156 over 4 oz, 45 over 8 oz, 36 over a quart and 20 over a gallon. 97 PET, 53 PP, 31 HDPE and 24 glass. 158 jars, 24 tubs and pails, 22 bottles, 1 tube. 77 PET single wall jars, 20 PP single wall jars, 16 double wall round base jars, 15 glass straight sided jars, 10 double wall straight base jars, 9 plastic round pails. 62 clear, 55 white, 23 natural, 21 amber, 20 black, 11 blue, 7 green, 4 frosted, 2 dark amber. Necks: 54 at 70-400, 36 at 58-400, 28 at 89-400, 28 unrecorded, 11 at 53-400, 9 at 48-400, 8 at 110-400. Closures: 194 continuous thread polypropylene lids, 41 metal or aluminum CT caps, 22 dome lids, 12 round tub lids, 9 sealing discs, 7 plastic round pail lids, 7 spice caps, 3 phenolic, 1 spice sifter disc. Liners: 80 heat induction seal, 44 F217, 43 unrecorded, 37 No Liner, 34 pressure sensitive, 23 Plastis standard, 19 PE foam, 18 foam, 3 polycone. Buyability, a snapshot: 129 of 205 available, 75 not, 1 unrecorded; 76 quote only; 32 full case only, with case packs from 8 to 6,370 and a median of 280.
