What goes wrong

The seed lost viability

Updated October 2026

On this page8

Moisture is the mechanism The liner that never sealed An induction seal that was never sealed Desiccant that was already spent Heat, especially in storage and transit Light matters less, but the shelf offers the option Test what you packed, not what you tested References

The rule credits a package for maintaining viability, which means a package can fail at exactly that.

Moisture is the mechanism

Dry dormant seed keeps. Seed that takes up moisture resumes metabolism and spends reserves it cannot replace. Everything else on this page is a route by which moisture gets in or heat speeds the loss.

The liner that never sealed

A cap with a liner that does not contact the land properly, or a land with flash on it, gives a package that looks closed and breathes. Of the 235 closures here, 64 carry HIS, 42 F217, 31 pressure-sensitive and 26 none at all.

An induction seal that was never sealed

HIS-lined caps only become a membrane after passing under an induction head. Buying them and torquing them down gets you a foil-faced gasket, and the twenty-four month window rests on a seal you did not make.

Desiccant that was already spent

A desiccant has a capacity and absorbs from the moment it is exposed. One left open on a bench before packing can be saturated before the jar is closed, which is a handling failure rather than a specification one.

Heat, especially in storage and transit

Warmth accelerates loss of viability, and a pallet in a hot warehouse or a trailer is a real exposure. The statute’s phrase is ordinary conditions of handling, and a hot warehouse is arguably not that.

Light matters less, but the shelf offers the option

32 amber and 17 black containers against 75 clear. Clear shows the seed, which is good merchandising, and for long-term storage an opaque container removes one variable at no real cost.

Test what you packed, not what you tested

Keep sealed retained samples from each packing run and germinate one later. That measures your package and your process, which is the only thing the original laboratory result does not tell you.

References

7 CFR 201.30a, Date of test, which allows no more than 5 calendar months between the last day of the month the germination test was completed and the date of transportation in interstate commerce, except for seed in hermetically sealed containers, where it is 24 calendar months from a test completed prior to packaging. law.cornell.edu

7 U.S.C. 1571, the Federal Seed Act’s prohibited acts. Subsection (b) sets the label content for vegetable seed by container weight and by whether germination meets the established standard; subsection (c) sets the five-month test window and lets the Secretary designate a longer period for seed "packaged in such container materials and under such other conditions" as will maintain viability. law.cornell.edu

7 CFR 201.31, Minimum germination standards for vegetable seeds in interstate commerce, established under section 403(c) of the Act: carrot 55, celery 55, pepper 55, onion 70, tomato 75, radish 75, cucumber 80, lettuce 80, pea 80, turnip 80, and around seventy more by crop. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal statute and regulation, not from a seed bench. Every state also runs its own seed law, and the Federal Seed Act reaches interstate commerce, so a local sale can answer to a different set of requirements. Nothing here certifies a package as hermetically sealed; that is a question about the package and the sealing process.