Moldy Diapers?

I opened a bag of wellness superios that I'd had stored in a large plastic Rubbermaid box for some time.

Found this diaper in the middle of the bag that appears to have mold growing in between the thick clear plastic landing strip and the white plastic diaper backing.

I doubt they got wet in my storage - this one was in the middle of the bag and no others were affected. Also - no other diapers in that whole plastic bin show signs of water damage. My guess is that something weird happened in manufacturing.

Just wanted to share the oddity.

Looks like it could be a grease stain from the manufacturing equipment

Some moisture still could have been trapped initially in the the container is my thought.

I'd favor the grease conclusion. Diapers are pretty "dessicated" (dry) by design, and the combination of the pulp/sap keep them that way. I'd expect the SAP to completely lock away any small amout of water that got into the padding, and be unavailable for mold to set into. (it also wouldn't easily penetrate the padding on the inside to get TO the front where you found it)

It looks like mold to me. I've stored wet diapers for a while and I've seen something like that on them. First I've heard of the grease stain thing.

The substance is definitely between the plastic layers and not in the padding... So I could imagine moisture getting in there and staying there somehow during the lamination phase of manufacturing. However - grease makes some sense too -- although this looks fuzzy like mold, not wet like grease would.

Seeing how it is sandwiched between two layers of plastic and sealed in by the top layer (and adhesive) I would definitely say the chances of it being some sort of mold is remote.

Also, it was found in the middle of the package and it is the only one in the package and the tub to show it.
You would think any ambient moisture would have been absorbed into the padding and not in between two layers of plastic glued together.
And even if moisture did get in you would think the outer most diapers would have been affected, not a middle of the pack one.

If it was on the padding I would say toss it, but this one seems fine to use.