I dunno. I bought both bags from the same pallet at the same time. It's like the bark almost had turned to sawdust with a reddish tinge, and I had to break up big clumps with my hands. May have had some mold in it, hard to tell. Didn't seem to affect the plants, aside from the absorption issue, But the bag was sitting upright on cement leaning against the wall, and didn't get wet or anything, at least not after I bought it