Expired vitamins?

[msdbobby]

I help run a food bank & brought home Centrum Carb Assist multivitamin / multimineral supplements that nobody wanted. I actually have a whole case :lol: Anyhow the expiration date is 4/06 and I don't know if it will be effective for me to take them. I take quite a few supplements other than these but thought I could use these in place of my daily multivitamin. I hate to throw them out they are so expensive. I probably have enough to last me at least 8 months. I suppose I could take them now but what happens as time passes even further past the expiration. Hmmm not sure what to do.

[medalian1]

Taking expired vitamins isn't harmful, but expired vitamins aren't likely to do you much good. Once they expire, the vitamins may have already decomposed to the point where they're not very potent. The expiration date guarantees that the vitamins will include the listed ingredients up until the date on the label. Sure, some of the vitamins or other nutrients can be potent afterward, but the company doesn't guarantee that. To be on the safe side, throw them away and by a new bottle.
Oregon State University (http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/answerspot/message.php?message=113)

Hope that helps :)

[cs_carver]

Expiration dates are mostly an urban myth. Coca-Cola expires?? Really? For vitamins, it all depends on storage--if the products were kept under even temperatures and dry, they'll likely be fine for a while. If not--if they were allowed to get hot--then you're at more risk of having a product that's not going to do you any good.

1. Most dates are no more than a year from manufacture. They don't test; they simply slap a date on the product so that they have a limit to liability and ownership.

2. The US Army actually tested real drugs--important stuff--for viability and discovered most products lasted LONG past the expiration date. Saved the US Taxpayer a lot of money in not having to discard drugs.

3. What do they smell like when you open a bottle? They won't be bad, per se. If it's very yeasty, the Bs are probably gone. They are the most fragile, in my experience. And there's never enough C in a multi- to matter for me, so I take that by the additional handful anyway.

The biggest concern from a food bank is how was the case stored? Do you know where it came from? The store can't legally sell the stuff past the date, is the biggest problem.

Another guideline you might want to look at: Go into a store and see how far out the expiration dates are on the products they have in the store today. That will tell you how old the stuff really is; when it left the manufacturing plant.

[msdbobby]

Thank you both for the info. The expiration date passed 4 months ago so maybe I'll continue taking them for a year past the expiration & then throw them out. They don't smell any different then new ones and I know how they were stored. We purchase all of our food from a place called Food Bank of the Rockies. It's a huge warehouse where food & supplies are gathered from grocery stores & food drives. The vitamins were donated by a major food chain because of the expiration date. It's cool in the warehouse never too cold or too warm. Once we buy what we want we take it to our church where it's stored in our pantry. The temperature in the pantry is comfortable. Again, thanks for the info. :)

[slimmergir]

I am a nurse and I have taken a lot of classes in pharmacology. Anyway, expiration dates are just that. This is the date that you are to use by to get maximum benefit. As the date goes past the expiration date, the drug degrades. This causes less of the active drug to be available. If you take an asprin that is past the date, then you are getting less of the affects you would get if you took one with a valid date. Basically, the vitamins can possibly be weaker. The further way from the date, the more weaker they can be. Notice I stated "can possibly be".... there is no way to say for sure.

Professionally, I will state that you should never take them past the expiration date. However, personally, I know a lot of people that will increase the amount such as taking two vitamin pills a day if you are taking old pills. It is your choice.

[msdbobby]

Thanks Slimergrl,
I knew that it wouldn't be harmful to take them but I was wondering about the effectiveness of them.

I like the idea of taking two, I never thought of that. I do understand that you're not recommending it but I am going to try it.

[cs_carver]

The trouble with doubling is that you don't know which components "went bad," if any. It's unlikely that all parts of the vitamin pill age at the same time. C and B degrade fairly easily; I've always doubted that the minerals really do.

If you get into this, Dr A's Vitanutrient Solution is a good place to start. Won't help at all with the expiration date problem, but it is useful for understanding a whole lot more about supplementation than you can get from the back of the box.

And a point--the expiration date on prescription meds will vary. Once the meds are dispensed, it's almost always one year from the date of dispensing, on the individual container. Seriously doubt that is the same date as what's on the bottle kept by the pharmacy.

[msdbobby]

The trouble with doubling is that you don't know which components "went bad," if any. It's unlikely that all parts of the vitamin pill age at the same time. C and B degrade fairly easily; I've always doubted that the minerals really do.

Very true, I thought about it and I will continue to take one a day. I take plenty of other supplements along w/ C & B's.
Now I can't wait to finish the bottles I have. I'm giving some away so we can use them up quickly.
Thanks for the feedback

[deanmoore]

Personally-I would take them and thank God for the supply-If the exp. date was older then what you have I would hesitate but with the price of vit being as it is...

[Nancy LC]

I'll ditto what CS_carver said, I've also heard they're usually just a date that means not a whole lot. However, you gotta becareful of asprin because it can become toxic when it is too old. If it smells like vinegar, throw it out!