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Expired Vitamins Are Safe To Take, But.....

If You Just Realized That Daily Vitamin You’ve Been Taking Actually Expired Months Ago, There’s No Need To Panic. The Expiration D...

Scientist 1.8k

If you just realized that daily vitamin you’ve been taking actually expired months ago, there’s no need to panic. The expiration date listed on vitamins is based on potency, not safety.

As long as there is no mold growing on your vitamins, you can breathe easy. You might not reap the same benefit from those pills, but you also likely haven’t been putting your health at risk.

Overview

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require expiration dates on dietary supplements, including vitamins and minerals.1 Manufacturers may choose to print them on products—and if so, they may be phrased as “expires on”, “best by”, or “use by”.

In any case, if a manufacturer does choose to include a date, the FDA requires they have “valid data demonstrating that it is not false or misleading.” In other words, manufacturers should have internal research verifying that potency is maintained through that date.

Safety

Expired vitamins are safe to take, but may not be as effective. At the expiration date, the product should still contain 100 percent of the added dietary supplement ingredients listed on the label,2 as long as it was stored under correct conditions.

After such date, those amounts can progressively decline. It’s no cause for concern over potential harm or side effects, but it does mean you may not get the specified dosage. You’re better off tossing them and grabbing a new package at the store.

Pegnancy

Pregnancy is one time when it’s particularly important to discard expired vitamins. Prenatal vitamins contain folic acid, which is essential for reducing the risk of neural tube defects in the developing fetus.3

If you’re using expired prenatal vitamins, you risk not getting the correct amount of folic acid, so pick up a new bottle the next time you head to the store.

Expiration

How quickly a vitamin expires depends on several factors—some of which are related to manufacturing and others related to your own habits:4

Form of vitamin – Gummy vitamins and liquids tend to expire more quickly than tablets, capsules, and softgels.

Container type – Some vitamins retain their potency longer in opaque containers versus those with a clear container, due to the effect of UV rays from sunlight.

Container cap – Similarly, the type of cap—screw-on versus flip-top—may impact shelf life. If a flip-top cap does not create an appropriate seal when closed, your vitamins are exposed to more humidity which makes them break down more quickly.

Contamination – Reaching into the vitamin container every morning after getting the kids’ lunch ready? Contamination in the bottle with food residue or bacterial particles may impact shelf life.

What’s the best way to store vitamins?

Vitamins should be stored in their original containers in a cool, dry place.

You may be inclined to store your vitamins in your bathroom or kitchen for ease of access, but these are actually two of the worst storage locations. The bathroom and kitchen typically have more heat and humidity than other rooms.

If you can, opt for a linen closet or bedroom drawer.

You should also avoid exposing them to light. Some vitamins — like vitamins A and D — will lose their potency after prolonged exposure.

Refrigeration can also help extend the shelf life of products that are less stable at room temperature. This includes:

fish oil

flaxseed

vitamin E

probiotics

WHEN IN DOUBT

Always check the label for specific storage directions. Some supplements require refrigeration or another type of special storage.

Individual Vitamins

The shelf life of your vitamins may also depend on the type of vitamin you’re taking. For example, some research has suggested the following individual vitamins may break down more quickly:5

Vitamin C – This vitamin is particularly susceptible to deliquescence, a process in which the vitamin starts to absorb some of the relative humidity in your air at home. As it absorbs the moisture, it loses potency. If the product isn’t packaged properly, or if you’re opening and closing it frequently in a humid environment, your vitamins will break down more quickly.

Thiamin – One of the more unstable B vitamins, thiamin is also affected by moisture via deliquescence. Keeping it away from humid environments is best.

Company Policies

Because it’s not required by the FDA, each company will make its own decision regarding if and how to label expiration dates on vitamins. At the time of publishing, these are policies of some of the most common supplement manufacturers:

Centrum: All Centrum products are assigned an expiration date based on the least stable ingredient in the product. All ingredients should be present in the amount listed on the label until the last day of the month of expiration.

NOW Foods: All NOW supplements have an expiration date printed on the package. If proper storage procedures are followed, products will retain full potency through this date.

Swanson Vitamins: Products will either contain a best-by date or a manufacture date. If they contain a manufacture date, they recommend that most products are consumed within 2-3 years of such date. Liquids and probiotics should be consumed within 1 year.

Nature Made: Vitamins and other dietary supplements include an expiration date and guarantees potency through such date. The way the date is set varies based on the type of product - there is not a specific time frame applied to all vitamin products.

Priority One Nutritional Supplements: These do not currently contain expiration dates, as the company states they are working to authenticate expiration dates with stability testing. They currently recommend a two-year shelf life from the time of purchase, based on historical data.

Disposal

Take some time to do an inventory of your vitamin stash. If you do discover any expired bottles, dispose of them properly.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the following steps to dispose of expired vitamins or other supplements:6

Remove the pills from the original container.Place the vitamins in a disposable container or bag with coffee grinds, cat litter, or another undesirable substance. When they’re mixed with these, curious children or pets are less likely to find them in the trash. Close the container or seal the bag.Place the entire container/bag in the trash.

The EPA does not recommend flushing expired vitamins down the toilet. The substances may pass through wastewater treatment plants and end up in lakes, rivers, or other sources of drinking water.

Chrissy Carroll, RD, MPH

Medically reviewed by

Richard Fogoros, MD

Updated on April 03, 2020

New Classification Of Diabetes. The 5 Types

There Are Five Distinct Types Of diabetes that Can Occur In Adulthood, Rather Than The Two Currently Recognised, Research Has Foun...

Scientist 889

There are five distinct types of diabetes that can occur in adulthood, rather than the two currently recognised, research has found.

Scientists have unveiled a revised classification for the disease - one they said could lead to better treatments and help doctors more accurately predict life-threatening complications.

The findings are consistent with the growing trend toward "precision medicine", which takes into account differences between individuals in managing disease.

In the same way that a patient requiring a transfusion must receive the right blood type, diabetes sub-types need different treatments, the study reported in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology medical journal suggested.

Scientists have also identified distinct kinds of microbiome - the bacterial ecosystem in our digestive tract - that can react differently to the same medication, rendering it more or less effective.

"This is the first step towards personalised treatment of diabetes," said senior author Leif Groop, an endocrinologist at Lund University in Sweden, adding that the new classification is a "paradigm shift" in how the disease is viewed.

People with diabetes have excessively high blood glucose, or blood sugar, which comes from food.

Some 420 million people around the world today suffer from diabetes, with the number expected to rise to 629 million by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

Currently, the disease is divided into two sub-types:

Type-1: generally diagnosed in childhood and accounting for about 10 percent of cases - the body simply does not make insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels.

Type-2: the body makes some insulin but not enough, which means glucose stays in the blood.

This form of the disease correlates highly with obesity and can, over time, lead to blindness, kidney damage, and heart disease or stroke. Acute cases may also require limb amputations.

It has long been known that type-2 diabetes is highly variable, but classification has remained unchanged for decades.

For the study, researchers monitored 13,270 newly diagnosed diabetes patients ranging in age from 18 to 97.

By isolating measurements of insulin resistence, insulin secretion, blood sugar levels, age, and the onset of illness, they distinguished five distinct clusters of the disease - three serious and two milder forms.

Among the severe types, a group of patients with insulin resistence - in which cells are unable to use insulin effectively - was at far higher risk of kidney disease.

"This group has the most to gain from the new diagnostics as they are the ones who are currently most incorrectly treated," Groop said.

Another group facing serious complications was composed of relatively young, insulin-deficient patients.

The third "severe" group were people with auto-immune diabetes corresponding to the original "type-1" diagnosis.

The two other groups have milder types of the disease including one, which includes about 40 percent of the patients, beset with a form of diabetes related to advanced age.

"This will enable earlier treatment to prevent complications in patients who are most at risk of being affected," said lead author Emma Ahlqvist, an associate professor at Lund University.

The results were checked against three other studies from Sweden and Finland.

"The outcome exceeded our expectations," said Groop. The researchers plan to launch similar studies in China and India.

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