Per legal documents, use-by means something specific. Here's something from the State Government that may be of help in helping me decide on whether I should keep or throw out my past-use-by-date supplements.
Foods with a shelf life of less than two years must have a ‘best before’ or ‘use-by’ date. These terms mean different things. The ‘best before’ date refers to the quality of the food – food stored in the recommended way will remain of good quality until that date. It may still be safe to eat certain foods after the ‘best before’ date, but they may have lost quality and some nutritional value. By contrast, foods that should not be consumed after a certain date for health and safety reasons must have a ‘use-by’ date and cannot be sold after that date. You will find ‘use-by’ dates on perishables such as meat, fish and dairy products.
Some foods carry the date they were manufactured or packed, rather than a ‘use-by’ date, so you can tell how fresh the food is. For example, bread and meat can be labelled with a ‘baked on’ or ‘packed on’ date. You should:
Check the ‘use-by’ or ‘best before’ date when you buy food.
Keep an eye on the ‘use-by’ or ‘best before’ dates on the food in your cupboards. Don’t eat any food that is past its ‘use-by’ date, even if it looks and smells okay.
So, anyhow, I have a bottle of these "Executive Focus" tablets from the brand Swisse (this may or may not help in deciding whether they're kosher or not). Their use-by date is November 2011 but, to me, this is like a use-by date on honey or similar to it; in my mind, vitamins don't normally 'go bad' or 'expire', but they do lose their potency and efficacy.*
Looking at the constituents of these tablets, there appears to be nothing that would oxidise and be nasty (e.g., carcinogenic, teratogenic), and there certainly aren't any lipids (which when ingested in an oxidised form are carcinogenic if you don't know). AFAIK, everything's a mineral with exception to the Bacopa monniera and Ginkgo biloba.
I ought to know better and I probably could throw these out and buy more tomorrow but I'm feeling cheap.
*No; I won't double dose or do anything else that's stupid/insane/unwise. I promise.
Personally, I would only ever take vitamins if it was suggested by a doctor, as some can be very dangerous. That's doesn't exactly answer your question, though.
I wouldn't take vitamins after their use by date unless I was entirely certain that they couldn't be harmful. I wouldn't let myself be convinced by anyone on an internet forum for something potentially dangerous like this.
Personally, I would only ever take vitamins if it was suggested by a doctor, as some can be very dangerous.
Er, ... pickle, what a pickle.
I / doctors should know better in any case.
I wouldn't take vitamins after their use by date unless I was entirely certain that they couldn't be harmful.
I'm rather certain that there are or could be no conceivable side-effects.
I wouldn't let myself be convinced by anyone on an internet forum for something potentially dangerous like this.
I was hoping that someone might be able to offer something, even if they're clearly spoutings from non-standard orifices. Also, I'm not a massive chump who will take everything, unquestioningly, at face value.
My spouting, without any specific knowledge of your particular supplements.
Drug manufacturers are required to perform testing to demonstrate efficacy of their product up to the stamped expiration date. There is increased cost to extend the date (more testing, less product to sell). This is balanced with the cost of not having a "long-enough" expiration date, which would have it's own downside in market acceptance.
So the incentives to the manufacturer are to test for a reasonable life (i.e., 18-24 months), but no further.
In general, the expiration date means that the product has been tested to ensure it's likely to be good at that date. The testing does NOT speak to how long the product might be usable after the expiration date.
Testing is also performed with the product in a less than ideal location - i.e., in a bathroom environment with temperature changes and exposure to humidity.
So any pills are likely to last longer than the expiration date, and if stored in a better environment (i.e., a dry, cool, dark closet), potentially far after the expiration date.
Source: conversations with doctors and pharma sales reps. Seems like I've seen some TV spots on this - here's a transcript from one.
My spouting, without any specific knowledge of your particular supplements.
So, anyhow, I have a bottle of these "Executive Focus" tablets from the brand Swisse (this may or may not help in deciding whether they're kosher or not). Their use-by date is November 2011 but, to me, this is like a use-by date on honey or similar to it; in my mind, vitamins don't normally 'go bad' or 'expire', but they do lose their potency and efficacy.*
Drug manufacturers are required to perform testing to demonstrate efficacy of their product up to the stamped expiration date. There is increased cost to extend the date (more testing, less product to sell). This is balanced with the cost of not having a "long-enough" expiration date, which would have it's own downside in market acceptance.
[...]
Source: conversations with doctors and pharma sales reps. Seems like I've seen some TV spots on this - here's a transcript from one.
Thanks and cool, cool, cool.
This shouldn't be an issue now; had I not thrown them out because of my stigma towards things past their best before, use by, or expiration dates and the fact that I don't actually need them (which is why I never really started the bottle), I'd still have kept it and taken them.
So, anyhow, I have a bottle of these "Executive Focus" tablets from the brand Swisse (this may or may not help in deciding whether they're kosher or not). Their use-by date is November 2011 but, to me, this is like a use-by date on honey or similar to it; in my mind, vitamins don't normally 'go bad' or 'expire', but they do lose their potency and efficacy.*
Looking at the constituents of these tablets, there appears to be nothing that would oxidise and be nasty (e.g., carcinogenic, teratogenic), and there certainly aren't any lipids (which when ingested in an oxidised form are carcinogenic if you don't know). AFAIK, everything's a mineral with exception to the Bacopa monniera and Ginkgo biloba.
I ought to know better and I probably could throw these out and buy more tomorrow but I'm
feelingcheap.*No; I won't double dose or do anything else that's stupid/insane/unwise. I promise.
— jean-baptiste alphonse karr, les guêpes (1849)
wiki subforum @ mtgs forums * mtgs wiki * site rules
I wouldn't take vitamins after their use by date unless I was entirely certain that they couldn't be harmful. I wouldn't let myself be convinced by anyone on an internet forum for something potentially dangerous like this.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
I / doctors should know better in any case.
I'm rather certain that there are or could be no conceivable side-effects.
I was hoping that someone might be able to offer something, even if they're clearly spoutings from non-standard orifices. Also, I'm not a massive chump who will take everything, unquestioningly, at face value.
Cheers anyway.
— jean-baptiste alphonse karr, les guêpes (1849)
wiki subforum @ mtgs forums * mtgs wiki * site rules
Drug manufacturers are required to perform testing to demonstrate efficacy of their product up to the stamped expiration date. There is increased cost to extend the date (more testing, less product to sell). This is balanced with the cost of not having a "long-enough" expiration date, which would have it's own downside in market acceptance.
So the incentives to the manufacturer are to test for a reasonable life (i.e., 18-24 months), but no further.
In general, the expiration date means that the product has been tested to ensure it's likely to be good at that date. The testing does NOT speak to how long the product might be usable after the expiration date.
Testing is also performed with the product in a less than ideal location - i.e., in a bathroom environment with temperature changes and exposure to humidity.
So any pills are likely to last longer than the expiration date, and if stored in a better environment (i.e., a dry, cool, dark closet), potentially far after the expiration date.
Source: conversations with doctors and pharma sales reps. Seems like I've seen some TV spots on this - here's a transcript from one.
http://www.swisse.com/products/immunity-energy/swisse-ultiboost-executive-focus#!ingredients
Thanks and cool, cool, cool.
This shouldn't be an issue now; had I not thrown them out because of my stigma towards things past their best before, use by, or expiration dates and the fact that I don't actually need them (which is why I never really started the bottle), I'd still have kept it and taken them.
— jean-baptiste alphonse karr, les guêpes (1849)
wiki subforum @ mtgs forums * mtgs wiki * site rules