{"id":392319,"date":"2022-07-28T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/?p=392319"},"modified":"2022-07-26T11:23:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T15:23:12","slug":"do-vitamins-expire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/do-vitamins-expire\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Vitamins Expire and Are They Still Safe to Take?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years, our consumer attitudes have changed towards expiry dates as many of us try to reduce our household food wastage<\/a>. Recently in the UK, Morrisons<\/a> became the first supermarket to scrap \u2018Use By\u2019 dates on 90 per cent of its own brand milk \u2014 encouraging its customers to use a sniff test in an effort to stop millions of pints of its milk from being thrown away every year.<\/p>\n

In response, the Food Standards Agency<\/a> pointed out that when dealing with food generally, sniffing isn\u2019t always a good way to check for safety, especially when it comes to certain products like raw meat that could cause food poisoning.<\/p>\n

But while we might know that mouldy fruit or discoloured chicken is well past its best, it\u2019s not always clear-cut when it comes to our supplements. How can you tell if that unused jar of multivitamins<\/a> that you found lurking in the back of your kitchen cupboards is still good to take, or whether you should throw them away? To help, we asked an expert to weigh in on the matter.<\/p>\n

Do Vitamins Expire?<\/h2>\n

Technically vitamins do expire, but they\u2019re still safe to take. While some foods can spoil and make you sick just days after their expiration date, it\u2019s not quite the same story with supplements.<\/p>\n

\u201cVitamins don\u2019t expire in the traditional sense, where they become unsafe to ingest,\u201d says Superintendent Pharmacist Carolina Goncalves<\/a> from Pharmica<\/a>. \u201cHowever, after a certain period of time, they become less potent as the ingredients in vitamins break down over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, some vitamins last longer than others,\u201d she adds. \u201cFor example, vitamin C, K & B1 (thiamine) are known to break down quickly.\u201d Vitamin D<\/a> supplements, meanwhile, can keep their potency for much longer.<\/p>\n

\"do<\/p>\n

The only real side effect of taking expired vitamins, says Goncalves, is that a person may believe they\u2019re actually consuming more nutrients than they really are. For example, if you\u2019re vegan and need to take vitamin B12<\/a>, using an expired supplement may not provide you with the supplementation you may need.<\/p>\n

So while taking out of date supplements shouldn\u2019t cause you to feel ill, it could be a waste of your time, as the capsules will likely have lost the the percentage of dietary supplement ingredients listed on the label. \u201cThat\u2019s why it’s important they are taken before their expiry date to ensure all their benefits,\u201d says Goncalves. If not, you\u2019re better off disposing of them safely and replacing them with a new jar.<\/p>\n

Do Vitamins Show Signs Of Expiration?<\/h2>\n

\u201cMost vitamins are considered safe to take up to two years past their expiration date,\u201d says Goncalves, who recommends checking the packaging for the specific date details. However, there are some exceptions to the rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two factors to look out for to decide whether they\u2019re still safe to consume are if the vitamins show any sign of mould or if they have a strange odour,\u201d says Goncalves. Generally, vitamins are sensitive to light (both sunlight and artificial), oxygen and humidity, which means the way you store your vitamins can make all the difference to their shelf life.<\/p>\n

To keep your vitamins in tip-top condition, she recommends keeping them in their original containers and storing them in a cool and dry place such as a kitchen cabinet, rather than the bathroom which can harbour dampness and moisture.<\/p>\n

\"do<\/p>\n

Why Is It Important To Take A Multivitamin?<\/h2>\n

When it comes to total-body health, vitamins and minerals are an essential part of keeping you at your best. From firing nerve signals around the body to making sure your immune system is working correctly, they help to perform hundreds of tasks in the body that keep us running at peak performance. In theory, your diet should always give you the nutrients you need – but in reality, that’s really tough.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re a busy person with endless deadlines, social dates in the calendar and Netflix series to burn through, it can be easy to miss out on the vitamins you need. The main purpose of a multivitamin is to fill in these nutritional gaps. While they\u2019re not a substitute for a good diet, they can be an insurance policy against any dietary areas where you\u2019re falling short.<\/p>\n

How Should You Dispose Of Expired Vitamins?<\/h2>\n

Found a bunch of old vitamins that are no longer good to take? It\u2019s not a great idea to just dump them in the bin with last night\u2019s takeaway. Vitamins and minerals can degrade and enter the water and soil supply, which can cause contamination and environmental issues.<\/p>\n

Tossing your mouldy and expired vitamins in your bin at home also leaves them at risk of being found by children or pets, putting them at risk of getting sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure the safe disposal of all medication – even vitamins – it\u2019s really important to take them to your local pharmacy, where the pharmacists can safely dispose of them for you,\u201d says Goncalves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you just realised that daily vitamin you\u2019ve been taking actually expired months ago, do you need to panic? Liz Connor finds out more about the shelf-life of your supplements. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20503,"featured_media":392322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDo Vitamins Expire and Are They Still Safe to Take? - Form - US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you just realised those vitamins you\u2019ve been taking expired months ago, do you need to panic? We dig into the shelf-life of your supps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/do-vitamins-expire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do Vitamins Expire and Are They Still Safe to Take?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you just realised those vitamins you\u2019ve been taking expired months ago, do you need to panic? 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