Posted on 07/20/2017 7:35:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The expiration dates are a regulatory requirement. All food and drugs HAVE to have an expiration date.
For many pharmaceuticals, they don’t need to. Some do, as the active compounds break down over time.
Trick is knowing which one is which.
“The other drug that goes bad reliably is nitroglycerine in tablet form.”
I have always found that interesting. Having a passing interest in explosive I can tell you that old “dynamite” is dangerous as hell. People still find it in old mines in the West and it is problematic.
Yes and yes again.
I was a coast guard inspector certifying merchant vessels as safe for operation. When some inspectors found expired aspirin in the first aid kit they would confiscate it and write a requirement to get fresh aspirin. If you ever needed an aspirin back at the office there was a drawer full of the expired stuff.
It is sour but not spoiled.
Pharmaceutical companies do not get to choose what expiration date to put on their products. They are required to put batches of drugs aside for stability testing under various conditions and then submit test results showing whether the drugs remained stable. The expiration date reflects the duration at which the drug product has been demonstrated to be UNexpired. This is controlled by regulation. Stability testing is an expensive process, so companies don't just keep testing indefinitely and resubmitting results. Drugs would never get on the market if companies had to provide 20 years' worth of stability data.
One thing that no one has mentioned here is that pharmaceuticals all seem to have a “do not use after” date of exactly 1 year after being dispensed. I realize that’s more because the prescription ‘expiration’ is likely that 1 year, rather than the when the drug is no longer effective. But it also means that we don’t even know the real certified expiration date of the drug (only the druggist has that), other than it must be longer than that one year, as, obviously, there can be a long time between when the drug is cooked up and when it is dispensed to the user.
So, for me, I ignore the 1 year and use my ‘maintenance’ drugs several years after I get them - that way I always have a supply of several years for bad times (i.e., if Hillary had gotten elected, and the almost-certain civil war started when Texas finally told her to shove it - getting real-time refills simply would have not been possible). Seems to work for me, at least. But I do read these threads carefully, since there is good advice to be found - like be careful with aspirin, nitro, and antibiotics, for starters.
As to other stuff - as far as I can tell, anything canned is fine up to 5 years past its ‘best by’, and likely much longer (I’ve read articles talking about canned food being perfectly edible after 30 years, although not quite as tasty) - but my experience is limited to the 5 years (which is really 7, since the stamped date is roughly 2 years beyond the purchase date). Stuff not in cans, particularly dairy-related, I’ll stay clear of when expired, regardless of people say here (having been food poisoned changes your outlook on taking chances with that type of food). A lot of things are common sense...if something smells different, stay clear. If a can is bulging, say clear. Start slow with old stuff...just a small bite before gobbling down.
This is not directly related, but my wife and I were in an ethnic store in our hot Houston summer, and the store was close to 85F inside. I showed her how the food on the tops of the freezers (where you reach down to get your stuff) was soft, but go down 6 to 12 inches and it was rock-solid...so we still took them. She wanted some Tofu (for what, I’ll never know...where I come from, friendships break up over a person using it)...it was ‘refrigerated’ to just under room temperature - I told her to go to an American supermarket for that, and she did without issue.
“Has ProPublica ever considered that it could have something to do with the U.S. having more lawyers than the rest of the world combined... or are they afraid they could get sued for libel if they mention it?”
Obviously lawyers don’t help, but like it or not, we alone FINANCE the development of new drugs. Other countries will only buy our drugs at cost...otherwise they’ll just read the patents and produce them themselves. Not very fair, but if we’re no longer willing to pay US prices, we’ll be locked in forever with whatever drugs have been developed to date, which is scary as hell regarding antibiotics, to say the least.
I just found something in my vintage stove pipe jeans. Is the expiration date on psilocybin the same as any other mushroom?
“The takeaway? Even EpiPens stored in less than ideal conditions may last longer than their labels say they do, and if there’s no other option, an expired EpiPen may be better than nothing, Cantrell says.”
Don’t take this as medical advice, but on a bad day, with old EpiPens, maybe taking a second one (or part of it) could make the difference if the first one is not potent enough.
Again - NOT MEDICAL ADVICE - but if no other choice, I would consider it.
“Having a passing interest in explosive I can tell you that old “dynamite” is dangerous as hell.”
Tell me about it. My cars have Takata Airbags (where the explosive goes unstable over time). I had to take them out just to make the cars safe.
I’ve noticed that dairy products last much longer now than they did 20 or so years ago. I routinely use them well past the ‘use by’ dates, with no problem.
It is bad when your “safety device” becomes a hazard!
Bump
The day is not long coming when failure to dispose of expired medicines will result in a drug possession/dealing arrest, and it will likely be codified into law by alleged conservative republicans.
There is no end to laws which ostensibly attempt to “protect the public”.
I know a nun in Arizona who ran a program that sent unused medications to needy hospitals and clinics in third-world countries. They were forced to shut down because some of the meds were “expired.”
No kidding - my wife won’t accept ‘safety devices’ on drug containers.
If there's too much I'll scrape some off, but in most cases it adds to the flavor. Been doin' it all my life and I ain't dead yet!
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