Expiry Date

[fred2007]

Now we all buy some thing might it be milk or bread or something else it has a expiry date on it.

I guess drinking milk after a few days after that date it would be off not useful for drinking anymore

unless you like to make cheese. But what about vitamim supplements if they are out of date for a few month? I brought over some vitamin suppliments from Australia and forgot all about them since I bought

new ones over here. The question is would they be harmful to my health and better get rid of them or are they still ok after 2 month of expiry? Anybody knows ?

Cheers

[slapout]

I try to check these kinds of questions out by giving questionable pill, milk, leftovers, etc to the wife to sample. Does it say 'best if used by date' or is it a expiry date?

[fred2007]

I try to check these kinds of questions out by giving questionable pill, milk, leftovers, etc to the wife to sample. Does it say 'best if used by date' or is it a expiry date?

it says expiry date but they are only vitamin pills which we used to buy in Australia and brought over here they are not medicin pills

[robblok]

I try to check these kinds of questions out by giving questionable pill, milk, leftovers, etc to the wife to sample. Does it say 'best if used by date' or is it a expiry date?

it says expiry date but they are only vitamin pills which we used to buy in Australia and brought over here they are not medicin pills

I would not worry too much about vitamine pills.. the worst that could happen is that they dont work. Its not like milk that can make you sick.

[QED]

A mate of mine used to be a pharmacuetical rep in the UK. His house was full of stuff like this he had taken off the shelves in pharmacies as it was 'out of date' (not prescription drugs, but over the counter remedies/ supplements). He used it, as did all his friends and family including me. He told me these dates were dreamed up by the manufacturers to give them a guaranteed turnover.

[fred2007]

I try to check these kinds of questions out by giving questionable pill, milk, leftovers, etc to the wife to sample. Does it say 'best if used by date' or is it a expiry date?

it says expiry date but they are only vitamin pills which we used to buy in Australia and brought over here they are not medicin pills

I would not worry too much about vitamine pills.. the worst that could happen is that they dont work. Its not like milk that can make you sick.

That's what I thought, thanks for your opinion

[G54]

Also worth noting that some shops in the UK, for example, take 'out of date goods / foodstuffs and have them re-dated then sell them cheaper. So not everything that is 'out of date' is actually so. (you need to be drunk to read that )

[Harcourt]

"Use By", "Best Before", and "Expiry" are all different. "Expiry" is probably as mentioned, a way to ensure turnover but also a termination of quality assurance. Vitamins may oxidise or be affected by UV (that's why they're in brown bottles) or simply time....exactly what that effect is, only a chemist would know. "Best Before", is exactly that, for say bread....it IS best before a certain date but edible far a long time after that but quality is no longer guaranteed. "Use By" is for perishables that MAY be harmful or disgusting if left too long, milk for example.

For all of the terms, it is a termination of the quality assurance as per consumer's rights.

(edit to make a qualification).

Edited July 16, 2009 by Harcourt

[a3tsw]

I try to check these kinds of questions out by giving questionable pill, milk, leftovers, etc to the wife to sample.

55555555 that was funny.

[chiangmaibruce]

Almost impossible to answer your question due to the variables involved. The most important of these are the type of product (as mentioned) and the handling of the product since manufacture. Some items are bad before the use-by date (e.g. milk left out of the refrigerator for a few hours between offloading from truck and storage in supermarket display case). Other things that have been kept in cool conditions, not dropped or shaken, etc, are good for years after the use-by date.

Edited July 17, 2009 by chiangmaibruce

[Mosha]

Also worth noting that some shops in the UK, for example, take 'out of date goods / foodstuffs and have them re-dated then sell them cheaper. So not everything that is 'out of date' is actually so. (you need to be drunk to read that )

Talking of drunk, even beer cans and bottles have a sell by date. EU idiocy.

[krading]

Have you ever drunk out of date beer?

[krading]

On the subject of old beer, I had a mate back in Oz who brought his alcoholic widower father home to stay as he could no longer look after himself.

After a couple of weeks the mate's kids started digging up old beer cans in their sandpit.

Turns out the old man had found his son's collection of long forgotten cans of beer stashed away in the shed and had been drinking them warm and burying them in the sand. Some of them had to be 10 years old or more.