About a year ago, the Atkins shop was having a sale on their Basic #3, so I bought a ton of it. Today I went to open another bottle, and the expiration date was 4/03! (I haven't taken a regular daily vitamin for about 6 months now.)

I just wrote to the Atkins site and asked if that's why they were on sale, and did I have any recourse since I still have 5 bottles that have now expired. No word yet.

So, I know that they don't suddenly lose potency one day after the expiration date, but do you think they'd still have benefit? Or should I just toss them and but more (one bottle at a time)?

IMO...I would think they are okay. A good place to start might be asking your doctor or if you have an honest sales person in a nutrition place, they might be able to tell you. Here is some information that might help...

Drugs Frequently Potent Past Expiration


By Laurie P. Cohen

Do drugs really stop working after the date stamped on the bottle? Fifteen years ago, the U.S. military decided to find out. Sitting on a $1 billion stockpile of drugs and facing the daunting process of destroying and replacing its supply every two to three years, the military began a testing program to see if it could extend the life of its inventory.

The testing, conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ultimately covered more than 100 drugs, prescription and over-the-counter. The results, never before reported, show that about 90% of them were safe and effective far past their original expiration date, at least one for 15 years past it.

In light of these results, a former director of the testing program, Francis Flaherty, says he has concluded that expiration dates put on by manufacturers typically have no bearing on whether a drug is usable for longer. Mr. Flaherty notes that a drug maker is required to prove only that a drug is still good on whatever expiration date the company chooses to set. The expiration date doesn't mean, or even suggest, that the drug will stop being effective after that, nor that it will become harmful.


MARKETING ISSUE

"Manufacturers put expiration dates on for marketing, rather than scientific, reasons," says Mr. Flaherty, a pharmacist at the FDA until his retirement last year. "It's not profitable for them to have products on a shelf for 10 years. They want turnover."

The FDA cautions that there isn't enough evidence from the program, which is weighted toward drugs needed during combat and which tests only individual manufacturing batches, to conclude that most drugs in people's medicine cabinets are potent beyond the expiration date. Still, Joel Davis, a former FDA expiration-date compliance chief, says that with a handful of exceptions - notably nitroglycerin, insulin and some liquid antibiotics - most drugs are probably as durable as those the agency has tested for the military. "Most drugs degrade very slowly," he says. "In all likelihood, you can take a product you have at home and keep it for many years, especially if it's in the refrigerator."

For what its worth, I don't see why it wouldn't apply to vit. and supplements.
Hope it helps.

Here is an article I found on the subject...I guess I was wrong and vit. are not the same as drugs in terms of expiration. I would say it also matters if the bottles were open or still sealed. A bottle open for months after expiration might be worse off then a sealed bottle opened after exp. date.

Should I throw out expired vitamins?

By Elizabeth Somer, MA,RD

After fumbling through my kitchen cupboard, I found a bottle of vitamins with an expiration date that had passed. Is it safe to take them anyway?




Nov. 20, 2000 -- You can, but expired vitamins aren't likely to do you much good. Once they (or any other supplement) reaches the expiration date, they may have already decomposed to the point where they're not very potent.


Of course, vitamins don't become useless overnight. The expiration date is really the manufacturer's guarantee that their product will still provide the promised punch up until the date on the label. Sure, some of the vitamins or other nutrients can be potent afterward, but the company doesn't guarantee that. To be on the safe side, purchase products with the latest expiration dates.


Of course, whatever date is on there won't mean much if you allow air, humidity, heat, or sunlight to corrupt your pills, capsules, and chewables. Avoid this by using the original airtight bottles, which are typically made of opaque plastic or tinted glass. Even with these precautions, though, supplements can go bad before they're supposed to. If you notice changes in the smell or color of any product, throw it away, no matter what the expiration date.


To help ensure that supplements last, store them in cool, dry, and dark places. Unfortunately, the bathroom medicine cabinet and the kitchen cupboard over the stove don't fit this description. Try the refrigerator, a hall closet, or a dresser drawer, remembering to place them out of the reach of children.


Supplements can give your body some of the nutrients that might be lacking in your diet. But that doesn't mean they're always good for you; some, in fact, can harm you. Bottom line: Talk over your vitamins and supplements with your doctor.


Elizabeth Somer is a registered dietitian and the author of several books, including Food & Mood and The Essential Guide to Vitamins and Minerals. She frequently writes for national health magazines and makes regular appearances on the Today Show and other national TV programs.

The 5 bottles have been in the back of my pantry, in opaque plastic containers with the seals intact, enclosed in a heavy cardboard shipping box since I got them. I think I'll still use them, at least until next April (when they become 1 year past the expiration date), unless I hear differently from the Atkins Center.

Thanks, GirlJock! You had me flying with your first answer, and then brought me down with your second.

Truly, though, I appreciate the effort you put into your responses to me. It always amazes me how much help you can get on this board especially. I used to post on another board, where although you would most often get the help you needed, you also ran the risk of getting flamed over seemingly innocent questions or comments.

I love it here.

Just in case anyone else is following this thread, I just got an email back from the Atkins Center. They say I ordered the vitamins in February 2002 (one year prior to the expiration date). They said that since they were more than 6 months past the expiration date, I should discard them.

My fault. When I received the vitamins, I should have looked at the expiration date and determined whether I would have used them up within a year.

Live and learn. Guess I'll toss 'em.

sorry to hear you had to toss them. but like you said live and learn. At least you have a positive attitude. )

oopss that was suppose to be a smiley face..still getting the hang of things.