I'm eating a hot cereal mixed from flax seed, wheat germ, and unsweetened coconut. It tastees a bit off, but I've never had it before so it may be suposed to taste like that. I noticed though that my wheat germ container stated to refridgerate after opening. It's still abotu a year before the experation date, but it's been sitting open on the shelf for probably a year now. My question is, does it just lose nutrients, or can it actually become dangerous?

Wheat germ, like brown rice, can get rancid, believe it or not. I'd buy a cuppa fresh and see if your cereal tastes better.

Lady,
Get a new one and refrigerate it asap!
When it is fresh it is so yummy... I could eat half a jar at a sitting...
Watch it, it has carbs!