Billy asked
Can you take expired vitamins?
Answer
In most cases, it is not recommended to take any expired medication, over the counter multi-vitamins and supplements included.
The main reason for this recommendation is that expired drug products may not have the same effectiveness they once had when they were in date. Once the manufacturer set expiration date has passed, there is often no reliable way to tell whether or not the potency/efficacy of the medication has been affected.
Do Expired Medications/Supplements Go Bad?
It is important to note that most drugs don't actually go "bad" or become dangerous. The concern is that they may have lost potency and thus will not have the desired effect. The expiration date set by the manufacturer is the date at which they can essentially guarantee no loss of potency.
They generally do stability studies for a finite period of time to verify the expiration date they choose, which is commonly 2 to 3 years. Especially for over the counter vitamins, there generally is no need to perform longer stability tests as it is assumed the product will be consumed or removed for sale well before the listed expiration date.
As mentioned, it would be rare for a medication to actually go "bad" and be harmful to take. However, one such example where this may be the case is with the antibiotic tetracycline. There were rare reports of kidney damage in patients who took outdated tetracycline in the 1960s. There is no such evidence that this can happen to over the counter multivitamins.
In fact, there have been studies that have shown many drugs remain effective long after they are considered "expired". The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) did a study in the 80's testing the potency of expired drugs the military had on hand. They found that the vast majority of drugs had around 70-80% potency after 10 years if stored in the original container. Due to the results of the study, there are programs in place to stockpile medication, even ones that are expired, for use during emergency situations. One such program is known as the Shelf Life Extension Program.
Conclusion
To conclude, you multivitamin most likely isn't dangerous to take, it just may not be as effective. As multivitamins are relatively inexpensive, it is recommended to simply purchase an in-date replacement product.
