# multi-vitamin expiration date?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 10, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375 "2003-03-10T19:20:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375/1 "2003-03-10T19:20:22Z")

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Hey All,

My multivitamin containser says the pills expired in March, 2002. Is that the date that they are worthless if left in the worst environment and they are still okay if they are kept in a cool dry environment?

Or should I just toss them out.

What do you think?

Cause on Milk, depending on storage conditions, the milk is still good after the expiration date…

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375/2 "2003-03-10T20:49:28Z")

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And when’s the last time you tried to drink milk a year after its printed expiration date? :dubious:

Under good storage conditions - ie: cool, dry, dark - you can squeeze a month or two past expiration, but a year later, there’s no telling what’s happened inside that bottle.

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**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375/3 "2003-03-10T21:25:47Z")

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Okay okay, I’ll toss them out.

Is ‘swordfish’ one of them?

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**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-vitamin-expiration-date/160375/4 "2003-03-10T21:36:47Z")

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If the tablets haven’t gotten moist then they probably haven’t started to grow anything nasty.

But keep in mind that even with the stabilizers and all storts of other organic chemistry goodness molecules break down over time. L-glutamine (an amino acid) has a pathetically short shelf life.

Odds are taking them won’t kill you. But you’ll get the same amount of nutrition from them as gnawing a pellet of cornstarch.