Here is the REAL kicker with dietary supplements. The FDA does not require dietary supplements to have expiration dates. This is an interesting concept for most of us. When we think of medicine, we think they are stable and consistent, when in reality they are constantly changing. Medications and supplements are constantly attacked by things like light, temperature, and humidity, causing them to lose their effectiveness. A dose of 500 mg of amoxicillin will break down slowly. One day it may have 498mg. Over time, it will continue to degrade, usually a slow curve as follows: Interesting! I didn`t know. This would help nip it in the bud! I think this is another policy that eBay won`t enforce because it will cost them $! A bit like the (bad) protection of the seller! In recent days, GNC has struggled to remove obsolete products, including items such as energy bars and beverages, from shelves, according to people familiar with the matter.
GNC stated that it was taking immediate corrective action to remove expired products from its shelves. It notes that expiry dates on its products are not required by law. In response to questions from the Wall Street Journal Europe, GNC confirmed in a statement that the call «likely took place in early February.» But the company said Dowd acted on his own. GNC stated that it had never had a policy of selling products beyond their expiration date. Today I clicked on 4 offers for a possible purchase. Each of them turned out to be expired!! I just gave up in disgust! I did, but they still remain listed! There are so many expired product lists that it would be a full-time job. I searched for other vitamins here, only to keep finding more deals selling expired products! I gave up and will buy in person instead. There are similar topics on all these things: light, humidity, temperature.
We must do everything in our power to protect our medications and supplements to ensure they are most effective. The highest consideration is worth being a mini-diatribe: Why? If that`s the scenario we highlighted in the opening here – you`re in an emergency situation and you need something now, but all you have is an expired option, then that`s probably fine. What worries me most is that your products are outdated because you don`t use them regularly. Many sellers have actually put the expired word in the title, so I can easily avoid clicking on it. Others simply put the words in the description, and yes, some just show a photo or don`t even (as I discovered). Ebay may search for expired words in the title and listing, or simply remind the seller before listing that selling expired products violates eBay policies. By clicking on the list, the seller agrees that the product has not expired. It can at least help. There is still a lot to consider when we take old medications or supplements.
Rudeness is the greatest; We need to consider microbial growth such as mold and fungus. Former executives at the major vitamin and supplement retailer say the instructions came from Tom Dowd, who was then senior vice president of GNC. On a conference call, Dowd urged about 25 vice presidents and other middle managers to «take out the product that wasn`t rancid and put it on the floor,» according to a former senior executive at GNC, a division of Dutch food company Numico NV. «The product grew in the back room and we didn`t want to show the Dutch the huge amount of expired stock.» If you see a list of expired products, report it. We have a big problem with supplements that come in clear packaging. I know Mason pots have a moment right now (look at you, hipsters!), but save them for your pickling hobby instead. This is less clear with medications or supplements. For the most part, they look alike. However, decay dating goes beyond the appearance of something (although this is important) and examines the actual molecules of the compound. But the vitamin and supplement market has slowed significantly over the past year and a half, reflecting negative publicity surrounding some supplements, the lack of new blockbusters, and a slowing economy.
GNC has also undergone a recent management upheaval; At least 10 middle and senior executives have left the company this year, including four senior executives from the Southeastern U.S. division. An expiry date is the point at which an active ingredient has been degraded below the legal minimum potency limit. The usual answer is no, an expired product won`t hurt you. There is only one case report of an expired tetracycline product causing kidney failure in a patient, so people are still quite shy with this product, although many researchers don`t think much about the report. I once had a patient walk into a pharmacy we owned and held a clear glass bottle with a loose lid that contained a stack of medicines, without a pharmacy label. She insisted that we confuse her pills, even though they were in a container better suited for catching lightning bugs. The clear glass, the jar itself and the lid show that the packaging was done incorrectly and that this was a big concern for the stability of their medications. The big takeaway for them (and you): Leave your medications and supplements in the original containers to protect them and keep them as strong as possible. Online articles and advice about expiration dates give consumers the feeling that «most expired medications/supplements are fine.» That is not correct. What they SHOULD say is, «Most medications/supplements are still effective after expiration if stored properly.» I immediately requested a return and the seller refunded the refund without return and apologized and said he forgot to indicate the expiration date (true or not, I don`t know). Selling this expired product cost them $ because it took more than a pound to ship and they sold it for less than $9.
For less than $2 in profit, they risked getting a neg. I left one not only because of their quick refund and repeated apology. But what bothers me the most is that they keep releasing a new expired product! I mean, they`re not the tooth fairy. However, they appear to be arbitrary, based on «legal thresholds» and the cost-benefit analysis that a company conducts in testing around the expiration date. An expiry date is the moment when a drug or dietary supplement no longer has the guaranteed amount of active ingredients set by the regulations. An expired drug may still have an acceptable potency even if it has expired. Almost no product will degrade into something that hurts you. Who wants more unique information about expiration dates and supplements? Don`t answer them all at once! Since eBay has bots that search for listings for prohibited items via search terms (ivory, Indian, Nazi, etc.), I don`t see why they couldn`t do the same for listings with expired words and at least send a warning to the seller warning them that the expired product item violates eBay policies.
A company must take a sample from its batch and undergo special testing procedures to determine exactly when the product will degrade below these legal limits. Will these expired medications work? Does an expired medication hurt? Or is the expiration date of the drug another tactic in a long line of Big Pharma (and mega-supplement companies) tactics to get you to spend more money? It`s just more prevalent than I imagined! A buyer shouldn`t have to worry about it if they break the policy. But many of these sellers have no regard for doing the right thing. However, some of the former executives said they believed the order to sell expired products came from GNC`s senior management. «This decision would not have been made by Tom Dowd,» said one of the executives who participated in the conference call. «This decision had to come from above.» He and seven other former executives spoke on condition of anonymity and cited their severance packages with GNC. However, when it comes to supplements, there is a stricter rule known as the 100% rule. Do you know why? Dietary supplements must have 100% of their effectiveness by the specified expiry date.
It`s so literal. With approximately 4,500 stores, GNC is the world`s largest vitamin and supplement store chain. Numico, an infant formula maker, agreed to buy GNC in 1999, raising investor hopes that the slow-growing company would get a boost from a booming supplement market. When we think about what an expiration date tells us, we see that it`s mostly about the potency or amount of the original dose we actually get. However, what we are asking, is it possible that the expired/disabled/expired part of the product will harm us in any way? This becomes more difficult when you switch from synthetic compounds typically found in vitamins and supplements to more «natural» options — actual food powders, plants, and even oils.