Shelf life of vitamins

[bowler]

Can any one tell me if the B12 Methylcobalmin I have can still be taken ? MFG date 10/13

thank you

[Gambit62 Administrator]

This article might be of some interest - section 2.5 talks about the breakdown of various forms of cobalamin under various conditions - so not really a question of date may also be a question of knowing how it has been stored.

efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/do...

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Gambit62]

Sorry - just noticed that that link doesn't appear to come up properly so you will probably need to type it in ... pasting in two parts to facilitate that

"efsa.europa.eu/en/" "scdocs/doc/ans_ej815_vitamin_B12_op_en"

Roughly there is a possibility that it may not be methyl any more - might be hydroxo ... and if it was in an aqueous form exposed to oxygen the sound of formaldehyde as one of the products really doesn't sound good.

[bowler in reply to Gambit62]

Just got your other post I will try again

thanks

[bowler in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I couldn't open the page,

I always store my vitamins in a dark cupboard under the stairs.

[Hidihi]

hi Bowler. there should be an ''best by'' or/andan '' expiry date'' on the product. however, as the others advise, the way b12 is stored is important.

[honor1a]

Hi Bowler,

I get my B12 every 8 weeks, done by practice nurse, latest injection was last week, she stores them in a cupboard in her room, she on making my next appointment makes a record of which arm i got the injection in & when I'm due back for next one, also makes sure of expiry date, the fact she checks the expiry date would suggest to me that yes they do go out of date, hope this is of help to you. take care H xx

[bowler]

Thank you for your reply, sorry If I have confused you but I should have stated that the B12 vitamin I was referring to was the tablet form. It doesn't state on the bottle an expiry date just the Mfg date 10/13. I get mine from Amazon Swansons ultra.

However they are cheap enough so I will just ditch them and get some new one's

bowler x

[Secondchance in reply to bowler]

Hi

I also get this brand from amazon and just noticed that mine only has a manufacturing date of 9/13 and no best before date. Saying that, I have just got some natural source ones with a best before date of 2018, so they seem to have a fairly long life.

[bowler in reply to Secondchance]

Hello

Thanks for your info, I could use them after all, I suppose they cant do me any harm, ?

[sbotwright]

No, you need a new prescription. Mine off runs out of date and the nurse always diposes of it and tells me to get a new prescription for next time, giving me some from someone else's prescription.