B12 safe to use past best before date ?

[Barry1955]

Hi all,

Just noticed my supply of B12 Ampules are past the date stamped on box.

Can anyone advise if safe to use or could they be harmful ? Unfortunately income position not good, so hoping can use them up.

Regards,

Barry

[fbirder]

I've just bought enough B12 to last me to June 2022. My latest batch expires March 2022. I'm going to be quite happy using those past their expiry date. As a chemist I can't imagine any way that the hydroxocobalamin could go off to anything nasty. And the rest is just water, salt and vinegar.

Of course, it is a personal decision.

[Barry1955 in reply to fbirder]

Thanks fbirder, my batch ended July 2019, bought way too much in 2016, so probably have enough left for another 2 years ! As they say, waste not, want not !

[Midnight_Voice]

It’s not so much that the contents of the ampoules will go nasty in some way, it’s that they may lose their potency.

Having done formulation in a shampoo factory(!) I know we had to take account of this when blending ingredients.

So it means (if it means anything at all as those Use-By dates are always set very conservatively) that a dose from an old ampoule may not last as long as a dose from a fresh ampoule.

I don’t think you will notice any difference; but if you do, and you feel that you need your next jab sooner than usual, that will likely be the only effect of using old ampoules.