I think that companies like USANA and other “autopay” ordering organizations cause a lot of waste as people get bottle after bottle of vitamins; many people are simply not in a good habit of vitamin taking, and this leads to many bottles in our cupboards that we forget about.

I agree that 5 years for vitamins is probably the limit, but I have some alfalfa that I take periodically that I have to confess I’ve likely had around for 10 years maybe more – it’s hard to know – there was no date on the bottle.

I would smell the vitamins and if the odor is not pleasant or they have discolored or gotten wet or been left in a hot location, then discard them.

To prevent a vitamin overload in your home, study on why you take them, and then get organized in your taking of them – else it is simply a waste of your hard earned money. In general, people who are eating properly, may only need a small number of vitamins on a regular basis.

Visit a health food store and get a list of what vitamin is recommended for what “ailment”. You will fast narrow down the list to what works for you.
Calcium magnesium zinc (s recommended for nearly every adult, as is Vit D (up to 6000 mg/day). Garlic tabs are great in the winter, along with Cod Liver Oil (Omega 3) to keep away the winter sniffles. Since taking garlic tabs (odorless) and Cod liver oil gel caps I have seriously not been sick with colds for 5 winters. Omega 3-6-9 combination works well too, as does Flax Seed OIl. You can alternate these on different days to use up supplies. If you have a one-a-day multi-vitamin, alternate these too so you don’t take more than you actually need (multi’s often have Vitamin A and E and calc-mag. Figure out what the RDI is for each vitamin, study your labels, and measure out your vitamins in an organized fashion. It does not work to have a mess of vitamins on your counter without some kind of chart and undestanding of how to take them.
List all the vitamins you have, write down why you are taking it so you understand why, write down exactly what each tablet contains, find out the Recommended daily intake and then make a list of the daily dosages you would like to take. Get a good pill organizer that is large enough to handle all the pills you might want to take in a 2 week period. The best pill organizers have generous holding capacity, and allow 5 daily dosages to be meted out. This way if you have to take a pill before breakfast it can have it’s own compartment, etc. It is quite complex to say the least, but some vitamins work best on empty stomach (such as Protein powders), others best taken with food or a meal. Get familiar with your stuff.

Yes, toxic. Poisonous. Literally. Poison. I’m not kidding.

Now are some drugs perfectly safe to take after expiration date? Yes. And if you know the pharmacological makeup of the drugs you’re taking you can make more informed choices.

But remember, there is so much we don’t know. About the human body and how it works. About how drugs we’ve created work. And when you combine the human body and a medical condition we don’t fully understand (because we never do) and a medication or two or three and other unknown variables (that grapefruit you have for breakfast could screw the whole thing up; when you combine all that, its just best guessing based on our limited knowledge.

And all that is usually the very basic circumstances under which people take medication.

So for all we know, remember that there’s volumes we don’t. So if we know that its best to take a medication before a particular.date of expiration, its worth sticking to if you can.

I buy tons of vitamins and did price shopping online yesterday. The best site I found for price and selection is:

allstarhealth.com

they have a 30 day return policy, a low price guarantee and flat rate shipping. I was amazed at how much prices vary from site to site on these items. Also if you use Mypoints.com you can get points for your purchase through them.

A lot of landfills now have barriers that prevent things from leeching into the water supply. Not always the case, and it isn’t always effective, but an effort is made.

Second, if there were to be leeching, by the time it happens, the hope is that whatever active chemicals are present in the drugs at the time you dispose of them are at that point inert.

Not to minimize your point, but there are a whole lot of other risky pollutants in landfills than just the expired drugs that might be in them. If the drugs were to leech through into the water table, there are probably a WHOLE LOT of other things leeching through, too. In this less-than-desireable case, at least you are containing the contamination to one, more specific locale, which is not the case if everyone just washes their pills down the drain at home.