What is the difference between expiration date and shelf life

However, better still would be handing the dosage unit to your pharmacist so he or she can give you specific advice. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. All rights reserved About Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.

Ad Choices. Don't settle for anything less than responsible journalism. Subscribe today. Patients with serious and life-threatening diseases may be particularly vulnerable to potential risks from drugs that have not been stored properly. There are a number of simple steps consumers can take to dispose of expired medications.

FDA supports a public health program involving other partners to extend the expiration dates for a limited number of carefully selected drug products. Federal stockpiles are stores of certain drugs that might be needed to prevent or treat diseases or conditions which may occur during a public health emergency.

SLEP is a fee-for-service program through which the labeled shelf life of certain federally stockpiled products can be extended after select products undergo periodic stability testing conducted by FDA. Drugs held by consumers may have been stored under varied conditions after entering the market.

As a result, it would be difficult to conduct testing to determine expiration dates that would be meaningful and generally applicable after prolonged periods of storage under different conditions. This can be relative to a number of factors:.

In cases where the shelf life exceeds 30 months an expiration date is not required to be placed on the packing, however a period after opening PAO is. Period after opening PAO refers to the amount of time a product will remain stable and safe for human use after it has first been opened.

As such, it is very much involved with the scale of degradation a product faces in the same way as the shelf life is, however in this instance it is far more directly influenced by its first use or first interaction with the consumer and the inevitable risk of microbial contamination therein. Determination of PAO takes a number of factors into account, including product type and its claimed effects.