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Evidence Based

This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.

Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.

This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Do Probiotics Expire

Written by Dr. Ruscio on March 28, 2020

Written by Dr. Ruscio on March 28, 2020 — Reviewed by Noora Alakulppi

Dr. Michael Ruscio is a DC, Naturopathic Practitioner, researcher, and clinician. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bridgeport and has published numerous papers in scientific journals as well as the book Healthy Gut, Healthy You. He also founded the Ruscio Institute of Functional Health, where he helps patients with a wide range of GI conditions and serves as the Head of Research.

• Key Takeaways|
• Do Probiotic Expiration Dates Matter|
• Storing Probiotics for Maximum Potency|
• Testing Probiotic Potency|
• Are Food-Based Probiotics Preferred|
• Conclusion|
• Recommended Products|

All about probiotic shelf life.

Expiration dates on your probiotic supplements may have you afraid to use them for fear of digestive health side effects. Good quality probiotic supplements contain live bacteria, and expired products may have less than or none of the advertised amount.

The good news is that expired probiotic capsules won’t hurt you, though they likely won’t give you the probiotic health benefits you were hoping for.

Key Probiotic Expiration Date Takeaways

• Probiotics beyond their expiration date probably have too little live bacteria to make a clinical difference.
• Store Lactobacillus & Bifidobacterium species in the refrigerator for maximum shelf life.
• Saccharomyces boulardii probiotics and soil-based probiotics may not need refrigeration, but refrigeration may extend their shelf life.
• Be sure to choose probiotic products and brands that are lab test verified to contain the colony-forming units (CFUs) advertised on their label to ensure potency.
• If your probiotic supplement is near or past the expiration date, it’s probably best to buy a new product to ensure the best clinical effect.
• Either a product manufacture date or an expiration date can help you to determine the potency of a probiotic product (but it’s not necessary for products to have both).

Probiotic Supplement Expiration Dates: Do They Matter?

The goal of using probiotic capsules is to get a clinically-significant amount of live bacteria past your stomach acid and into your gastrointestinal tract.

The best way to ensure you will get the symptom improvement and other benefits you’re hoping for is to buy high-quality live culture probiotics that clearly display either an expiration date or a manufacture date, and accurate information about the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) in each dose.

Colony-forming units in the billions are necessary to get the clinical benefits of probiotics. A probiotic product begins to degrade and lose potency the longer it sits on a shelf, and can degrade faster if it isn’t stored properly. Using probiotic products with the appropriate colony-forming units and with an expiration date far out into the future (or a more recent manufacture date) is good insurance that the probiotic is still viable when you use it.

Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t have clear regulations on probiotics and other dietary supplements, many don’t have accurate labeling, and may even have misleading labeling [1, 2]. Many products may also contain less than the amount advertised on the label.

As a consumer, to get your probiotic money’s worth, use these criteria to choose products that have/are:

• A clearly stated list of species.
• A clearly stated number of colony-forming units (CFUs), and expiration date.
• Labeled free of common allergens.
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification.
• Been lab-verified for potency by third-party analysis.

Storing Probiotics for Maximum Potency

Though there are thousands of probiotic products, there are only three main types of probiotics [3]:

1. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium blends – A blend of lactic-acid producing bacteria species that are mostly Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotic species (such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, or Bifidobacteria infantis).
2. Saccharomyces boulardii – A single species of a healthy fungus, Saccharomyces boulardii.
3. Soil-Based Probiotics – A blend of Bacillus species.

Knowing which types of probiotics are in your probiotic supplement is important because each of the three types has a different shelf life and storage requirements.

• Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics should be refrigerated for best results. Even refrigerated, they will lose 10-15% of their potency per month. This loss of potency is faster if they are kept at room temperature.
• Saccharomyces boulardii probiotics and Bacillus are shelf-stable and don’t require refrigeration, though storage in the refrigerator may extend their shelf life.

Can You Test Probiotic Supplement Potency?

Some sources recommend testing probiotic capsules for potency by opening them and leaving them to grow in milk or another medium. While this may tell you if the probiotic organisms are active or not, it doesn’t tell you how many CFUs are still viable.

If the probiotics are near the expiration date and were stored appropriately, there should be some good bacteria remaining. However, they may not be as potent as fresh product.

Are Food-Based Probiotics Preferred?

Other sources claim that probiotic foods, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, and kefir and prebiotics are superior as a gut-reseeding source of beneficial bacteria. They claim probiotic supplements often have far less than the advertised amount and claim that research isn’t conclusive about the benefits of probiotic supplements. But the colony-forming units present in probiotic foods are typically below the live bacteria threshold for clinical benefit.

For comparison, note the difference between probiotic food products, and their equivalent dose from a non-expired probiotic supplement.

In Conclusion

If you are using a quality probiotic supplement that has been 3^rd party tested for potency and purity, the good bacteria should be viable up to the expiration date if the product was properly stored.

Though a product that has passed its expiration date won’t harm you, it may not have the full potency required to improve your gut health bottom line. If your probiotics have expired, it’s best to purchase new products to get the most benefit.

For more help with your gut and immune health, schedule an appointment at the Ruscio Institute for Functional Medicine.

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