Koi Food and Expiration Date

[Gordo33]

I am new to feeding Koi. Last summer was my first season. I over bought food and still have plenty left over . One bag has an April 2018 expiration date and the other May 2018. Do you recommend tossing the food after the expiration date or can it be used for a time period beyond without substantial quality loss?
I wonder if the expiration date is partly a marketing tool to get people to constantly purchase the food ....

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

I would say that you probably have about 6 months past the expiration date before you should toss it out completely, and by then most of it would hopefully have been used up. I usually treat fish food like I would an over the counter medication that is a few months past the expiration date. If I take this "expired" ibuprofen for my headache will it kill me or make me sick? No, but it may not be as effective as it was when I first opened it. If I feed my fish this "expired" food will it kill them or make them sick? No, but it has probably lost some of it's nutritional value and may not be as fresh as it was when I first opened it. Other people may have other opinions or personal experiences and may be able to shed more light on the topic as well.

 

[EricV]

On medicine, recent studies suggest most drugs, except aspirin, are fully potent YEARS past their date.

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

Back when I was a pharmacy technician we would err on the safe side and tell most people six months to a year after the expiration date. I would be interested in reading these studies that have proven them to be fully potent for well beyond that time frame. Do you have any links?

 

[EricV]

I'm sure pharmacies, for liability reasons, wouldn't want to change their advice. Here's an NPR story on it https://www.npr.org/sections/health...ug-expiration-date-may-be-more-myth-than-fact and there is a link to a peer reviewed journal article. My PCP was telling me about this.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...ug-expiration-date-may-be-more-myth-than-fact

 

[Gordo33]

My father N law was a pharmacist and told me many years ago not to worry about expiration dates for most meds .

 

[Lisak1]

That's true for most canned and packaged foods, too. The "expiration" date is more commonly the point after which the manufacturer believes the quality of the product will go down, but the product is still safe to consume.

 

[Tula]

I do not pay attention to the expiration date on my koi food. I buy a pretty good quality food and it comes in 5 sealed bags within the big bag. I open one bag at a time, storing it in a rubbermaid container, inside our house.

 

[Dave 54]

My father N law was a pharmacist and told me many years ago not to worry about expiration dates for most meds .

You only start to loose the goodness after the expiration date which you can bulster somewhat by using koivit's a form of liquid vitamins for koi .
We use ours up to six months this way, see link :-

https://www.ntlabs.co.uk/browse-products/outdoor/koi-care/koi-vits/

Hope this helps @Gordo33

Dave 54