Maria Famakinwa

Theresa Oluwole (not real name) is a nursing mother whose baby was sick. She was given drug prescription by a medical doctor to buy for her sick baby. She bought them without checking the expiry date.  She rushed back to the doctor for usage directives. It was then the doctor discovered that one of the drugs had expired seven months earlier. The doctor asked her why she did not check the expiry date before making the payment, she said that she forgot. She retuned the expired drugs and thanked the doctor for his observation.

It was a close call as the baby could have been in serious risk had the drugs been administered on her.

Despite several efforts by National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Consumer Protection Council (CPC) at sensitizing people on the need to check expiry dates of consumables and non consumable items before purchasing them, many citizens seem not to bother about it.

 Research showed that there is a gross reluctance or carefree attitude by Nigerians over checking the date of expiration of parceled food items or products, before purchasing them. A product’s expiry date or best-before date is usually determined by the shelf life of that product. According to a U.S. Food and Administration website, ‘a product’s shelf life generally means the length of time you can expect a product to look and act as expected and stay safe for use. The length of time varies depending on the type of product, how it is used and how it is stored’.

The need for expiry date label checks cannot be overemphasised as consumers are duty-bound to check expiry dates of food and drugs before purchase and consumption, particularly consumables. This is coming as experts warned that consuming already expired items may trigger food poisoning and result in symptoms like fever, vomiting, cramping in stomach area, dehydration and diarrhoea.

A pharmacist, Mr Olusegun Jubril Okunlola, who warned on the dangers of buying any item without checking the expiry date noted that it is also common with the literates and pleaded with consumers to always check the expiry date on drugs, beverages, packaged foods and cosmetics, before purchase.

Mr Okunlola, who  observed that most people do not care to check expiry dates on items upon purchase, added that such attitude could be risky as he disclosed that all drugs had unique formulations consisting of active and inactive ingredients geared toward treating specific diseases.

His words: “Once a drug is developed, manufacturers determine the length of time the drug would last without deteriorating; if the medication is used within its shelf-time, maximal efficacy and safety of the drug are expected. When such drugs are expired, most of the time, the chemical composition of the drugs changes after the expiry period, and so the said products are no longer the same. This means that the consumer is consuming a rather different product, which would be toxic, whereby some of the drugs metabolites end up damaging some vital parts in the body,” he said.

The pharmacist also said that expired beverages and canned foods are highly harmful, if eaten, as the preservatives used in those foods could become toxic and harmful to one’s health. He then, cautioned people against purchasing expired cosmetics as such products could also inflict harm on users. He also advised that people should not purchase any item that had its production and expiry date tampered with.

The Hope sampled the views of some Nigerians on checking expiry dates on items before purchase and found that some of them hardly checked such details.

According to a trader, Mr Abubakar Musa, he hardly check expiry dates on items before he purchase them, stating that he was unaware that expired items could be harmful to him.

His words: “I am not aware of anything called expiry date. I just buy anything I like and use. I want to also let you know that none of the people I live with is aware of expiry date written on any item. But when I get home, I will educate them about it. However, the government should send out task force to arrest anyone selling expired products to unsuspecting customers because many like me are not aware,” he said.

Also, Joy Ayilara, who claimed to be aware of expiry date on items disclosed that she hardly remember to check out for it whenever she wanted to buy item. “Although, I am aware of the need to look out for the expiry date on any item before making payment but I have not been doing it because I always forget. From now on, I will make it a point of duty to do that. Too many Nigerians take less cognizance of products expiry dates which is wrong because it is for one’s safety.”

However, a computer analyst, Bola Fadahunsi, said she usually check the expiry dates on any items before purchasing them as she is aware that once an item is expired, it has lost its efficacy.

She said: “The first thing I look out for in any item is the expiry date. That is why I don’t like consuming bread that is not fresh because they don’t have expiry dates written on their labels. It is not unusual today to walk into a shop on the streets of Nigeria and find loaves of bread displayed for sale without any label as to their expiration dates. I wonder if it is an omission or a deliberate act. I will want the authority concerned to look into this so that bread consumers will stop jeopardizing people’s health,” she said.