Just noticed that there are expiration dates on most brands of gels. Is this just a requirement that they have them on there? Cant imagine what could go bad but I am no chemist. I usually buy gels in bulk and after looking through a lot of them noticed a lot of them expire this month. Should I throw them out if I dont use them soon? What is the slowtwitch think on this? Thanks guys.
Dave
Last season I got a free box of gels that were about a year past expiration. I ate probably 50 of them without any issues - but then I got a chunky one, and that was pretty disgusting. So after that my fear of getting another chunky one was too high to overcome, so I threw the rest out.
Just feel the package prior to eating. If it isn’t all nice and smooth feeling ditch it. I ate one once that was 5 years old. It was chunky and odd tasting, but it didn’t kill me.
Just threw away a jug of unflavored Hammer gel, asked my wife what she thought, it expired in 2009
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It is a requirement, and since it’s really not worth it to do a lot of testing, most just put 1-2 years on the package (that’s why bottled water has an expiration date).
Actual lifespan will depend on storage conditions (mostly temp). Sitting in your kitchen cabinet or refrigerator will extend their life more than being in a garage that gets >100^F in the summer.
The chunkyness is more the ingredients settling out than anything going bad (sugars crystallizing, etc.). At that point throw them out though.
I had a batch of vanilla accel-gels that I bought at the beginning of the 2010 season. I always stored 1-2 in my transition bag for emergency (read- bonehead forgot his nutrition) moments. I tried one of those gels during the 2012 season. Huge mistake. No chunks or anything but man did it taste horrible.
with any luck, perhaps the sugars will start turning into alcohol…
I’ve had Powerbar gels a year after expiration. Most of them were fine, a couple had a “stale” taste to them, but nothing bad. Texture was still good, but Powerbar gels are more watery than some other ones. I did just find an actual Powerbar in my golf bag; I haven’t played golf since 2008. I thought about trying it, but common sense won and I threw it out.
Feel free to send them to me. I usually buy them in bulk and am surprised if I have a gel that hasn’t expired. I know I have used ones at least 8 years past their expiration date.
I’ve had boxfuls of GU Gels past expiration up to 5 years and have never had any problems with taste, consistency or stomach upsets to date although if I do find one which has gone “off” or "chunky"in any way I would be inclined to bin it.
If it doesn’t look and feel like a power bar, then it’s probably still digestible…
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I usually pitch them if they are well beyond the “expiration” date, just to err on the safer side.
A coupla months is no biggie, but once you start needing to count past that date in years, it’s time.
My semi-amusing expired gel story:
Was racing AmZof LC (back when it was in Oct), and having done SOS also that year, I was theoretically in the running for the $500 prime, which went to the lowest combined total time for both events. (this was a one-off thing, that year)
Well, my buddy Dr Mike also did LC, and he beat me pretty soundly at SOS, so I had to return the favor at AmZof to win the prime. Game on.
That wasn’t to be.
He was ahead of me on the last lap of the 2nd run, but I couldn’t see how far. I stopped at the run aid station, asked the vollie (THE IB) how far ahead Dr Mike was - but she was better friends w/ him than me, so she wouldn’t tell me. I decided to stop and grab one last Hammer gel, since why risk bonking in the last :10-:15 mins of the race or whatever.
Well, that gel musta been left over from the very first year of AmZof, as it had crystallized, and was kinda nasty.
As I came out of the woods, I could see Dr Mike up ahead of me. I pushed as hard as I could, but he edged me by :30 seconds - which was about how long I stopped to chat up the vollies and eat that nasty, expired Hammer gel.
tl/dr - eating an expired gel cost me $200 in prize $. It was the. most. expensive. gel. EVER.
After a PowerBar gel that was chunky, I throw mine out after 1 month past expiration. Still feel the horrible grit!
I have used 2/3 months past without issues and know some stores will sell expired ones at a discount.
I don’t think it’s even an expiration date. I think it’s just a best by date or a guaranteed to be best by date. Food companies usually test how their food degrades over time in the packaging. It shouldn’t be “spoiled” by that date, they’re just saying it’ll probably taste different after that date.
The water bottles have dates on them because the plastic starts seeping into the water after a certain period of time.
My last box of PowerBar Gels was a year past the expiration date and they were just as good as new. I had stored them in a cool, dark, place but that’s pretty much common sense.
I view those dates as merely a suggestion.you can take 'em or leave 'em.