Q. I just received a shipment of supplements and noticed the box was very hot. I stuck a thermometer through the seal and it registered over 100 degrees F.
Does this high temperature degrade supplements? Are they delivered the same way to stores? If so, it may not matter where you purchase them.
A. You have stumbled on a secret no one in the pharmaceutical or supplement industry likes to talk about. Improper shipping and storage may shorten shelf life for many products.
Guidelines for medications generally call for storage at room temperature (68 to 77 degrees F). Temporary fluctuations are allowed down to 59 or up to 86 degrees.
Shipment in non-refrigerated vehicles can easily allow for long periods at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. That includes deliveries to wholesalers, pharmacies and health food stores.
Drug sales reps often give free samples to doctors. If these drugs have been stored in the trunk of a car, the temperature could exceed 120 degrees. Even more alarming, it has been discovered that ambulances may also exceed the proper storage temperature of some of their crucial medicines.
So many insurance companies now require people to buy their medicines from mail-order pharmacies that no one wants to deal with the issue of proper storage. Not only is it likely that the mail delivery truck is very hot, even worse is the likelihood that the medicine could sit in a mailbox for hours at a VERY high temperature. In our opinion, the impact of this practice on the quality of the medicine has not been adequately addressed by the FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, professional pharmacy or the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).
We are sorry to admit that we do not have an answer to this problem. Try calling the mail-order pharmacy or supplement shipper, and ask him or her about the shipping problem. Then please let us know what you discover. We would be fascinated to learn the answer you get.
The People's Perspective on Medicine