Can I Drink This? (Too Late Edition)

July 5, 2018 3:26 PM

I just drank a 5 Hour Energy Shot that expired in April. Is this the end for me?

It left an unusual aftertaste, which led me to check. I don't feel so good, which is making me really anxious.

posted by Krazor to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Best answer: You're fine. It's not going to kill you. That's barely past the expiry date as these things go.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:36 PM on July 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

Those things are shelf stable, and I'd bet they're essentially equally safe a year or two post-expiration versus the day they were bottled.

I don't feel so good, which is making me really anxious.

...or maybe it's the other way around, and you don't feel so good because you're anxious?
posted by kickingtheground at 3:36 PM on July 5, 2018 [9 favorites]

Those things are full of caffeine. A big dose can make you jittery and anxious.
posted by peacheater at 3:38 PM on July 5, 2018 [9 favorites]

The unusual aftertaste is, I've found, inherent in the product, as is the not-feeling-so-good and the anxiety.
posted by infinitewindow at 3:50 PM on July 5, 2018 [28 favorites]

Best answer: Okay, so I have weird caffeine reactions, and yes, this is exactly how I feel whenever I take one of those damnable things. Awake, yes, but also like I snogged a muppet, and like both of those things were a huge mistake.

You won’t die.
posted by Etrigan at 4:18 PM on July 5, 2018 [10 favorites]

Expired, or BEST before? Lots of things lose a little in flavour, colour, whatever, but aren't expired (as in toxic) after. But if people throw stuff out on the day of, and then replace it, you won't hear manufacturers or retailers complaining!
posted by kate4914 at 4:21 PM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Lots of things lose a little in flavour, colour, whatever, but aren't expired (as in toxic) after

Good lord, expired doesn't mean toxic. Expiration dates are not tied to food safety.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:41 PM on July 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you so much, everyone who helped to calm me. Even though my nose hairs are picking up radio signals, and I've seen all three possible scenarios for my death, I feel confident I'm going to pull through for now.
posted by Krazor at 5:00 PM on July 5, 2018 [28 favorites]

It's a best-by date, not an expiration date on those. They have to assume bad conditions. There's a coke in my work fridge that expired April 2017 that I'm pondering. But it's in a plastic bottle so it may have slowly bled out the bubbles by now.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 5:26 PM on July 5, 2018