Why do we do this? Expired food products, according to experts, have been linked to illnesses such as diarrhoea and food poisoning which, in severe cases, have led to instant death.
You may wonder, ‘can water go bad?’ Well, If you thought that food was the only thing that could pose a threat to your health when it expires, physicians say you are wrong. They note that packaged water is not meant to be stocked and stored forever, as it also has a shelf life.
Consultant nutritionist, Dr. Tosin Akinsanya, says packaged water that has passed its shelf life can upset the electrolyte composition of the body and destabilise metabolic processes when one takes it for a long time.
Akinsanya says ingesting anything that is past its shelf life is an open invitation to health problems, as microbes and bacteria grow more easily on expired items.
He describes expired food item as a ‘slow poison’ whose effect may not be immediate but could be catastrophic in the long run. He says, “It’s a marker that shows that the product is of lower quality and in a potentially dangerous state.”
According to the nutritionist, when an item has expired, it means that all the benefits that one is supposed to get for taking such an item is no longer there.
He explains, “Many of the sachet water that we store in the house should not be kept for more than two weeks at most. For one, the chemicals that are used to treat the water may begin to have taste and denature slowly after the water has passed its shelf life.
“Some of the materials such as the polythene materials that are used to package sachet water, over time, may allow bacteria or other contaminants into the water.”
He notes that the most important thing to know is that the source of your water determines how quickly it would expire.
For instance, Akinsanya says that bottled water from a quality brand can stay good for more than six months, compared to the popular sachet water in this clime.
He states, “If your bottled water is from a trusted brand, you can store it for six to two years and it is still safe to drink. The challenge here is how sure are you of the quality of some? How was it stored before you bought it from the retailer? All these questions you may not be sure of, so the best thing is that you should not even keep them for long in your home because you may not store it better either.
“ For sachet water, if you are not sure of the brand, don’t keep for more than two weeks. If you can, a week is best.”
Doctors have especially warned that one should not go back to packaged water after the sachet or container has been broken and stored in a closed space. Public Health physician, Dr. Emeka Ajuluchukwu, says when the seal of bottled water has been broken, its level of contamination from the surroundings increases by 20 per cent.
Ajuluchukwu says, “Many people keep bottled water in their car overnight and drink it whenever or the next day. That is not healthy. For one, some bacteria or contaminants would have found their way into the water.
“The heat from the enclosed space would have reacted with the water to also contaminate it. When you refrigerate it, make sure your fridge is clean and don’t store beside raw food, as it could be a means of food poisoning if bacteria from that food get into the water.”
That said, how would you know that any sachet or bottled water is not safe for consumption? Here are some tell-tale signs:
Odour
The obvious way to know that water is no longer safe is its odour. If it gives off an offensive odour as soon as you open it, it is probably not well packaged and it could be contaminated.
Taste
Akinsanya says when a source of water is contaminated, it might not taste as good. As time passes, the quality of the packaged water declines, which decreases the taste.
He adds, “If, after a week, you see that some particles have settled under the packaged water, you need nobody to tell you that it is bad. Throw that batch away. It has no nutritional value and it can be a medium through which bacterium is introduced into the body.”
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