Batch, expiry, storage — the fine print that matters

The batch number: boring, until it isn't

The batch or lot number (e.g. WPC2216) exists for traceability. If a production run is contaminated, under-filled, or recalled, the batch code is how the manufacturer — and you — identify exactly which jars are affected. It's not decoration and it's not optional; a packaged food sold in India must carry one.

Two practical uses most people never make of it:

• Complaints and recalls. When you report a problem, the batch number is the first thing customer care asks for. No batch number on the jar is a genuine red flag — it means the maker has opted out of accountability.
• Sometimes it encodes the date. Many batch codes embed the manufacture week or month (2216 = week 22 of 2016, or similar). You can't rely on decoding it, but a batch code that clearly disagrees with the printed manufacture date is worth a second look.

“Best before” is not “expiry” — and neither means “full strength”

FSSAI treats two date labels differently, and the difference matters:

• Best Before — a quality date. After it, the product isn't dangerous, but the maker no longer guarantees peak quality/potency. Most supplements use this.
• Expiry / Use By — a safety date, used where consuming the product after it could be genuinely unsafe. You'll see this on some higher-risk formats.

Indian supplements usually print "Best before X months from manufacture", so you have to do the arithmetic yourself: manufacture 03/2026 + "best before 18 months" = use by ~09/2027. But here's the part the date hides completely — the declared dose is typically guaranteed at the time of manufacture, not through to the best-before date. Potency of many actives decays over that window, and how fast depends almost entirely on storage.

The fragile actives — where this really bites

Some ingredients are far more perishable than others, and several of them are popular in India:

• Probiotics. The CFU count (live bacteria) is often declared "at time of manufacture". Live cells die over time and die faster when warm — so an unrefrigerated probiotic can deliver a fraction of its labelled count by the time you take it. Look for "CFU at expiry", which is the honest guarantee.
• Fish oil / omega-3. These oxidise — go rancid — with heat, light and air, and a rancid capsule isn't just useless, it's an off-tasting source of oxidised fats. Freshness at purchase and cool storage matter more than the printed date.
• Vitamin C and some B-vitamins. Water-soluble and heat-sensitive; they degrade steadily, which is part of why big "overages" and megadoses are common.

The storage line you've never read

"Store in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Keep out of reach of children." It's mandatory, it's tiny, and in India it's doing heavy lifting. A jar left on a sunny kitchen shelf, or in a car, or in a bathroom cabinet steamy from hot showers, ages on the hot curve above, not the cool one. For probiotics and omega-3s, "refrigerate after opening" is often the difference between a working product and an expensive placebo — even well within the best-before date.

This is the last stop in "reading a label", and it's a fitting one: the fanciest formula in the world is only as good as the fine print keeping it alive. Do the date arithmetic, respect the storage line, and for anything living or oily, buy fresh and keep it cold. That's the difference between the dose on the label and the dose in your body.