Is Expired Aspirin Still Effective?

Fractality

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I have a huge bottle of aspirin and it's got that distinctive vinegar smell. RP says that means it is decomposing but how do I know there is still aspirin in it? Or does it decompose into still active ingredients (salycic acid)? I've been taking extra to compensate for potential loss of active ingredient. However, I am open to purchasing a fresh batch if I am ingesting an inert substance.
 

Arnold Grape

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I have a huge bottle of aspirin and it's got that distinctive vinegar smell. RP says that means it is decomposing but how do I know there is still aspirin in it? Or does it decompose into still active ingredients (salycic acid)? I've been taking extra to compensate for potential loss of active ingredient. However, I am open to purchasing a fresh batch if I am ingesting an inert substance.
Probably worth tossing - that said I have a bottle with similar smell and it still works, effective.
 

schultz

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A lot of it is probably still ASA. Apparently the odor threshold for acetic acid is 1 ppm so it would only take a little bit to be able to smell it.

If you had pure salicylic acid, there may be some difference in intestinal absorption compared to ASA, but I am not sure if this is true or not. This is the only way I could see there being a meaningful difference between them.
 

Sheik

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From the Wiki: [Aspirin smells like vinegar. Is it safe?] It breaks down into salicylic acid and acetic acid, and both of those are safe.
Ray Peat Email Exchanges - Ray Peat Forum Wiki

If I recall correctly it largely breaks down once it hits your stomach acid anyway (don't quote me on that), so it may not matter so much. On the other hand Peat said he freezes it to prevent it from breaking down.

I've got a bunch that smells like vinegar and I use it almost daily. It's still effective.
 

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