WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.220 I'm standing at the medicine cabinet, holding a box that's been in here for, well, a while now. 00:07.760 --> 00:13.840 Tiny print down the side, a few digits, some letters, then another string of characters. 00:14.740 --> 00:17.300 And the million-pound question. 00:18.260 --> 00:20.920 Which of these numbers is the expiry date? 00:21.740 --> 00:26.920 Because one looks like a date, and the other sort of does too. 00:26.920 --> 00:32.300 Hello, I'm Tomasz Schuster. I built the Mojapteczka app. 00:32.920 --> 00:37.860 And what Iza's just described is probably the most common scene there is at a medicine cabinet. 00:38.560 --> 00:44.580 It really is. It's that moment when the tiny letters on a box suddenly make a big difference. 00:45.300 --> 00:50.280 Because I only want to know one thing. Has this medicine gone past its date? 00:50.780 --> 00:54.780 The good news is, there are honestly only a handful of markings on a pack. 00:54.780 --> 00:57.940 Once you know what they mean, you read them in a second. 00:58.740 --> 01:01.040 Then let's start with the one that trips me up most. 01:01.780 --> 01:05.940 I've got two strings of characters side by side. Which one's the date? 01:06.740 --> 01:09.280 You'll find the expiry under one of three labels. 01:10.180 --> 01:17.800 Either it says EXP, that's just short for expiry, or expiry date, or use by. 01:18.240 --> 01:20.140 So they all mean the same thing? 01:20.140 --> 01:26.280 Exactly the same. How long the manufacturer guarantees the unopened medicine keeps its quality. 01:26.960 --> 01:32.480 And it's usually written as a month and a year. For instance, June 2027. 01:33.140 --> 01:40.820 And here's my next puzzle. If it's just the month, no actual day, then when exactly does it run to? 01:40.820 --> 01:47.380 The end of that month. So if you see June 2027, that means the 30th of June. 01:47.640 --> 01:49.620 It covers the whole of that month. 01:50.340 --> 01:53.940 Right. And if it were a full date, with a day? 01:54.480 --> 01:56.640 Then it runs to exactly that date. 01:57.400 --> 02:00.640 And one more thing. The format varies from country to country. 02:01.480 --> 02:05.500 Sometimes the year comes first. Sometimes the months spelt out in letters. 02:05.500 --> 02:10.380 If the order of the numbers isn't clear, safest to take the more cautious reading. 02:11.100 --> 02:13.500 And if you're in any doubt, just ask the pharmacist. 02:13.640 --> 02:14.940 Right. I've got the date. 02:15.760 --> 02:17.900 But next to it, there's this second number. 02:18.440 --> 02:20.160 Longer letters and digits. 02:20.840 --> 02:23.000 And that's the one that really loses me. 02:23.780 --> 02:25.500 That's the star of today's episode. 02:26.120 --> 02:27.360 That's the batch number. 02:27.940 --> 02:32.280 Marked with the word lot, or batch number, or just batch. 02:32.800 --> 02:34.880 Lot? Like a job lot? 02:35.520 --> 02:37.660 Different thing. Same word, mind you. 02:38.400 --> 02:40.880 Here, lot, is the production batch identifier. 02:41.620 --> 02:44.160 Every pack made in the same batch carries the same number. 02:44.720 --> 02:47.060 And what would anyone at home want that for? 02:47.560 --> 02:49.880 Two things. First, recalls. 02:50.440 --> 02:53.280 When the medicines regulator suspends or pulls a medicine, 02:53.620 --> 02:55.780 it's usually for one specific batch. 02:56.020 --> 02:59.840 And that number tells you whether your pack is caught by the notice or not. 03:00.440 --> 03:00.980 And the second? 03:01.620 --> 03:02.760 Complaints and reports. 03:02.760 --> 03:07.460 If something's wrong with the medicine, the pharmacist will ask for the batch number first. 03:08.280 --> 03:10.920 But, and I want you to say this plainly, 03:11.500 --> 03:15.000 that batch number has nothing to do with the expiry date. 03:15.000 --> 03:16.360 Nothing at all. 03:17.000 --> 03:20.560 The batch number isn't a date and tells you nothing about expiry. 03:21.280 --> 03:24.820 Sometimes it's got digits that look like a year, but that's just coincidence. 03:25.780 --> 03:31.560 You spot the expiry by the words EXP, or USE BY, and the month-year format. 03:32.120 --> 03:35.700 The batch by the word LOT, OUGHT, or batch number. 03:36.060 --> 03:36.540 That's it. 03:36.540 --> 03:42.640 Give me a quick trick, because when I look, both of them read like a random string of characters. 03:43.340 --> 03:44.220 The simplest tell. 03:45.080 --> 03:48.320 A date usually has a slash or a dot between two numbers. 03:48.940 --> 03:50.520 Month, slash, year. 03:51.180 --> 03:55.560 The batch number is more often a longer string, letters mixed in with digits, 03:56.040 --> 03:58.400 without that split into a month and a year. 03:58.400 --> 04:03.920 So, a dot or a slash between two numbers, that's the hint it's a date? 04:04.580 --> 04:05.660 In most cases, yes. 04:06.360 --> 04:08.500 And if you're still not sure, look for the word. 04:09.220 --> 04:11.940 EXP by the date, LOT by the batch. 04:12.340 --> 04:13.480 The word settles it. 04:14.200 --> 04:14.800 Right. 04:15.480 --> 04:17.160 But I'm listening to this and thinking, 04:17.900 --> 04:22.680 I am not going to copy these dates off every single box into any app. 04:23.040 --> 04:24.140 I'm honestly not. 04:24.140 --> 04:25.780 And you're right that it would be a slog, 04:25.780 --> 04:30.000 which is exactly why you don't type the expiry dates in by hand. 04:30.660 --> 04:33.080 In the Moya Pteczka app, you photograph the pack. 04:33.700 --> 04:34.400 And what happens? 04:35.080 --> 04:38.940 The app reads the name and the expiry date, among other things, off the photo. 04:39.680 --> 04:42.880 And it checks what it read against an official medicines register. 04:43.680 --> 04:47.460 So you're not tapping in with your finger what's already printed on the box. 04:47.960 --> 04:48.880 And after that? 04:49.100 --> 04:50.800 I've got the dates gathered up, 04:50.960 --> 04:53.440 but I've still got to remember which one's running out. 04:53.440 --> 04:54.360 No. 04:54.800 --> 04:56.280 The app shows you that in colour. 04:57.020 --> 04:59.100 Green, the date's still a long way off. 04:59.900 --> 05:01.480 Orange, it's getting close. 05:02.240 --> 05:05.220 Red, it's nearly up, or it's already gone. 05:06.340 --> 05:08.740 Checking your dates is a glance down a list, then, 05:09.040 --> 05:11.260 rather than pulling every box out of the cabinet. 05:11.920 --> 05:12.600 Hang on. 05:13.320 --> 05:15.680 If it reads the photo that nicely, 05:16.240 --> 05:18.640 does it read that batch number too? 05:19.200 --> 05:19.820 The LOT? 05:19.820 --> 05:20.300 No. 05:21.340 --> 05:22.600 And here I want to be honest. 05:23.180 --> 05:25.520 The app doesn't read the batch number off the photo. 05:26.400 --> 05:28.140 It concentrates on the expiry date, 05:28.580 --> 05:32.260 because that's the one that matters for the day-to-day of keeping a cabinet in order. 05:32.860 --> 05:33.220 Right. 05:33.780 --> 05:35.580 That actually sounds honest, 05:36.080 --> 05:38.900 because most things try to tell you they do everything. 05:38.900 --> 05:42.420 I'd rather say what it doesn't do than promise too much. 05:43.000 --> 05:45.620 The batch number's useful to you in one specific moment, 05:46.120 --> 05:47.420 when there's a recall notice. 05:48.120 --> 05:50.880 And at that point, you're looking at the pack, not the app. 05:51.400 --> 05:52.860 Now the other side of it. 05:53.740 --> 05:55.000 You said box, 05:55.660 --> 05:58.640 but sometimes I've only got the blister strip left, 05:59.200 --> 06:00.800 that foil with the tablets. 06:00.800 --> 06:02.240 And that matters, 06:02.660 --> 06:04.700 because the same details are in a few places, 06:05.140 --> 06:07.080 but they're not all equally easy to read. 06:07.840 --> 06:08.460 On the box, 06:08.780 --> 06:10.060 the date's in the biggest print, 06:10.480 --> 06:11.480 easiest to make out. 06:12.220 --> 06:12.820 On the strip, 06:12.940 --> 06:15.040 it might be embossed or printed by the seal, 06:15.520 --> 06:15.860 tiny. 06:16.460 --> 06:18.280 Sometimes you have to catch it under the light. 06:18.800 --> 06:21.700 And I've got strips of tablets where you can't see a thing. 06:21.880 --> 06:23.180 Hence a simple rule. 06:23.760 --> 06:25.060 If you're throwing the box away, 06:25.660 --> 06:28.680 first check the date's actually readable on the strip itself. 06:28.680 --> 06:30.340 Very often it isn't. 06:31.080 --> 06:32.960 And then you're left with tablets that are, 06:33.300 --> 06:34.440 who knows how old. 06:35.120 --> 06:38.460 That's one of the main reasons medicines you can't put an age to 06:38.460 --> 06:39.720 pile up in the house. 06:40.300 --> 06:42.820 Ah, I've got a few of those in the drawer. 06:43.500 --> 06:43.980 Classic. 06:44.600 --> 06:45.520 Everyone has. 06:46.280 --> 06:48.220 But now tell me about something that, 06:48.740 --> 06:50.100 as I found out recently, 06:50.960 --> 06:52.400 isn't on the box at all. 06:52.840 --> 06:55.000 Because I opened Basher's syrup 06:55.000 --> 06:57.800 and suddenly didn't know how long I'd had it. 06:57.800 --> 07:00.660 And this is the most important part today. 07:01.440 --> 07:04.220 Because the expiry on the box is for the medicine sealed 07:04.220 --> 07:05.900 in its original packaging. 07:06.720 --> 07:07.560 Once it's opened, 07:08.320 --> 07:09.240 things can change. 07:09.680 --> 07:09.980 Meaning? 07:10.440 --> 07:13.200 Some medicines have a shorter life once they're opened 07:13.200 --> 07:14.580 than the date on the box. 07:15.440 --> 07:17.100 The classics are eye drops, 07:17.520 --> 07:17.920 syrups, 07:18.460 --> 07:19.620 some of the things from the fridge. 07:20.400 --> 07:21.220 And here's the thing. 07:21.980 --> 07:24.220 The use within so many days of opening 07:24.220 --> 07:25.480 isn't on the box. 07:26.040 --> 07:26.960 It's in the leaflet, 07:27.320 --> 07:28.580 in the section on storage. 07:29.140 --> 07:29.420 Right. 07:29.800 --> 07:31.880 So I've got that from the leaflet. 07:32.380 --> 07:34.300 But there's still one thing 07:34.300 --> 07:36.040 no leaflet will tell me. 07:36.360 --> 07:37.280 When you opened it. 07:37.780 --> 07:38.340 Exactly. 07:39.340 --> 07:41.960 Only my house knows the opening date. 07:42.720 --> 07:45.320 I opened Basher's syrup on some Wednesday 07:45.320 --> 07:46.960 I can't even remember now. 07:46.960 --> 07:50.340 And that's why it's worth getting into one small habit. 07:51.100 --> 07:52.040 You open the eye drops, 07:52.280 --> 07:52.860 or the syrup, 07:53.440 --> 07:54.700 write down the opening date. 07:55.280 --> 07:56.220 Could be in biro, 07:56.380 --> 07:56.900 on the label, 07:57.320 --> 07:59.520 or in a note against that medicine in the app. 07:59.900 --> 08:01.660 So the app's got a place for that. 08:02.020 --> 08:02.520 It has. 08:03.260 --> 08:04.520 You add the opening date 08:04.520 --> 08:06.000 in a note against the medicine, 08:06.480 --> 08:07.860 where you'll always find it, 08:08.240 --> 08:09.640 rather than on a scrap of paper 08:09.640 --> 08:11.500 that goes missing five minutes later. 08:11.500 --> 08:13.600 And then you simply compare it 08:13.600 --> 08:15.100 against the period from the leaflet, 08:15.540 --> 08:16.300 instead of guessing. 08:16.840 --> 08:19.320 And I think I've caught you being honest again. 08:20.140 --> 08:21.800 The app won't work out for me 08:21.800 --> 08:23.780 what the shelf life of this syrup is 08:23.780 --> 08:24.640 once it's opened. 08:25.120 --> 08:25.680 It won't. 08:26.160 --> 08:27.660 And it's better it doesn't pretend to. 08:28.840 --> 08:30.020 That post-opening period 08:30.020 --> 08:32.280 is in the leaflet for the specific product, 08:32.660 --> 08:33.520 not on the box, 08:33.820 --> 08:34.760 and not in the app. 08:35.380 --> 08:36.840 The app keeps your note, 08:37.140 --> 08:38.900 and it shows the expiry dates in colour. 08:39.300 --> 08:41.080 It doesn't judge whether a medicine 08:41.080 --> 08:42.520 will still work. 08:43.420 --> 08:45.260 Here's another one from real life. 08:45.900 --> 08:46.720 In our house, 08:47.160 --> 08:48.580 medicines come into the cabinet 08:48.580 --> 08:49.820 from all over. 08:50.500 --> 08:51.460 I buy something, 08:51.900 --> 08:53.480 my mother-in-law Eljbieta 08:53.480 --> 08:54.580 brings something round, 08:55.140 --> 08:57.640 something's left over from Leon's cold. 08:58.360 --> 08:59.860 And that's how you easily end up 08:59.860 --> 09:01.680 with a second box of the same medicine, 09:02.420 --> 09:04.100 often with a different batch number 09:04.100 --> 09:05.720 and a different expiry. 09:06.540 --> 09:07.900 The app flags that 09:07.900 --> 09:09.480 by looking at the active ingredient, 09:09.480 --> 09:11.280 not just the name on the box, 09:11.780 --> 09:13.520 before you buy a third pack. 09:14.240 --> 09:15.960 There was a whole earlier episode 09:15.960 --> 09:17.100 on that, actually. 09:17.800 --> 09:19.180 Two packs in the drawer. 09:19.860 --> 09:20.240 Exactly. 09:21.080 --> 09:22.520 Today we're closing that one off 09:22.520 --> 09:23.360 from the other end, 09:23.760 --> 09:25.760 what's actually printed on the pack. 09:26.300 --> 09:28.860 Then let's do a quick recap at the end, 09:29.240 --> 09:31.540 because I do like something concrete. 09:32.260 --> 09:33.040 Here goes. 09:33.040 --> 09:34.520 EXP. 09:35.260 --> 09:35.840 Use by. 09:36.460 --> 09:37.260 Expiry date. 09:37.800 --> 09:39.080 That's the expiry date. 09:39.900 --> 09:41.480 Just a month and a year means 09:41.480 --> 09:43.540 good until the end of that month. 09:44.380 --> 09:44.940 LOT. 09:45.980 --> 09:46.700 Batch number. 09:47.560 --> 09:48.700 That's the batch number. 09:49.240 --> 09:50.660 For recalls and complaints, 09:51.180 --> 09:52.540 it is not a date. 09:52.540 --> 09:53.920 On the strip, 09:54.060 --> 09:55.360 the details can be unreadable. 09:56.080 --> 09:57.340 Copy the date off the box 09:57.340 --> 09:58.660 before you throw it out. 09:59.420 --> 10:00.380 The opening date 10:00.380 --> 10:01.480 isn't on the packaging. 10:02.220 --> 10:03.380 Write it down yourself. 10:04.140 --> 10:06.000 And check the post-opening period 10:06.000 --> 10:06.940 in the leaflet. 10:07.780 --> 10:08.380 And that's it. 10:09.140 --> 10:10.800 Reading a pack is a small skill. 10:11.560 --> 10:12.940 But a cabinet you can trust 10:12.940 --> 10:14.340 is built out of exactly 10:14.340 --> 10:15.420 these little things. 10:15.900 --> 10:17.140 The kind where you know 10:17.140 --> 10:17.840 what you've got, 10:18.220 --> 10:19.160 what's still in date, 10:19.560 --> 10:20.380 and what you don't 10:20.380 --> 10:21.300 need to buy again. 10:21.300 --> 10:22.360 And if you'd like to get 10:22.360 --> 10:23.060 on top of this 10:23.060 --> 10:24.580 without copying expiry dates 10:24.580 --> 10:25.880 off every box by hand, 10:26.320 --> 10:26.860 that's what the 10:26.860 --> 10:28.220 Moya Pteczka app is for. 10:28.620 --> 10:29.500 The app is free 10:29.500 --> 10:30.560 and works offline. 10:30.940 --> 10:31.660 You'll find the link 10:31.660 --> 10:32.680 in the episode description. 10:33.220 --> 10:34.140 It's a tool for running 10:34.140 --> 10:35.040 your medicine cabinet, 10:35.440 --> 10:36.860 not for making medical decisions. 10:37.440 --> 10:38.400 Those are for your GP 10:38.400 --> 10:39.720 and your pharmacist. 10:41.260 --> 10:42.720 One more thing before we go. 10:43.060 --> 10:44.180 This podcast is made 10:44.180 --> 10:44.680 with the help 10:44.680 --> 10:45.860 of artificial intelligence. 10:46.420 --> 10:47.760 I wrote the dialogue myself, 10:48.140 --> 10:49.340 but the voices you're hearing 10:49.340 --> 10:50.200 aren't ours. 10:50.200 --> 10:51.700 They're AI-generated 10:51.700 --> 10:52.740 synthetic voices. 10:53.300 --> 10:53.980 We're telling you this 10:53.980 --> 10:55.460 straight out because we think 10:55.460 --> 10:56.360 it should be the standard 10:56.360 --> 10:58.200 for any podcast made this way. 10:58.560 --> 11:00.080 Full details are in the show notes 11:00.080 --> 11:01.980 and in every episode description. 11:03.160 --> 11:03.920 And when I'm next 11:03.920 --> 11:05.120 standing over a box 11:05.120 --> 11:06.720 not knowing what to do with it? 11:07.240 --> 11:08.340 Then you'll already know. 11:08.800 --> 11:09.640 Until next time.