Floramax Probiotic Storage and Dosing
Follow the manufacturer's recommended dose of 2 capsules as directed on the label, and discard the strip if it has been left outside refrigeration for more than 6 hours, as bacterial viability is likely compromised.
Why You Should Not Consume the Entire Strip
The evidence is clear that probiotic efficacy depends entirely on maintaining adequate numbers of viable (live) bacteria at the time of consumption. Taking more capsules from a compromised product will not compensate for loss of bacterial viability and may expose you to unnecessary risks 1.
Storage Temperature Critically Affects Bacterial Viability
- Probiotic bacteria are living organisms that require specific storage conditions to maintain their advertised colony-forming units (CFU) 1
- Manufacturing processes including fermentation, harvesting, freeze-drying, and storage conditions like temperature, humidity and pH directly affect microbial survival, growth, and viability 1
- When probiotics are stored improperly (outside refrigeration), the live-to-dead bacteria ratio shifts dramatically, with progressive loss of viable organisms 1
The Unregulated Nature of Probiotics Creates Quality Concerns
- Probiotic quality control is relatively unregulated, making it difficult to ensure exact composition and viability of organisms in the product even under ideal storage conditions 2
- The current labeling regulations only require disclosure of CFU (colony-forming units) of live bacteria per dose, not the total number of dead bacteria you're consuming 1
- Products stored outside recommended temperatures will have significantly higher proportions of dead bacteria than indicated on the label 1
Specific Risks of Consuming Degraded Probiotics
Safety Concerns with Compromised Products
- While probiotics are generally safe in healthy individuals, contamination risks increase when manufacturing and packaging controls are inadequate 1
- Dead bacterial bodies cannot be eliminated from probiotic products and accumulate during improper storage 1
- The most common side effects are bloating and flatulence, which may worsen with degraded products containing higher proportions of dead bacteria 3
Efficacy is Completely Lost
- Probiotic benefits are strain-specific and dose-specific - results from one formulation cannot be extrapolated to others 2
- Without adequate viable bacteria reaching the intestine in an active state, no positive health effects occur 4
- Taking multiple capsules from a compromised strip will not restore efficacy and only increases your exposure to dead bacterial material 1
What You Should Do Instead
Discard the improperly stored strip and obtain a new product that has been continuously refrigerated according to manufacturer specifications 1, 5.
- Most probiotics require storage between +2°C and +8°C (ideally +5°C) to maintain bacterial viability 5
- The "cold chain" must be maintained from manufacturer to consumer to ensure effectiveness 5
- Take only the recommended dose (typically 2 capsules as indicated on your Floramax label) from properly stored product 1
Critical Pitfall to Avoid
Never assume that taking more capsules compensates for storage failures. The therapeutic effect depends on delivering a specific number of viable organisms to your intestine - degraded products cannot achieve this regardless of how many capsules you consume 1, 4.