Expired Goods Found in Nine More States
Beyond California and New York, CVS has failed to keep expired products off the shelves in states across the country. Surveyors visited nearly a quarter of the CVS stores in the United States in the last year – over 1,500 CVS stores in 11 states. They found that CVS’s problem with expired products was widespread. These surveyors found expired infant formula, milk or eggs on CVS shelves in 666 stores across the country – representing more than 42 percent of the stores surveyed.
As the table below shows, all the markets had a significant problem with expired goods. Over 70 percent of stores in Greater Houston had expired goods for sale as did nearly two-thirds of the CVS stores in Greater Detroit. Incluing Greater Detroit and Greater Houston, there were six markets where over 40 percent of stores carried expired products.
Surveyors also found expired over-the-counter drugs – often children’s medicines and often CVS brand – on CVS’s shelves along with outdated formula and dairy products. The expired products the surveyors purchased were often significantly out of date, including medicines and infant formula that approached two years past expiration and dairy products that were three weeks expired. Samples of the expired products surveyors bought at CVS include:
- A container of Infants Mylicon gas relief drops, bought at a Baltimore CVS on March 8, 2008 was almost two years old, having expired in April 2006.
- A container of Enfamil infant formula bought on January 28, 2008 at a CVS in Fullerton, California, had expired almost two years before, in March 2006.
- Two containers of Similac infant formula purchased in Livonia, Michigan, were over a year past their expiration date when purchased in January 2008.
- A package of CVS brand uncoated aspirin, purchased in a Waltham, Massachusetts, CVS on February 1, 2008 had expired almost two years before, in April 2006.
- A box of Vanquish pain reliever bought in Henderson, Nevada, had been expired more than two years when purchased on March 29, 2008.
- A container of CVS brand NasalCrom Spray bought on January 12, 2008 in Philadelphia had expired over a year before, in October 2006.
Expired Goods
Click below to view photos of expired goods found for sale at CVS stores.
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Learn More About Expired Goods
Read why a consortium of manufacturers of baby formula recommend avoiding expired baby formula on the International Formula Council's frequently asked questions page.
