Why best-before dates?

I get a lot of questions about the GoodyGut best before dates. Basically, we post our best before dates at 5-6 weeks (when refrigerated) from the day its bottled. But in all honesty it doesn't ever really expire or make you sick, we put the dates on our bottles because of the carbonation build up.

GoodyGut is a living functional fermented  health drink.  It is overflowing with living probiotics that continue to ferment once bottled.  One of the by-products of the fermentation process is carbon dioxide (CO2) which is why it is bubbly.  Which I know most of you enjoy in the drinking experience.  I do too.   However, every day the bottle of GoodyGut will build up a little bit more CO2 as it continues to ferment.  If  not opened the CO2 will  build up and cause the drink to overflow when opened after the best before date .  So that is why I like to jokingly refer to it as the "best-you-open-this-up-before-date".  You may also notice that our best before dates seem to be shorter than other fermented drinks on the grocery store shelves and that’s  primarily due to perfecting our super concentrated probiotic first ferment recipe.   A living ferment drink with high levels of probiotics and nutrients will ferment faster.

An option to extend the shelf life of your GoodyGut is to open up the bottle and let out the CO2, also known as "burping", and you could potentially keep the bottle for another 4-6 weeks refrigerated.   I say refrigerated because refrigeration slows the ferment process down significantly.  If not refrigerated, a bottle of GoodyGut could ferment and overflow in less than one day versus the 5-6 weeks refrigerated.   

Although GoodyGut will not go bad and make you sick, after a period of time ( 3-5month) the probiotics will have eaten all the glucose and without it all that beautiful culture of probiotics will begin to die. But not all is lost.The drink will taste like vinegar , which essentially is what it will become. Although it will no longer have “living “ cultures it will still have health benefits and if you enjoyvinegary ferment (shrubs) , then go ahead and drink it .