6 Places Indians Store Medicines That Quietly Destroy Potency Long Before Expiry

The Kitchen Counter or Shelf Above the StoveA 2019 study published in the journal Medicina found that paracetamol tablets stored at 40°C lost measurable potency within weeks, still well within their printed shelf life. The average Indian kitchen, with a gas stove running twice a day, routinely hits that temperature. Strips of paracetamol, antacids, and digestive tablets sit on kitchen shelves because that is where people remember to take them. The logic is practical. The chemistry is not. Heat accelerates the molecular breakdown of most solid-dose drugs. The expiry date printed on the strip assumes storage between 15°C and 25°C, the standard pharmaceutical benchmark. A kitchen shelf near a flame is nowhere close.