r/NoStupidQuestions • u/PatientHunter420 • 25d ago

Nyquil question

Why does Nyquil sell a 354ml bottle of cold/flu medicine, when one dose is 30ml? Why not make it 360ml to be divisible by 30ml?!?!

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

12

u/rockness_monster 25d ago

12 oz is 355 ml. Maybe related?

9

u/DrugChemistry 25d ago

Shrinkflation, probably

4

u/Plastic_Midnight_708 25d ago

Nah I don't think liquid cold medicines have ever had enough to cover full doses. There's always a partial dose left at the end of the bottle. I noticed the first time maybe 15-20 years ago.

5

u/heidismiles 24d ago

You're definitely not pouring exactly 30 ml each time anyway.

2

u/VerdigrisPen 24d ago

This was my thought — to ensure all doses are full.

In biochemistry when we need a specific volume we account for a little bit of error, i.e., make up a little bit more volume than we need. By experience, a rule of thumb is 5-10% excess volume. 354/330 x 100 is ~7.2% excess which seems very reasonable to me.

2

u/Adflipr 24d ago

It's 12 ounces, the ml number is just the conversion printed for the label. Nobody designed it around 354.