You may recall that there was a farily big hoo-ha recently when it was discovered that Coke was taking “out-of-date” coke and selling it in “poorer neighborhoods, okay ghettos.” From the press coverage one would have thought that Coke was impaling newborn infants and roasting them on a spit on network tv.
My question is this—can soda "go stale? I realize that if you open a can and just leave it sitting it will go flat, and the same thing will happen with a bottle of the stuff, but what if it is unopened?
Personally I think that these “drink-by-dates” that they have on sodas know are just some kind of marketing ploy. Am I wrong?
Our “boss” kindly donated a case of coke to the office fridge. I noticed an off taste but said nothing. The second one I drank, I looked at the date. It was 8 months after the date printed on the can.
No one got sick, but everyone noticed the strange taste. It was in cans.
They do flatten, even through the can. We had a case similar to samclem’s at work, though the cans were just about to expire. They were very flat; the diet more than the regular. Interesting in light of Cecil’s experiments with Diet Coke having more foam than the regular stuff. That article can be found at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_043.html.
With a case of very old Vernor’s ginger ale in 20oz bottles, every one of them was 80% flat. Still tasted great, but no fizz. Maybe the plastic caps leak out CO2 very slowly?
PS, if you haven’t tried it, track down Vernor’s. A really great ginger ale (closer to cream soda, actually.)
I would respectfully point out that while Vernor’s is really good, it has a very strong ginger taste and doesn’t taste like cream soda, which is vanilla flavored.
Now this is a subject I can answer with some authority, as both major soda companies are my clients. We do audits for them to investigate instances of transshipment offenses.
All the codes on the bottom of the can actually mean something. (where it was made, who made it, what time, etc).
Believe it or not, the date that is stamped on the bottom of the can has more to do with when the soda was made then it’s freshness dateThough it is also a freshness date also, you can add about 3 months to that date for diet soda, 5 months for regular.
rjung is on target about diet soda. The artificial sweetner is a combination of things, and can actually disintergrate after a period of time, and there will be no “sweetner” properties left. Drinking a really old can of diet soda taste like having a mouth full of chemicals.
Many of the Coke/Pepsi bottling plants are not owned by the corporation itself, but are franchises operated by local owners.
I left a open half can of pepsi in my basement, I located it 3 months later and found a slug type thing growing in it… Wait, we’re talking about non open cans aren’t we? Oh well, it was still gross to pull the thing outta the can so I could recycle it.
Wearia
My best friend and I actually rather enjoy a slightly aged brew (Coke). We often travel to quiet country service stations in search of a fine vintage drop. Of course, there is a fine line between mature and stale, I usually find it to be at approx 6-7 months of age. Other signs to look for when chasing the perfect brew include transparency, level of condensation and and the shake test. However, many have referred to our habits as obsession.
I have to strongly disagree with the above statement. Printed on the side of the can of Pepsi sitting right in front of me says Best Taste if consumed by date on bottom of can. The date on the bottom of the can is JAN 27 03. It would be quite obvious that this can of soda was not made next January. I always check the dates on any bottled or canned soda and I will not drink one if it is past the printed date.
What I mean is, by counting backwards a certain amount of time (I’m not going to tell you what amount of time, because, believe it or not, that is a trade secret) it can be determined what date the soda was actually made on. The consume need not concern himself with that, just what date it’s good until. Using the date JAN 27 03 I could tell you on what date is was produced. Those dates were printed on the cans many years before the industry started calling them “freshness” dates, which has actually worked pretty good as a marketing device. Those dates used to be in code, so that only those in the know knew what date the soda turned old at, such as delivery drivers and vending companies. That date, as well as the rest of the codes all have significance, but nothing you as a consumer need to worry too much about. The “freshness date” is a good indicator to go by, but not drinking a soda because it’s a little over that date is silly. If it has been stored properly, it is fine for a while after that date.
Now, what surprises me is, no one has asked me what the heck an “instance of transshipment offense” is.
Well I assumed an instance of transshipent office is an offence regarding a shipment, such as sending a shaipment to the wrong location or shipping old product that is past it’s prime
Nah. It has to do with one bottler seller his product in another bottlers territory. Laws were set up to prevent this, in order to combat price fixing.
The soda companies occasionally have auditors out and about who’s sole job is to purchase soda to check to see if one bottler is trying to muscle in on another bottlers territory. The codes on the bottom of the can are used to trace the soda back, to assertain who exactly moved the product into the area, a bottler or a third party, such as a vending company or wholesale broker.
If it turns out that it was a bottler, the offending bottler get’s a fine.
I’d give more details but they’d bore you to tears.
I do like performing these audits for these clients though. I get to spend my whole work day buying soda! And yes, I get to drink it!
