# drink can contents longevity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-can-contents-longevity/155977>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 18, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-can-contents-longevity/155977 "2003-02-18T22:36:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-can-contents-longevity/155977/1 "2003-02-18T22:36:38Z")

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a friend of mine recently cleaned out his fridge and found a can of beer that we estimated had been there over ten years.

it still fizzed but tasted terrible.

the question is: how long would it take for the contents of a drink container to totally leach away, if ever?

and if it did leach away what the hell would be in the can?

“air”?

would outside pressure crush the can?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drink-can-contents-longevity/155977/2 "2003-02-19T00:19:19Z")

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Well, no. The only way the contents of a beverage can could totally leak out is if the can were punctured or corroded through. That or a manufacturing defect that kept it from being completely sealed, which is a rare occurence. Barring corrosion, a modern can could hold its contents indefinitely, but in practice, corrosion would eventually eat throgh the container, spilling the contents. I have no figures on how long this would take for cans made today, but I suspect at least hundreds of years.