# Will heat ruin canned soda? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128 "2008-04-27T21:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/1 "2008-04-27T21:02:17Z")
My boss (my father) wants me to make some calls this week about brining in a lot of soda. 100 32-packs or so, since we’ve been going through so much lately. The problem is, most likely it would have to be kept in an un-conditioned place which means it’s temprature will fluctuate from (I’m guessing) 50 or 6o degrees to probably 100 to 105 degrees on hot days. My question is, will that make the soda taste bad. I know I can tell if my bottle of water that’s been in my car has gotten really hot as it tends to taste like plastic, but these will be cans of soda AND (this is probably important) no one that’s drinking them will be aware that they reached those temps. If I do get this soda I’m going to see what I can do to keep it in the main building but it might not work. So would that be a problem? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/2 "2008-04-27T21:21:59Z")
I’ve had soda cans explode at 105 degrees. It won’t taste any better, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/3 "2008-04-27T21:34:34Z")
Why not buy a sixpack of softdrinks (whichever ones you’re going to order) and pop them in the oven or a waterbath at 100 or 105 (I presume you’re talking F not C here) and leave them there for a couple of hours before chilling them and tasting them? (and then post the results here!) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/4 "2008-04-27T21:58:01Z")
Soda cans will explode at in garage temperatures during the hottest summer months. I wouldn’t store _any_ carbonated beverages in an un-airconditioned place from June-August for that reason. Don’t know how it affects flavor, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/5 "2008-04-27T22:00:56Z")
Anecdote ahead, use at your own risk: My mother and I both like Diet Pepsi. She tended to buy in bulk and store it in the garage (which in Arizona gets pretty damn hot), while I buy less at a time and put it either directly in the fridge or store it in the pantry. Hers, even coming out of the fridge, consistently tasted significantly worse than mine until I asked her to start storing the cans inside the house. Now the taste isn’t much different at all. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/6 "2008-04-27T22:41:54Z")
The artificial sweetener will definitely break down. I say “yuck” to unsweetened diet caffiene free coke. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/7 "2008-04-27T23:15:20Z")
Aspartame breaks down at high temperatures, and formaldehyde is one of the breakdown products. I’m not sure how hot it has to get to break down, but it is certainly considered unsuitable for baking. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/8 "2008-04-27T23:26:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I’m not sure how hot it has to get to break down, but it is certainly considered unsuitable for baking. [/QUOTE] We had massive problems with this at the amusement park, we eventually mounted a small AC unit on the room where we stored the cans/20oz bottles until loaed into machines. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/9 "2008-04-28T10:18:14Z")
I know someone who had a case of Mtn. Dew explode in her car on a hot day. Big mess. I wouldn’t risk it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/10 "2008-04-28T13:01:51Z")
[QUOTE=Tamex] I know someone who had a case of Mtn. Dew explode in her car on a hot day. Big mess. I wouldn’t risk it. [/QUOTE] Hmmm, I’ve never had this happen to me in the 10+ years I’ve had Mt Dew in my car in Florida, but then again it’s never directly exposed to the sun. But if it does get kept in the car for several weeks the taste is slightly different. But one or two cycles of heat/cooling doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. So if you have a high turnover of your soda, I’d say it most likely wouldn’t make a difference, taste-wise. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/11 "2008-04-28T13:41:20Z")
I once had a can of pop burst in the back seat of my car on a hot summer day. My first thought was that someone had thrown or shot something through the back window because immediately, I saw something appear on the inside of the windshield. I had to laugh (after my heartrate returned to normal) when I saw that dripping from the window, and pretty much every place else in the car, was diet coke. …and now, back to your regularly scheduled OP… ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/12 "2008-04-28T15:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=CC] I once had a can of pop burst in the back seat of my car on a hot summer day. My first thought was that someone had thrown or shot something through the back window because immediately, I saw something appear on the inside of the windshield. I had to laugh (after my heartrate returned to normal) when I saw that dripping from the window, and pretty much every place else in the car, was diet coke. …and now, back to your regularly scheduled OP… [/QUOTE] That reminds me of the [Biscuit Bullet](http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/biscuit.asp) legend. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-heat-ruin-canned-soda/447128/13 "2008-04-28T15:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Aspartame breaks down at high temperatures, and formaldehyde is one of the breakdown products. [/QUOTE] This is true, but I wouldn’t worry too much about the concentration of formaldehyde you’ll get from this. A great many things we eat including most fruit contain small amounts of formaldehyde.