Carbonated sodas or “soft drinks” are not perishable, despite the fact that they have dates printed on their labels. These dates are not expiration dates, but are instead either manufacturing dates or sell-by dates. While a soda will not maintain it’s best taste and quality indefinitely, it will still be safe to drink, even after years, if left unopened. However, the carbonation and taste will change. Sodas lose carbonation after prolonged storage and other changes take place that cause the beverage to not taste as it was intended.
How Long Can You Keep a Soda Before Drinking It?
It is generally advised to drink a sugar-sweetened soda within 9 months of purchasing it. Diet sodas, however, do not maintain their quality as long and should be consumed within 3 months of purchase. The “best buy” date tells you when the soda is expected to be at it’s peak quality and taste. After this date has passed, the soda company does not guarantee that the soda will be at its best. The soda will still probably be safe to drink, though. Storing sodas in a cool, dry place will help maintain their quality longer.
As a rule of thumb, remember that diet sodas, in general, have a shorter shelf-life than regular sodas and must be enjoyed sooner in order for them to be at peak quality. After opening a bottled soda, you can store it in the refrigerator or even the pantry as long as it the cap is replaced and the bottle is tightly sealed.
So, You Can Drink a 50-Year-Old Soda?
This is where the rubber meets the road, or rather whether the theory meets the evidence. The acidic environment inside a can or bottle of soda pop is thought to not support the growth of bacteria. While an antique bottle of Coca-Cola may be safe to drink, you can bet it will be completely flat, will have lost much of its flavor, and will taste strange, if not foul. However, we also don’t actually know whether it’s completely safe to drink because, as you could have guessed, nobody has carried out scientific experiments to test whether a 50-year-old soda pop is safe to drink. So, if you come across some old, discontinued soda that you always wanted to try, it’s probably best not to try it!
How Do You Read the Dates Stamped On Sodas?
The dates you will find on a soda label or stamped on the bottom of soda can indicated different things on different products. On some sodas, the date is a manufacture date. On others, the date is a sell-by date. Both use an MMMDDYY date, except Pepsi leaves spaces between each date component (MMM DD YY). This means the date will read as a three letter month abbreviation, a two-digit day, and a two-digit year. Therefore, the date JUN2125 (JUN 21 25) indicates a sell-by date of June 21, 2025.
Coca-Cola cans bear sell-by dates on the bottom and bottles will have a sell-by date on the cap. The same is true of Pepsi cans and bottles. Expect Coke or Pepsi to be good for 6 to 9 months after this date.
7Up and A&W cans have a manufacture date on the bottom, in Julian format, MM DDD Y. For example, the date “06 172 5” would indicate day 172 of the year, or June 21, 2025. They are considered to be good for nine months after this date for regular sodas and 3 months for diet sodas. Canada dry products use the same dating system but have a shelf-life of 39 months after the printed date. Any other code you see on a soda label besides the date typically has no bearing on its shelf life.
