Soda – it’s everywhere! Even if you don’t want to drink them, you’ll find sodas displayed pretty much everywhere, including vending machines, fast-food chains, and grocery checkouts.
Drinking soda daily can quickly become a habit. So, if you find yourself stocking up on soda and wonder if it’s safe to consume past the expiration date, keep reading!
It is still safe to drink sodas past their expiration date. However, while drinking expired soda has no health consequences, it may leave an awful taste in your mouth. This is because sodas start to lose carbonation and become flat past their expiration date.
Sodas stay refreshing for about six to nine months after their expiration date. Most sodas generally expire around the same time, so whether you’re drinking Coke, Pepsi, or Redbull, you’ll find that their expiration dates are relatively the same.
Is Expired Soda Bad For You?
It is easy to be taken away by buying too much soda. So, if you feel like your soda might be expired, it is best to check its expiration date.
All sodas come with a best-by date, which signifies the soda’s quality. So, drinking soda past its expiration date is perfectly safe. If you drink expired soda, you don’t have to worry about being sick, but you may have to deal with flat, awful-tasting soda.
However, sometimes, your mind may trick you into feeling sick. This often happens to people who are extremely health conscious. For example, they may feel nausea or fever if they consume expired soda.
In most cases, this has nothing to do with the soda itself. Instead, their brain may be tricking them into feeling icky.
Can Expired Soda Make Your Stomach Upset?
Most people do not get an upset stomach after consuming expired soda. However, some people may end up having a stomach ache.
This is because people have different kinds of stomachs depending on their health. The modified acids and some weak bacteria may enter your stomach and disturb your stomach functions.
So, just like spicy food, some people may get stomach aches and indigestion after consuming expired soda, and some may feel perfectly fine.
What Happens To Soda When It Expires?
Sodas mainly expire due to the lack of carbonation and artificial sweeteners in diet sodas. Once a soda has been opened and exposed to open air, carbonation will rapidly leak out of the container.
Carbonation is what gives sodas their fizz and flavor. The lack of carbonation when a soda has been opened makes the drink lose its flavor rather quickly. However, if you use a bottle as a container for your soda, you can reseal it and make the soda last a little longer.
Here’s a tip: If you notice any unopened sodas leaking, rusting, bulging, or denting – it is best to discard them immediately for quality purposes.
How Can You Tell If Your Soda Is Expired?
If you want to make sure that your soda is still good to drink, the first thing you should check is the expiration date on the container.
Commercially packaged unopened sodas typically have a ‘Best By,’ ‘Best Before,’ or ‘Best When Used By’ date. However, this is not a safety date. Instead, it is the manufacturer’s assumption of how long an unopened soda will remain at its peak quality.
Because sodas are safe to consume past the expiration date, there are other ways to tell if your sodas have gone bad. First, you should check the quality of the container.
Even if the container looks beaten or dusty, you may be able to tell if the airtight seal has remained intact. On the other hand, if the container seems fine and you still want to ensure the soda is good enough to consume, your senses will be your best shot.
The first sign of an expired soda is the loss of carbonation (CO2), which makes the drink bubble. However, it is still okay to drink the soda if the fizz has disappeared a little. If you find no bubbles or fizz, your soda is likely to have gone flat.
In that case, your soda would still be safe to consume, but it would be flat and would likely not taste good.
What Is The Best Way to Store Soda?
The best way to store soda is by keeping it in a cool dark place. An open bottle of soda will keep its carbonation for a couple of days, whereas a sealed bottle will likely last a while if properly stored.
Unopened sodas generally stay at their best quality for about three to six months after the date on the package when stored at room temperature. Although, they will remain safe to drink after that as well.
On the other hand, if you store your sodas in the refrigerator, they will likely stay at their best quality for about three to nine months after the date on the package.
Here’s a tip: You can use plastic containers made to close up soda bottles to help keep them fresh for a couple of days.
How Can You Extend The Shelf Life of Soda?
While storing soda in the kitchen or pantry is fine, there are ways to extend sodas’ shelf life further.
For instance, you should store your sodas in cool, dark places to make them last longer. Ideally, the temperature you store your sodas should be as consistent as possible. The best way to ensure this is to refrigerate your sodas to keep them pleasant past the expiration date.
Additionally, bottled soda lasts longer than canned soda after it’s been opened. So, you should purchase bottled soda more as it can last two to three days longer than canned soda, especially if you don’t finish your drink in one sitting.
How Long After Soda Expires Can You Drink It?
The table chart below: shows when unopened and opened soda bottles and cans begin to expire past the expiration date:
| Type of Container | Room Temperature | In the Refrigerator |
| Unopened bottle of soda | 3-6 months past the expiration date | 3-9 months past the expiration date |
| Unopened can of soda | 3-6 months past the expiration date | 3-9 months past the expiration date |
| Opened bottle of soda | 1-3 days | 2-5 days |
| Opened can of soda | 12-20 hours | 12-24 hours |
How Long After Diet Soda Expires Can You Drink It?
Diet sodas generally degrade more quickly after opening and expiration date than standard sodas. Although they remain safe to drink, they lose their flavor exceptionally quickly.
This is because diet sodas use artificial sweeteners to sweeten the beverages. These chemicals begin to break apart and dissolve into the drink after a certain time, affecting the overall taste of the soda.
The quality and taste of the soda usually depend on how far past its shelf life it is. Generally, most sodas are refreshing as ever three to nine months past the expiration date. Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that it is safe to consume soda beyond the sell-by date.
So, expiration dates are more critical for diet sodas as they can taste awful past the expiration date. Unopened diet sodas can last between three to nine months, depending on how they have been stored.
Here’s a tip: You can place unopened diet sodas away from direct sources of seat and light to extend their shelf life.
Conclusion
Whether you drink an expired soda or not is entirely up to you, as you are unlikely to suffer any negative consequences to your health.
However, drinking expired soda may make your taste buds suffer. This is because opened sodas can become flat and expire faster than unopened sodas.
If you consume soda regularly and stock up, it is ideal checking the expiration date on your sodas. If you’re past the expiration date, check for the fizz in your drink.
If your soda lacks carbonating, your drink may taste bad. But sodas can last a long while and be as refreshing as ever if stored properly.
