Fri 11 Jun 2010
Coke Habit
Posted by anaglyph under Bizarre, Daft Advertising, Food & Drink, Food Science
[21] Comments
Some questions:
1. Coke has an expiry date?
2. Why are they selling it in a pharmacy?
3. Why do you need ‘grip’ on a Coke bottle?
4. Is ‘Just out of date’ any different to ’10 years out of date’ when it comes to Coca Cola?
5. Why don’t pharmacists have any sense of humour? ((I pointed out that I thought it was funny and she looked at me as if I was a lunatic.))
6. Coke has an expiry date?
Actually, coke in bottles goes flat after the expiration date. Even bottled water has an expiration date. It is sort of like milk, you can drink it past that date, at your own risk. Although, I would suggest drinking it within a year of the expiration.
Personally, I wouldn’t drink milk a year past the expiration.
I had a couple of friends.
One of them (who, incidentally, I am now married to) kept a 2pt bottle of milk under her counter for about four years.
The other was Mick, the bottle of milk. Nice guy, all in all, but she kicked him out when she found him in bed with Jenny the laundry pile.
Also, I’m sceptical that coke goes flat past its sell by. Is there nothing I’m not sceptical of?
Although, I wonder why coke is so expensive where you are. A 20 oz bottle (590ish ML, I believe) is only $1USD, and you can find it cheaper. What country are you guys in?
We’re in a country with less of an obesity problem than you.
(And if you think Coca Cola is expensive, you should try our telecommunications companies rates on for size.)
Sorry I do Pepsi
@ Response to #4: GOLD!
Drinking Coke, whether expired or not, is the ultimate act of faith. I mean what IS it exactly?
And yes, shit costs too much in Australia.
AFIAK it is NOT legal to sell edible products that are past their use by date. I believe this chemist could get in some serious trouble for that.
I’m not sure about regular coke, but the diet varieties of coke do have a limited lifetime. The sweetener breaks down over time and loses it’s flavour. The actual liquid isn’t toxic, but it certainly won’t taste as good. This break down is sped up quite a lot if the drink is kept warm, for example sitting on the back of a truck during a 40 degree (Celsius) day.
I would expect that the various flavours and possibly the caffeine in regular Coke may also break down over time.
Water, although filtered for impurities and bacteria, might not get all of it, and if left for long enough might cultivate enough to be harmful, thus I assume the reason for the use by date there.
Interesting. I buy the idea that the sweeteners might change over time. Sugar, however, is pretty stable for a VERY long time. And the carbonation would obviously suffer quicker than anything else. I’d be curious to know exactly what the shelf life of Coca Cola officially is…
And further on that, it seems that the consensus is about nine months or so, depending on what type of Coke. Saccharin evidently extends the life expectancy of Coke rather than inhibits it.
My mum bought a 2l bottle when I was young and it was flat. She took it back and bought another – it was flat too. She wrote a letter to coke and a van arrived with a 6 month free supply.
A family of happy little cokeheads was born.
Geez. Exactly how much is a 6 month free supply? (Well, in my case they’d get off cheap – I haven’t had any Coca Cola in more than a year if I remember correctly)
The reason they put an expiry date on the coke is due to the slight permeability of the bottle. The plastic bottle, while very nearly airtight, leaks very slightly (like how a balloon filled with air slowly deflates over time, only with the bottle it’s slower). Over the course of time the Coke becomes flat. Heat will increase the pressure in the bottle, thereby increasing the speed at which the Coke becomes flat. A bottle of Coke stored at room temp (75f or 24c) will stay carbonated for at least three years. Coke puts an expiry date of 18 months after production to account for varying storage and shipping conditions. Drinking an expired bottle of coke will not harm you at all (well, not any more damage than a bottle of coke would normally do), and in most cases the soda will still be carbonated.
In the US it’s illegal to sell items classified as “perishable” (such as milk, yogurt, eggs) after their expiry dates. On items classified as “Non-perishable” (such as bottled soft drinks and canned food) the date is considered to be a “best by” date as opposed to a true expiration date, so they can still be sold without problem.
I love my readers.
Living in Sweden I am very well aware of this “going off” thing as the Swedes are completely obsessed with those little dates. It drives me mad.
And much as I hate to blow my own trumpet (really, I can barely reach my own trumpet) I have penned a very amusing blog article on this very topic. Really, it’s quite good.
Dammit… so much for being fancy with embedded urls… sigh…
http://paddyk.wordpress.com/2006/07/11/best-before-hysteria/
And getting back to the article – couldn’t you just buy up the expired coke that has gone flat and then pump it up again in your soda-stream?
the expired diet coke taste bad!