Mountain Dew is one of the most popular soft drinks on the market, right up there with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper.
In their own words, many people like the high-octane taste and high caffeine content of Mountain Dew and it has achieved a kind of niche following among gamers.
But, what happens if you drink bad Mountain Dew?
Is it ok to drink expired Mountain Dew?
Yes, it is safe to drink an expired Mountain Dew. Sodas are generally considered non-perishable goods, so even if you drink them after the expiration date on the label, you won’t get sick and nothing bad will happen to you.
Those expiration dates on soda bottles like Mountain Dew are for flavor and taste, not whether the beverage is safe to consume. They are more kin to a best-before date.
If you drink an expired Mountain Dew, it may have lost carbonation and some of its flavor, but it will not harm you.
Mountain Dew does not contain any ingredients that will make you sick if expired and there is no risk to drinking expired soda in general.
The worst thing that will happen is you drink what would appear to be a watered-down flat Mountain Dew.
In fact, most expiration dates are estimations, not strict time limits.
If your Mountain Dew is a few days past the expiration date, you can drink it and it will taste normal.
Even if it is a few months after the expiration date, it will not hurt you and probably will just taste kind of flat.
How to Read Mountain Dew Expiration Date
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Like most soda cans and bottles, Mountain Dew puts the expiration date on the bottom or side of the container.
Expiration date labels are typical in YYMMDD format where YY is the last two digits of the year, MM is the months in two-digit format, and DD is the day in two-digit format.
So for example, if you look at the expiration date label on the bottom of your Mountain Dew can and it says 24/06/12, then that means its expiration date is June (06) 12th (12) 2024 (24).
How Long Does it Take Mountain Dew to Expire?
Most of the time, Mountain Dew has a shelf life of a few months to a year.
Even if the expiration date has passed, Mountain Dew still should be safe to drink.
It may be flat and have lost some of its flavors though. You can drink Mountain Dew up to 6 months after its expiration date and most of the time it will be fine.
Some people even report drinking 5-year-old cans of Mountain Dew and they still taste fine.
If you have a can of expired Mountain Dew, here is what you should check.
First, check to make sure the can is still pressurized.
If it is, it will still be hard. If they can still be pressurized then that means all of the carbonation is still intact, which means it is likely that the drink will still taste relatively normal.
If the can has lost its pressure and is soft, then you should throw it away.
Not because the Mountain Dew has gone bad, but that means that there is a leak in the seal, and other bad things like bacteria and microbes may have gotten in and contaminated the drink.
If the can is still hard, then it should be perfectly safe to drink, it just may not taste as good as normal.
Where you store the soda can also affect how quickly it goes bad. Storing soda in hot places can cause it to lose its flavor and carbonation quicker than in cold storage.
Also, if the container is damaged it can cause the drink to expire more quickly.
What About an Opened Bottle of Mountain Dew?
Say you opened a bottle of Mountain Dew, put it in your fridge, and forgot about it for 6 months.
Would that still be safe to drink?
Probably not. If you have previously opened a can or bottle of Mountain Dew, that effectively nullifies the expiration date.
When you open a soda can or bottle, it loses much of its carbonation as the bottle or can is open to the outside atmosphere.
While it is unlikely that drinking an opened bottle of soda past its expiration date will harm you, there is always the possibility that the drink has been contaminated with something from outside.
An opened bottle of soda will generally keep its flavor for a few days while a can will lose its flavor in about a day.
This is because you can put a bottle cap back on and keep some of the carbonation in. Opened cans of soda, on the other hand, will go bad within a day or two.
Does Mountain Dew Expire Similarly in the Diet Version As Well?
The story is slightly different for Diet Mountain Dew. Most regular non-diet sodas are made with sugar, which has a relatively long shelf life.
However, most diet sodas nowadays are made with artificial sweeteners like aspartame.
Artificial sweeteners go bad much more quickly than natural sugars, so diet sodas usually have a shorter shelf life.
While regular sodas can last between 6 months to a year after their expiration date, diet sodas usually only last about 2-3 months after the expiration date.
So if you have some diet soda that is 3 months past the expiration date, odds are the artificial sweeteners have degraded and the drink will taste bad.
Still though, drinking an expired diet soda probably won’t harm you; it will just have an unpleasant taste.
What Will Happen If You Drink Expired Mountain Dew?
Does mountain dew go bad?
Mountain Dew is one of the most popular sodas in the world, and for good reason.
Even if you happen upon an expired can of Mountain Dew, drinking it won’t hurt you and you won’t get sick.
Mountain Dew can normally last up to 6 months after its expiration date.
If you drink expired Mountain Dew, the worst thing that will happen is you drink a nasty-tasting soda.
I’m the owner and blogger here at SodaPopCraft.Com. I’m a soft drinks enthusiast, bringing you all I know and research from the world of Beverages, Soda Pop, Soft Drinks, and many more.
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