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Subscribe to RSSAn attempt to win a small court battle this week has put Mountain Dew in peril of losing a much larger war.
PepsiCo, the soft drink's parent company, defended itself against a man who claimed he found a dead mouse in a can of the citrus soda. Experts called in by PepsiCo's lawyers offered a stomach-churning explanation for why it couldn't be true: the Mountain Dew would have dissolved the mouse, turning it into a "jelly-like substance," had it been in the can of fluid from the time of its bottling until the day the plaintiff opened it, 15 months later.
Forget legal disputes over canned vermin. The new question has become: Is Mountain Dew really so corrosive that it can dissolve a mouse carcass? And if so, what does it do to your teeth and intestines? Is Mountain Dew's classic slogan — "It'll tickle yore innards" — the world's most sickening understatement?
Key to Pepsi's legal argument is that there's no chance a mouse's corpse could survive, intact, for 15 months swimming in Mountain Dew. While published studies have not been conducted on how rapidly Mountain Dew would dissolve a mouse, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the neon green soda can eat away teeth and bones in a matter of months, and would likely do quite a number on a rodent.
"I think it is plausible that it could dissolve a mouse in a few months," said Yan-Fang Ren of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, who has studied the effects of citric acid on bones and teeth. "But dissolving [the mouse] does not mean it will disappear, because you'll still have the collagen and the soft tissue part. It will be like rubber."
According to Ren, Mountain Dew contains citric acid, a substance naturally found in citrus fruits that exists as a powder in its purified, industrialized form. Most citrus sodas mix in the stuff to give drinks their tangy bite, while most colas, such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, incorporate phosphoric acid for the same effect. Consequently, these drinks have a low pH value around 3 (very acidic). Coca Cola, with its dark coloring and non-fruity flavor, may be the soft drink most often compared to battery acid, but in 2004, a well-known study led by dentist J. Anthony von Fraunhofer found that citrus sodas like Mountain Dew and Sprite erode tooth enamel around six times faster than colas. [ How Long Do Mafia Victims Take to Dissolve In Acid?]
When Fraunhofer's team soaked human molars in Mountain Dew for two weeks (a period of time comparable to approximately 13 years of normal beverage exposure, the researchers calculated) the molars' enamel lost more than 6 percent of its volume. Meanwhile, molars soaked in Coca Cola for two weeks lost slightly more than 1 percent of their enamel volume. (As a side note, "Diet" labels won't shield your teeth from the damage: In the study, Diet Mountain Dew eroded more than 8 percent of the tooth enamel in the course of two weeks.)
Citric acid in Mountain Dew would eat away a mouse's bones in a similar manner as it erodes teeth, breaking down the chemical bonds that hold the tissue together by infiltrating them with positively charged particles. "The acid also has a 'chelating effect' — it can combine with calcium in the bones, taking it away quicker," Ren told Life's Little Mysteries.
Your stomach and intestines, however, are built to withstand a variety of acidic digestive juices. For people with healthy digestive tracts, a little extra acid from Mountain Dew, which passes through your system relatively quickly, shouldn't harm your stomach like it does your teeth.
Defenders of Mountain Dew sometimes argue that orange juice contains as much or more citric acid as the neon green soda. "It's basically true," Ren said. "The pH of orange juice is between 3.5 and 3.8 — also very acidic. From what our experience is, yes, the rate of decay would be the same."
However, juice presents a small tradeoff: It erodes teeth, but it also provides vitamin C. "Orange juice has a healthy aspect, so people should continue to drink it," Ren said. He suggested minimizing the contact between the juice and your teeth by taking large gulps rather than small, frequent sips, then washing your mouth out with water. Or, you could use a straw.
Unlike orange juice, Mountain Dew contains no vitamin C… and, if you're lucky, no rubbery ghosts of mice, either.
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Leave a Comment:
Yuck!
It didn't say he drank it. (Hey, It's just like CrakerJack a prize inside!)
As a life long Dew addict, (since day 1 of the products introduction in the 60's) I have never found anything inside a bottle or can. Furthermore I have all my original teeth and no more than 5 cavities in my lifetime, (55 years and counting), only 2 since my 18th B Day. Yahoo!
Well...a previous article mentioned that he did take a sip, but noticed a horrendous taste. After opening if further, that's when he discovered the mouse. Still, I think this is just an elaborate ploy, kind of like the woman who claimed she found a human finger in her KFC chili bowl.
@IngVer
I believe the finger was found on a Wendy's bowl of chili so the lady claimed, after it was declared that the finger belonged to her husband who had accidentally cut it off at work.
As far as the mouse case is concern it appears that it is possible to have it dissolved, however upon experiments that have been done on you-tube videos I believe there would have been a mouse in tacked but really fragile in texture. I'm no scientist so I can't give a firm answer or speculate that this is true. It would be hard for a mouse to fall into a can of soda prior to being sealed. I call it fake, but then again there is that .0001 chance that it could have fallen in while it was on the assembly line.
For one, when soda is canned there's about a PH level of 1, very acidic. That is why the mouse would have dissolved. However, it's bull@!$%# to compare what is in the soda before you open it to it being opened after. When you open soda a large amount of the carbonation leaves bringing the PH level up to about 4, so no its not dangerously acidic to drink soda. It's silly what people will write to make a good article.
I am another dew, and now diet dew daily consumer. I keep expecting my eyes to glow fluorescent green some day, but it hasn't happened yet.
Seriously, if anything stays in side our gut for too long, including our own stomach acid, I would guess we would be in great distress.
Any soda works double duty as a coin cleaner, etc... talk about a non-story.
Actually, Mountain Dew was introduced in 1948.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew
It's called citric acid.
So, I wonder how many high school/college students are now trying to find a mouse to stuff in a bottle of "Dew" so they can run this expriment?
I did a high school science project using several different soda pop brands to show what the pop's effects were on teeth. I collected teeth lost from younger family members and placed the teeth in petri dishes with the soda covering the teeth, then monitored the the teeth daily, adding more soda to keep the liquid level just above the teeth.
Within 2 weeks considerable decay was detected in all 8 petri dishes. Within a month several did not even look as though they were teeth. It didn't stop me from drinking the stuff, though!
I'm fairly certain that soda could be used as "Mouse Be Gone", judging by what it did to the teeth.
Hard to post here. I am lost in thought of all the mountain dew I have drank over the last 40 years. I am 50 years old.
I am now understanding why I am going through thousands in teeth work to be healthy and have nice looking teeth again.
I gave up soda and sugary acidic drinks in my early 40's.....I practiced good brushing and dental habits also and always thought i maybe had bad genes or it was just old age...now I know it was my poor choice of poor drinks.
This is a lesson... what you WANT and what you NEED are definitely two different things.
Maybe some of the younger generation will read this and hear my story... rotten teeth and thousands... i repeat THOUSANDS of dollars later... it is not a matter of being vain and looks...it became about my health and the bad teeth and "my heart" being directly affected by it.
There is a good ending, I learned a lesson the hard way. I am now healthy. I have had no serious heart related issues and best of all is... I can smile again and tell my story to the younger generation.
I hope this even helps one person stop eating, and drinking, JUNK and ROTTING your body to a QUICK grave.
Shosyn... You did read the latter part of the article where the researcher readily admits that orange juice would have the same effect on your teeth as the junk, soda, and sugary acidic drinks your rail against? So...water?
There are times that something foreign is inside a sealed can of soda or the soda goes bad in the can. When I was a teen a friend and I went to my house after school. I pulled 2 sealed cans of Coke out of the fridge and handed one to my friend. He opened it, took a drank and immediately gagged and threw up in the kitchen sink. When my step-dad poured it out, a large mushy black lump fell out and he washed it down the sink. I know it was sealed as I handled it myself. I'm just lucky I gave him that one instead of drinking it myself ; ) The only time I've seen something similar come out of a can of Coke was when a friend left his on the floor next my couch in the corner. When I found it a couple weeks later it had a big slimy lump in it when I poured it out that look similar to what my friend drunk that day.
The Jimmy Hoffa case can finally be closed.
Shosyn - My sympathies -I too have a history of bad teeth, high dental bills and citrus soda addiction. I had to have several teeth replaced, even though I practiced good oral hygiene. I too thought it was bad genes or too much Mountain Dew until my dentist told me otherwise.
Given our closeness in age, maybe you have something else in common with me? I had strep throat frequently through my childhood, once turning to scarlet fever. My dentist says my lack of proper enameling and inner tooth structure comes directly from this, not so much my choice of beverage. If you too had a lot of high fevers back in the days when children's ailments were not as quickly caught, the chances are good you have fever damaged teeth. I have talked to others with a similar condition, only to be told I'm lucky I didn't end up with a heart murmur as well, which is another after affect of prolonged scarlet fever. Many people say they were not even aware there was a connection until their dentist showed them xrays of bad roots damaged since childhood.
I recall my days at university in the mid-70s when we would take the most tarnished pennies we could find and immerse them half-way into a bowl of chili. Every two minutes we would remove a penny and wipe it clean. After only ten minutes one-half of the penny looked as if it had just been minted.
I think the guy is just looking for some money.......I'll guess he gets a small settlement....nothing worth the trouble though...
He ought to be charged with fraud for making this up.
he probably saw Strange Brew and didn't realize it was a comedy not a documentary
Here's where news agencies and specified test results rely so heavily on the average American's general stupidity and inability to administer conscious thought processes.
Anyone with common sense would know that tooth enamel regenerates, so if you drink colas its not the same as soaking your teeth constantly in a vat of citric acid or others additives.
We have known since wee little children in school about the piece of chuck steak in a cola bottle, eroding the cellular matter.
Now, some geek scientist is telling us we should "gulp" our soda rather than relish and enjoy a soft drink the way any intelligent human being would want too. He is probably among the same idiots that have never decided, nor stood their ground on whether an aspirin is good for you or not to ward off cardiovascular problems.
These idiots get so bored with their lives, their lack of true intelligence to discover NEW facts instead of theories, they will post results of tests and purposely mislead the public just for infamous notoriety.
@djdrew201
Per the American Dental Hygienists' Association:
Once it is mature, enamel is almost totally absent of the softer organic matter. Enamel is avascular and has no nerve supply within it and is not renewed, however, it is not a static tissue as it can undergo mineralization changes.[
The high mineral content of enamel, which makes this tissue the hardest in the human body, also makes it susceptible to a demineralization process which often occurs as dental caries, otherwise known as cavities.[19] Demineralization occurs for several reasons, but the most important cause of tooth decay is the ingestion of sugars. Tooth cavities are caused when acids dissolve tooth enamel.
This reminds me of pepper spray its more or less a vegetable according to FOX news.
djdrew,
"Standing your ground" in science isn't always a good thing. One should always be ready to change their theories/views if and when new evidence emerges. I think that we are too quick to draw conclusions from studies that only look at one or two aspects of a thing, and later when new aspects of it are studied, those earlier conclusions have to be changed. Therefore, in my mind, the problem is that we are too quick to draw conclusions.
@djdrew201,
If you chip your enamel...that area will be lost forever...it will not regenerate itself to its original size. Remineralization doesnt mean its growing back. It means that the enamel that is remaining is getting stronger. There is no growth of enamel involved. Basically, enamel can become hardened through remineralization.
from,
Unless the mouse is still in the can, I'm calling B.S.
Good call. If these claimants could watch the assembly line where the cans are filled and sealed, they would know why it is not possible for a mouse to climb or fall into the can and be sealed inside - a moth or fly maybe - mouse no way.
You'd be suprised what ends up in mass-produced consumables. There's also a variety of red dye that is made from ground beetles.
Most people do not realize that cans are shipped flat unless they "nest", soda cans do not "nest" and use pressure to round them into shape. From that point to the filling step is about a heartbeat away, at the rate of speed and angle of fill it would be almost impossible to get a mouse into a can. Human contact is nil so fingers and such are also not going to make it into a soda can. I've spent twenty years in the canning industry and the claims like this do not happen often but I cannot recall any that were true. Cans are "dudded", weighed, inspected, and aged to insure that the product is correct in content and weight. David1 you are correct about the red dye, #5 I think, it is extracted from the bellies of a South American beetle and approved by the FDA. Many additives have bases from items that most people would rather not hear about!
david1, my husband is Japanese, I have seen him eat crickets. He is one of the healthiest people I know. What is wrong with eating beetles?
mailman8
Grind55
You are both incorrect. I have hauled cans for soda and beer companies for years, the cans are shipped totally preformed but without the tops. They are filled and capped on the assembly line, so it is very possible for a mouse to get sealed into a can. Plastic bottles on the other hand can be shipped as either preformed or as "blanks" to be formed just before filling.
Dave....most products (like Campari) have discontinued using the red beetle dye as many people are allergic to it.
There is nothing wrong with eating bugs, but there are quite a few of us out here that don't want to know if we are.
..Listen to your dentist. Brush, floss, and rinse with something like Listerine. The problem isn't in the drink. The problem is people who don't take care of their mouths, and people who don't moderate. If you take care of your teeth the way you're already supposed to, then having a mountain dew or pepsi with dinner isn't going to have any significant affect.
MD also has the highest caffeine content of any soda on the market.....even more than any cola or chocolate (per ounce.) You'd be surprised at the amount of rodent/insect content that does actually get into products that are mass produced. I worked at CSC for seven years in the engineering department. There are many OPEN kettles in the processing system, plus the conveyor belts that carry the raw material to the kettles, etc. Food/beverage processing/canning/bottling is NOT a closed-loop sealed system, nor are the cans totally sealed from the can manufacturer to the filler/sealer. There are many opportunities for contaminants to get into the product.
Did you never do the nail in a bottle of coke experiment in high school science class? This is just another example of that experiment.
No - but I did the Coke on the battery experiment though. And it worked like a dream!!
I honestly wonder how people did not know that these sodas will dissolve organic matter and a lot of inorganic matter. It's never been a secret.
It is interesting that I haven't seen any posters catch my initial statement....MD has the highest caffeine content of any soda on the market (what I didn't say is, even coffee, not just colas and chocolate.) Caffeine causes migraines and many other health problems. It is more of a problem than the acid in the beverages. Any of the "energy" drinks that are high caffeine content are also very bad for your health. You MIGHT get an 'instant" energy boost, but the long-range effect is disastrous to your health.
This could soon be more of a problem for PepsiCo than either this lawsuit or the amount of citric acid in the beverage. And that is what this story is all about, not the mouse in the beverage. What other problems face PepsiCo (and all beverage companies) down the road?
Well it's true that soda is pretty acidic. If the terminal on your car battery is corroded, soda works great! I have to admit though, whenever I crack open a can of anything one of my biggest fears is finding a human thumb or something lol. RP 2012
I think this comparison is stupid.
For 1, of course it's going to dissolve after being completely submerged in a mildly-acidic substance for 15 months. Even human bodies start to deteriorate when they're simply submerged in water for a long period of time.
For 2, a mouse being completely submerged in Mt. Dew for 15 months is not even comparable to your teeth being exposed to it for a very short time. Unless someone soaks their dentures in Mountain Dew, most of that acid gets washed away when you drink water or brush your teeth.
I agree, Ryan. Surely a mouse submerged in any liquid for 15 months would be deteriorated significantly? Would it even be recognizable as a mouse?
As for your second point, I agree too, but since I haven't drunk a soda in years -- after being told by a doctor that carbonation is bad for the bones -- I have no personal knowledge.
Hmm, time for the Mythbusters to tackle this one!
liquidmousedew.tumblr.com/
does anyone not know this? put a tooth and a hotdog in beaker full of soda it only takes a few days not even months. i have seen this done several times by several different people including mythbusters i believe. just dont drink soda. @ ryan its the cumulative effects that add up. go ahead drink it if you want but your going to have problems unless your brushing your teeth directly after every glass. which considering most people can't manage 1 time a day good luck...
Shawn-1649774,
That isn't correct. The main ingredient in soda pops is carbonic acid (carbonated water), which is a weak acid. Most have other ingredients that are acidic, including phosphoric acid in colas and citric acid or other weak acids. The acid that really causes damage to teeth is lactic acid from the decomposition of sticky food particles on teeth by bacteria. Plaque (sticky food particles) traps and holds the acid against the enamel allowing for its destruction and a resulting cavity. Pop will quickly wash off teeth and saliva will dilute and buffer/neutralize most of the acid that remains. Drinking large amounts of soda pop is ok for teeth (though it should be consumed in moderation), and really only requires the dentist recommended brush at bed time and after every meal.
File this story under "the average American is too dumb" to think for themselves file. I challenge ANYONE to place any organic matter in a SEALED can for over a month, open the can, and tell me what you have inside. PERIOD. I'm not a soda drinker, however, ANY LIQUID that does not have preservatives available to keep mammalian tissue intact will behave in a similar manner. I HOPE the PEPSI PEOPLE point this out before this hurts their revenues (LOL). I have no idea what the Ph is inside of a sealed soda can, but my guess is its NOT the best place for organic matter of ANY KIND.. much less a mouse.
All that acid would have steralized the mouse. So he ended up with a Mt. Dew with some protien in it. The mouse probabaly made the Mt. Dew healthier for him. *grin*
Poor mouse.
The test has begun: These mice were already in a trap that was in a barn.
liquidmousedew.tumblr.com/
BRAVO! SIR..
I had an Irish uncled that drowned in a vat of whiskey. People tried to save him, but he bravely fought them off. *sigh*
This douche needs to be charged with fraud or something. I hate people who try to earn an easy buck at the expense of someone else.
This should only be a surprise to anyone who didn't get past 8th grade science class.... gesh
I'll add some humor to this, one of my sister's job was to keep track the amount of mouse/rodent droppings found in silo of a major cereal. Still when you look at the amount of food that is consumed in the United States, we do one great job. Sorry, Ron Paul, I do not support you on this one issue, a few other I do. I just had a Hershey's Kisses, I hope there were ... wait the bag is moving with four little feet. Mister plaintiff who was your attorney?
Wow! Is there anyone out there who could read the entire piece without getting pukey?
If you held the mountain dew in your mouth for 15 months, then you'd have tooth problems. Since you enjoy breathing, that's never going to happen, so the whole issue is moot.
This story was written by Mountain Dufus!
People need to give their heads a shake. Stomach acid has a ph of .2; Coke is 1.2. According to this article Mountain Dew is lower than Coke, but still not as low as stomach acid. And for crying out loud, who walks around with a mouthful of soda pop; letting the acid eat away at the teeth? The effects on tooth enamel are minimal to non-existant. Maybe the guy's claim is bogus because after 15 months the mouse carcass, left to boil in a can of soda will not be what it once was. But except for the high sugar content, sodas taking in moderation are harmless.
I just looked up the ph:
Coke Classi - 2.53
Dr. Pepper - 2.92
Mountain Dew - 3.22
RC Cola - 2.5
Pepsi - 2.49
and your stomach - 2.0
Mountain Dew is strong enough to dissolve mice? That is awesome.
Dude, if I like, find a mouse in my beer, do do I get a free case eh?
Reference to "Strange Brew"... awesome!!!
I couldn't resist!
You ate the last doughnut you Hoser! Dad's gonna be pissed!
I think if the Mountain Dew dissolved the carcass, there would be gasses released that caused the can to burst.
I was thinking the same thing,I can alot of food out of our garden and sometimes if the sill isn't right it will go bad, It will sour and work ( ferment),you know foam and fume,it can burst the jar.If it was sealed and sanitized maybe even with the citrus content it would have suspended the effects, I would have to see it,could go either way. My Mom and got a Dr Pepper years ago,when you returned the bottle and half way through her drink I noticed something in the bottom, it was alge,serouily, she got sick as a dog ,I think from the thought of it ,not the drink. Sh1t really does happen.