How to store canned and packet drinks in Singapore heat

Heat and sunlight shorten a drink's life more than time does. Keep cartons off the floor, out of the sun and away from anything warm, and go by the date printed on the pack. What that means for a flat, an office and a stall.

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A sealed can or packet is built to sit on a shelf for a year or more. What shortens that is heat and sunlight, not time. In Singapore both are free and everywhere, so where you put the carton matters more than when you bought it.

The three rules

  1. Out of the sun. Direct sun on a carton warms it well past room temperature and does it every afternoon. A balcony, a windowsill, the back of a van, a car boot: none of these is storage.
  2. Off the floor and away from anything warm. Not beside the fridge's compressor, the oven, the water heater or a wall that takes the afternoon sun. A pallet, a shelf or even the carton it came in on a second carton keeps air moving underneath.
  3. Cool and dry is enough. A cupboard, a store room, the corner of an office. Air-conditioning is a bonus, not a requirement. Damp is worse than warmth for a cardboard carton and for the print on a can.

Do those three and the date printed on the pack is the date that counts.

What heat does to each kind

  • Cans lose fizz and pick up a flat, slightly metallic taste when kept warm for weeks. A can left in a hot car can bulge, and a bulging can goes in the bin.
  • Packet drinks (Tetra Pak) are the most tolerant of heat while sealed, and the least tolerant of being crushed. Store them so nothing heavy sits on the carton.
  • Plastic bottles are fine sealed, but sun on the plastic gives water a taste after a few weeks and, in the case of a car, a bad one. Keep them in the carton, which shades them.
  • Chilled drinks, the ones we deliver cold such as Haus Brew bottled tea, are a different case: they go in the fridge on arrival and stay there.

Best before

The date is printed on each unit, and sometimes on the carton end as well. Go by the unit if they differ. We do not reprint it on our product page, because the date on the pack in your hand is the only one that is certain.

Best before is about quality, not safety. An unopened, undamaged can a little past its date is usually fine and may taste flat. Anything swollen, leaking or dented along the seam is not worth the risk whatever the date says.

Once opened

A big bottle goes in the fridge and is finished within a few days. A packet drink with a straw hole is a drink, not storage. Cans are single serve; a half-finished can left out is a wasted can.

Rotation

Put the new carton behind or under the old one, and drink from the front. That is all "first in, first out" means, and it is the difference between finding an out-of-date carton at the back of the pantry and never doing so.

Where to order

Packet drinks, soft drinks by the carton, teas and water. Each product page says whether a pack is delivered chilled; everything else travels and keeps at room temperature.

Cartons people start with

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Questions

Can I keep cartons on the balcony or in the car?

Not for long. A balcony in the afternoon sun and a parked car both go well past room temperature, and cans and packets left there go flat, taste off or swell. A cupboard or a shaded corner indoors is fine.

Where is the best-before date?

Printed on each can, bottle or packet, and often on the carton end. Go by the unit, not the carton, if they differ. We do not reprint the date on our product page.

Does a drink go bad the day after its date?

Best before is about quality, not safety. An unopened, undamaged can or packet a little past its date is usually fine but may taste flat. A swollen packet or a bulging can goes in the bin, date or no date.

How long does an opened bottle keep?

In the fridge, a few days. Once opened it is no longer sealed and the date on the pack no longer applies.