The old Sprite has a higher concentration of solids remaining after baking. Table 1 above shows the weights of the Sprite samples before and after baking. Results Sprite samples before (top) and after (bottom) baking.

Sprite formula appears to be unchanged 2009 2018Ĭomparing the ingredients and nutrition facts from the labels of the 20 Sprite bottles suggests that my assumption that the formula has not significantly changed is likely true. The intent is to dry the sugar without too much caramelization. The Sprite was baked at around 150☌ until nearly dry, then at around 90☌ for an hour more. The old Sprite should have a higher fraction of solids because water was lost. The methodology is fairly simple: Take a sample of Sprite and weight it, bake it until mostly dry, then weigh the amount of unevaporated solids (sugar) remaining. If I assume that the Sprite formula is the same for both bottles, then I can calculate the amount of water that left the bottle by comparing the sugar concentrations between the old and new bottles. If a substantial amount of water (but not sugar) has left the bottle, then the sugar concentration in the bottle should have increased. How much water was lost? I’m going to find out… As can be seen, the old bottle has been squished, as water has escaped but no air has entered to replace the lost water. On the right, a fresh unopened 710 mL bottle (2018). On the left, a partially-consumed 591 mL bottle, unopened for the last 9 years (2009).

In the picture below are two bottles of Sprite in PET bottles. Therefore, if you have a bottle of Sprite, you would expect the water to be absorbed by the plastic, diffuse through the bottle, then evaporate outside the bottle. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a plastic commonly used to make beverage bottles.

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