Can Mountain Dew Really Dissolve a Mouse Carcass?

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his week a man claimed he found a mouse carcass in a can of Mountain Dew. The parent company of Mountain Dew - PepsiCo called in experts who explained how 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, they said.

The question that arises now 


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?

It's believed that 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.

Defenders of Mountain Dew sometimes argue that orange juice contains as much or more citric acid as the neon green soda. 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.