The key development for storing drinks in cans was the interior liner, typically plastic or sometimes a waxy substance, that helped to keep the product's flavor from being ruined by a chemical reaction with the metal.

Cans saved a great deal of space and weight for wartime exports compared to glass bottles and did not have to be returned for refilling.

These early cans did not have a pull tab, being equipped instead with a crown cork (beer bottle top).

[5] Canned drinks were factory-sealed and required a special opener tool in order to consume the contents.

A smaller second hole was usually punched at the opposite side of the top to admit air while pouring, allowing the liquid to flow freely.

Cone top cans were sealed by the same crimped caps that were put on bottles, and could be opened with the same bottle-opener tool.

The popularity of canned drinks was slow to catch on, as the metallic taste was difficult to overcome with the interior liner not perfected, especially with more acidic sodas.

[6] In 2008, an aluminum version of the crowntainer design was adopted for packaging Coca-Cola's Caribou Coffee drink.

[citation needed] In North America, the standard can size is 12 US fl oz or 355 ml.

[citation needed] In Australia, the standard can size for alcoholic and soft drinks is 375 ml.

[18] In 2001, the Australian Aluminium Council reported that the average Australian-size can weighed approximately 14.9 grams (0.53 oz).

[20] In many parts of the world a deposit can be recovered by turning in empty plastic, glass, and aluminum containers.

Also, reducing ores such as bauxite into aluminum requires large amounts of electricity, making recycling cheaper than producing new metal.

[23] Modern cans are generally produced through a mechanical cold forming process that starts with punching a flat blank from very stiff cold-rolled sheet.

With the sophisticated technology of the dies and the forming machines, the side of the can is thinner than either the top and bottom areas, where stiffness is required.

Plain lids (known as shells) are stamped from a coil of aluminum, typically alloy 5182-H48, and transferred to another press that converts them to easy-open ends.

As early as 1922, inventors were applying for patents on cans with tab tops, but the technology of the time made these inventions impractical.

This eliminated the need for a separate opener tool by attaching an aluminum pull-ring lever with a rivet to a pre-scored wedge-shaped tab section of the can top.

Used primarily on Coors Beer cans in the mid-1970s, the push-tab was a raised circular scored area used in place of the pull-tab.

Push-tabs never gained wide popularity because while they had solved the litter problem of the pull-tab, they created a safety hazard where the person's finger upon pushing the tab into the can was immediately exposed to the sharp edges of the opening.

Cans are usually in sealed paperboard cartons, corrugated fiberboard boxes, or trays covered with plastic film.

[30] Mikolaj Kondakow and James Wong of Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada invented the pull tab version for bottles in or before 1951 (Canadian patent 476789).

In 1976, the Journal of the American Medical Association noted cases of children ingesting pull-tabs that had broken off and dropped into the can.

His patent expired in 1975 and has been directly cited in the mechanisms used by companies such as Crown Cork & Seal Co.,[34] BHP,[35][36] and United States Steel Corporation.

When the Sta-Tab launched in 1975, on Falls City beer and, quickly, other drinks, there was an initial period of consumer testing and education.

[40] This design, like Cudzik's, uses a separate tab attached to the upper surface as a lever to depress a scored part of the lid, which folds underneath the top of the can and out of the way of the resulting opening, thus reducing injuries and roadside litter caused by removable tabs.

Ball Corporation's from 2008 has a vent tube to allow direct airflow into the can reducing the number of gulps during the pour.

A version patented by Cogito Can[53] in France has been used by Groupe Casino, the French grocery chain for its private label energy drink.

The acronym UBC, for used beverage container, is employed by such companies as Apple, Inc for reference to the material of its portable laptop cases.

[56] A modern-day trend in craft alcohol is to design stickers to put on cans, allowing for smaller batches and quick changes for new flavors.