Always Coca-Cola? Ain't Nothin' Like The Real Thing!

[Vintage lover]

My personal favorite is the Dr. Pepper with the real sugar. Saw some at a local super market a while back in tall cans. Wish I could run across them again

And speak of the devil look what I saw and bought today at wal-mart!

 

[Feraud]

Maybe they are around for good now.

Hope so. I don't drink much soda but appreciate the option.

 

[Mocheman]

And speak of the devil look what I saw and bought today at wal-mart!

Ha! I love the can graphic. I'll have to pick that up.

 

[swinggal]

All soft drinks in Australia are made with sugar (apart from diets ones). What is it with the US and corn syrup?? Fancy having to have 'made with sugar' written on a can of soft drink. That is crazy! And yeah, Coke tastes bleh in the US.

 

[swinggal]

Maybe I should bring real Coke over in October huh?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

What is it with the US and corn syrup??

Adding CS to soda is a cheaper sweetner that adding sugar, ergo, more profit for the company. The soda companies claim they did tests & no one can taste the difference. The thing is though, while both sugar & HFCS are both bad for you, you process the HFCS differently than you would the sugar.

 

[Chainsaw]

I'm not sure how this relates to soft drinks, but corn syrup is used in place of sugar most times because it is in fact a lot less sweeter then sugar. It has the same properties as sugar though, and is good for cooking etc.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Adding CS to soda is a cheaper sweetner that adding sugar, ergo, more profit for the company. The soda companies claim they did tests & no one can taste the difference. The thing is though, while both sugar & HFCS are both bad for you, you process the HFCS differently than you would the sugar.

I dunno where they did the tests, but they never asked me for my opinon. I can remember very clearly the changeover between sugar Coke and corn-syrup Coke -- it varied depending on the bottler, but in most places it happened in the early '80s (well before the New Coke debacle, despite urban myths to the contrary), and I could tell the difference even thought I didn't actually know about the sweetener change. It took a while before fountain syrup was changed to corn-syrup sweetener, and the contrast between fountain Coke made with sugar and bottled Coke made with corn syrup was very obvious.

It was all about money. At that point in time, sugar prices were up sharply, and the only way bottlers could maintain their price point was by cutting the cost. Bottlers don't buy finished syrup -- they buy concentrate, which they mix with water and sweetener to make the syrup, which then is mixed with carbonated water to make the actual soda. So the bottlers, not Coca Cola itself, were the ones getting hit with the rising cost, and Coke gave them the option of using sugar or corn syrup, whichever they preferred. It was only after pretty much all bottlers had changed over that Coke's fountain syrup division began using corn syrup.

 

[Vintage lover]

I dunno where they did the tests, but they never asked me for my opinon. I can remember very clearly the changeover between sugar Coke and corn-syrup Coke -- it varied depending on the bottler, but in most places it happened in the early '80s (well before the New Coke debacle, despite urban myths to the contrary), and I could tell the difference even thought I didn't actually know about the sweetener change. It took a while before fountain syrup was changed to corn-syrup sweetener, and the contrast between fountain Coke made with sugar and bottled Coke made with corn syrup was very obvious.

It was all about money. At that point in time, sugar prices were up sharply, and the only way bottlers could maintain their price point was by cutting the cost. Bottlers don't buy finished syrup -- they buy concentrate, which they mix with water and sweetener to make the syrup, which then is mixed with carbonated water to make the actual soda. So the bottlers, not Coca Cola itself, were the ones getting hit with the rising cost, and Coke gave them the option of using sugar or corn syrup, whichever they preferred. It was only after pretty much all bottlers had changed over that Coke's fountain syrup division began using corn syrup.

So I guess the reason you can get real sugar soda in Mexico but not the USA is due to the choices of bottling companies. Thanks for the info!

 

[jamespowers]

So I guess the reason you can get real sugar soda in Mexico but not the USA is due to the choices of bottling companies. Thanks for the info!

Sometimes even bottling companies in the US. When I used to work for Coke, we bottled that stuff right here in California. We never sold it here though. [huh]

 

[John in Covina]

THe flavor difference is very apparent between corn syrup and cane sugar to me. There are dieticians that warn people not to consume high fructose corn syrup but I don't recall what the health detriments are at this time.

 

[dr greg]

the experts tell us

THe flavor difference is very apparent between corn syrup and cane sugar to me. There are dieticians that warn people not to consume high fructose corn syrup but I don't recall what the health detriments are at this time.

http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/fructose_dangers.html
Don't drink anything fizzy that isn't fermented naturally maself, but it's a minority position I believe.
I lie there, I've been known to consume tonic with gin occasionally but the exception makes the rule!

 

[jamespowers]

http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/fructose_dangers.html
Don't drink anything fizzy that isn't fermented naturally maself, but it's a minority position I believe.
I lie there, I've been known to consume tonic with gin occasionally but the exception makes the rule!

They should be using that corn for what God intended---whiskey making.

 

[PoohBang]

Don't forget the huge US corn industry... it's a very powerful lobby...

 

[MrBern]

All soft drinks in Australia are made with sugar (apart from diets ones). What is it with the US and corn syrup?? Fancy having to have 'made with sugar' written on a can of soft drink. That is crazy! And yeah, Coke tastes bleh in the US.

I believe its the high US taxes on imported sugar.
We do grow a lot of corn.

There are claims that the increase of High Fructose CornSyrup in the American diet has increased chances of Pancreatic cancer. Of course there are those who disagree.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFN0210830520100802

 

[MrBern]

THe flavor difference is very apparent between corn syrup and cane sugar to me. There are dieticians that warn people not to consume high fructose corn syrup but I don't recall what the health detriments are at this time.

Some say its the cause for the nation's current childhood obesity dilemma as the fructose does not metabolize the same as sucrose. Moderation would work, but its become too common an ingredient to avoid:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841910,00.html

and theres some concern about Pancreatic cancer
http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFN0210830520100802

Oh, and liver problems too.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100322204628.htm

 

[dr greg]

not too sweet

I believe its the high US taxes on imported sugar.
We do grow a lot of corn.

I remember reading that the Kennedy administration had something to do with it as a way to hit the Cuban sugar industry and earn their campaign donations from exiled sugar barons...and that's history not politics IMO

 

[MrBern]

There was a commercial out saying hey, its made out of corn! Whats so bad about that? Its natural!
But the fact is, you can make lots of inedible things out of processed corn. Plastic can be made out of processed corn.

I imagine a lot or this will resolve if & when manufacturers decide its more lucrative to make biofuels out of corn & put the sugar back into coke.

 

[Vintage lover]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in short, I believe I can summarize what the majority of us want: GLASS BOTTLED SODAS MADE WITH REAL SUGAR. If I am correct, I say we start sending petitions to our local bottling companies, who's with me? Btw, would glass bottles be better for recycling and therefore for the environment? If they are, than that would be yet another plus in addition to the better taste. (Not that I am exactly an environmentalist)

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've asked our local Coke rep exactly that question about glass bottles -- and the answer I get is "weight." Full or empty, glass is heavier than plastic, and it costs more to ship. Plus, grocers don't like glass -- it's heavier to move around in the store and the issue of breakage is ever-present. If you ever saw a 64 ounce refillable glass soda bottle, it took two hands to lift it, and you could ruin your back lifting a case of them.

We had refillable glass bottles in Maine until the late '80s -- we've had a returnable bottle law since 1976. But the bottling and grocery industries complained for years about the increased shipping and handling costs, and when plastic soda bottles were introduced around 1988, they jumped on that bandwagon and never looked back.

Some of the "alternative" soda companies still use glass, but it's not proper refillable glass, and it's much more fragile and dangerous. I got gashed in the leg quite badly a couple weeks ago when a bottle of Izze literally exploded while I was restocking the cooler at work, and threw glass shards everywhere. Not fun.

If it were up to me, there would only be two options for Coke: 6 ounce refillable glass bottles, and fountain service. But they won't listen to my perfectly reasonable suggestions.