The per capita consumption of soft drinks in the United States was 1,464 in 2002. Within the soft drinks market, the sale of diet soda in the United States has risen since the mid-1990s. Diet cola leads the way in diet soda sales. With no calories, no fat, no carbohydrates, no sugar and no protein, diet colas have essentially no nutritional value. The main ingredient of diet cola is carbonated water, and various chemicals make up the rest of the ingredient list.
Artificial Sweetener
Aspartame is the ingredient in diet cola which gives the cola its sweet flavor. Aspartame is an artificial sugar replacement sweetener that makes the cola sweet without adding any calories. In the food industry, aspartame is assigned a sweetness value of 200, meaning it tastes 200 times sweeter than regular table sugar, or sucrose. First approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1981, aspartame is considered safe as a general purpose sweetener in food.
Acids
The next two ingredients of diet cola are phosphoric acid and citric acid. Known as acidulants, these acids act to acidify the diet cola and give it its distinctly tangy flavor. Although citric acid is the most widely used acidulant in all foods, phosphoric acid is the most common acidulant in colas.
Food Color
Another ingredient in diet cola is caramel color. Caramel color is a soluble food coloring used to give the diet cola a rich, brown color. Made from heating sugars, it is the most common coloring used in foods. In addition to being added to colas, caramel color is often added to chocolate, beer, whiskey and vinegar.
Caffeine
Diet colas that are not caffeine-free have caffeine as an ingredient. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. Caffeine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an additive to soft drinks in concentrations less than 200 parts per million. An average diet cola contains about 45 mg of caffeine. As a comparison, an 8 oz cup of coffee contains 27 to 173mg of caffeine.
Preservatives
The final ingredient of a typical diet cola is potassium benzoate, a food preservative that stops the growth of bacteria and other microbes. In food, most preservatives are fungistatics, which means that their role is stop that growth of mold, fungi and yeast rather than bacteria. Without the use of preservatives, foods can develop a bad taste, a bad smell, or harbor microbes.
References
- Spelmanresearch.com: "Sorft Drink Market Overview"
- Mayo Clinic: "Artificial Sweeteners: Understanding These and Other Sugar Substitutes"
- Center for Science in the Public Interest: "Chemical Cuisine"
- Emeraldmaterials.com "Potassium Benzoate"
- The Los Angeles Times: "Diet Soda Sales Rise in Calorie-Minded US"
- Self Nutrition Data: "Diet Coke"
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