What is the benefit of soda manufacturers adding caffeine to soda?

satguru

I'd expect the theory was to make people feel good for a while so buy more, and become a minor addict. Very cynical but totally legal for some reason. Unless I'm missing another reason? Dec 17 04, 9:35 PM

philsgirl

You can get your caffeine fix without drinking noxious coffee. Dec 17 04, 11:34 PM

McGruff

The soft drink industry is a fascinating study in marketing. Caffeine is an original ingredient in any "brown" soda such as Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, as it occurs naturally in the kola nut. When these beverages were first concocted, no one went out of their way to add caffeine, it was already there in abundance. I found an article with a lot of interesting statistics which would seem to indicate that, yes, caffeine is now used to addict drinkers to soda, although the major companies adhere to the claim that it is integral to the taste. I would imagine it costs a great deal more to remove caffeine from colas than to leave it, but find no reason other than its addictive quality to add it to beverages such as 7-Up, Mountain Dew and Sprite. However, a lot of adults who drink certain sodas do so knowingly for the caffeine, as an alternative to coffee or tea. Here are some highlights from the article by Daniel J. Murphy, DC, FACO. I found the loss of calcium probably the most compelling reason to restrict the soda consumed by children. Another interesting fact is the increase in the size of a "serving." Dec 18 04, 8:20 AM

McGruff

In 1942, production of carbonated soft drinks was about 60 12-ounce servings per person in the USA. In 1997, Americans spent over $54 billion to buy 14 billion gallons of soft drinks. That is equivalent to more than 576 12-ounce servings per year or 1.6 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman, and child in the US. This production is more than twice the amount produced in 1974. Artificially sweetened diet sodas account for 24% of sales, up from 8.6% in 1970. One reason for increasing consumption is that the industry has steadily increased container sizes. In the 1950s, Coca-Cola's 6.5-ounce bottle was the standard serving. That grew into the 12-ounce can, and now those are being supplanted by 20-ounce bottles and the 64-ounce Double Gulp at 7-Eleven stores. Carbonated drinks are the single biggest source of refined sugars in the American diet. Soda pop provides the average American with seven teaspoons of sugar per day. Heavy soft-drink consumption correlates with low intake of magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A, as well as high intake of calories, fat, and carbohydrate. Soda pop adds unnecessary, non-nutritious calories to the diet which results in escalating obesity rates in children. Dec 18 04, 8:21 AM

McGruff

The risk of osteoporosis depends in part on how much bone mass is built early in life. Girls build 92% of their bone mass by age 18, but if they don't consume enough calcium in their teenage years they cannot 'catch up' later. Caffeine increases the excretion of calcium in urine. Drinking 12 ounces of caffeine-containing soft drink causes the loss of about 20 milligrams of calcium. Caffeine is an addictive stimulant drug, is present in most cola and 'pepper' drinks, as well as some orange sodas and other products. Caffeine's addictiveness may be one reason why six of the seven most popular soft drinks contain caffeine. Caffeine's addictiveness may keep people hooked on soft drinks. When children age 6 - 12 stop consuming caffeine, they suffer withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine can cause nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and rapid heart beat. Caffeine causes children who normally do not consume much caffeine to be restless and fidgety, develop headaches, and have difficulty going to sleep. Caffeine is an added ingredient in approximately 70% of soft drinks consumed in the United States. A 1981 proposal by the US Food and Drug Administration to delete caffeine from cola-type beverages, resulted in soft drink manufacturers to justify adding caffeine to soft drinks on the basis that caffeine is a flavor enhancer. Dec 18 04, 8:21 AM