American drinks more of soft drinks. This popular beverage accounts for more than a quarter of all drinks consumed in United States. Soft drinks provides more added sugar, Not only soft drinks widely available every where from fast food to video store, they also sold in 60% of all public and private middle school and high school nationwide. So what is inside the soft drinks? It’s caffeine.
Caffeine is one of the world's most widely used drugs. Caffeine is one of a group of stimulants called methylxanthine, or xanthine that occur naturally in some plants. Beverages made from the nuts, seeds or leaves of these plants are major sources of natural caffeine, such as coffee, made from the Coffee Arabica plant; soft drinks, like Coca Cola, made from Kola nuts; and tea made from the leaves of Thea sinensis. Cocoa, used to make chocolate, contains caffeine as well as theobromine, another xanthine. Caffeine is also used as a food additive regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Food and beverage manufacturers are legally
required to list caffeine on their products' label only when caffeine has been added.Caffeine naturally present in other ingredients used in the production process need not be on the label. For example, chocolate contains caffeine, so it may not be listed as an additive in candy bars. People who wish to avoid caffeine need to be aware of such natural, plant sources when making food choices.
Soft drinks have become the favorite caffeine containing beverage in the United States: 12 oz. can of soft drink may contain 30-72 mg of caffeine. Less than 5% of this caffeine is from the kola nut; manufacturers add the other 95%, using the extract obtained from the decaffeination process. The level of caffeine found in a particular brand is consistent from can to can because of strict manufacturing controls. Only those soft drinks containing caffeine will show it as an ingredient on the product label.
Soft Drinks
