At local Coke, Pepsi, etc., bottlers, do they use and buy the same water everyone uses locally?

[california_jobcase]

Bottled soda pop may use filtered water, but fountain Cokes don’t. Back in '80 or '81, Muncie’s water supply got infiltrated by E. coli. They countered this by cranking up the chlorine level to the legal limit. I lived in a dorm then- the cafeteria drinks were awful because of the chlorine!

[rogerbox]

@Exapno_Mapcase

What I find most hilarious (and discouraging about my opinion of the human race) is that agave syrup, the sugar of choice used and consumed by all the organic, anti-corporate, eat foods straight from the field segment of our society is much closer to HFCS in composition and effect on the body than it is to sugar.

When I worked at Trader Joe’s I was told that Agave was better for you because it didn’t spike the blood sugar as much as HFCS (as in, not a high peak then a sudden drop off). Is this not the case? If it is it should discourage your opinion of the human race, I was told that and I didn’t have a reason to believe otherwise, I am not very granola but it wasn’t an unreasonable claim to me.

[Joey_P]

@rogerbox

When I worked at Trader Joe’s I was told that Agave was better for you because it didn’t spike the blood sugar as much as HFCS (as in, not a high peak then a sudden drop off). Is this not the case? If it is it should discourage your opinion of the human race, I was told that and I didn’t have a reason to believe otherwise, I am not very granola but it wasn’t an unreasonable claim to me.

I’ve heard that honey is very similar to HFCS as well. But I think one of the reasons that honey and agave are healthier then HFCS is that you don’t consume nearly as much of it. HFCS is in ‘everything’. But if you go out of your way to get non-HFCS food and then get food with Agave or Honey in it, you’ll end up consuming far less Agave or Honey then you would HFCS.

IOW, if you get bread without HFCS in it and peanut butter with agave in it, you’ll have less sweeteners in your diet then if you get bread with HFCS and ‘regular’ peanut butter.

[rogerbox]

I understand that, but the way I was told made it seem like tablespoon-for-tablespoon, agave gives a gradual blood sugar rise and lowering, as opposed to HFCS which spikes the blood sugar and then immediately crashes this. Does anyone know if that was BS or not?

And I heartily agree that there are way too many sweeteners and preservatives in everything here.

[AaronX]

Another question - do they use human taste testing in manufacturing of soft drinks? I heard someone say they had to taste each batch in the factory, but I thought the precise fast-food industry would use better methods.

[Steophan]

@Exapno_Mapcase

In the U.S., if you see “sugar” in an ingredients list on any product it means “sucrose.” It is literally equal for this purpose. That may or may not be what you meant, but the possibility for confusion is obvious.

Ah thanks. In that case it’s clear where the confusion comes from.

[Staggerlee]

@Qwakkeddup

From a relative who worked for Pepsi, they use the same water from the tap as anyone else, but they re-filter and remove all impurities. This included all chlorine, fluoride, and contaminants from the delivery system. That way they start out without any variables. So the Pepsi, or the Coke you drink in California, should taste exactly the same as what is delivered to the people of Main.
Then, they buy this artificial color, or flavor, just because it is cheaper. Or maybe use a different preservative. Since, of course, only a very small amount of people can taste the difference.

That is one of the reasons they do bottled water.

Here’s a relevant story from a few years ago - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3809539.stm - Coca Cola tried launching its Dansani brand of bottled water in the UK, only for people to get up in arms about having their tap water sold back to them (albeit filtered) at a mark-up.

But then I imagine that most bottled water is a rip-off if scrutinised.

[Ruken]

@rogerbox

I understand that, but the way I was told made it seem like tablespoon-for-tablespoon, agave gives a gradual blood sugar rise and lowering, as opposed to HFCS which spikes the blood sugar and then immediately crashes this. Does anyone know if that was BS or not?

You are correct that agave syrup (mostly fructose) has a lower GI than HFCS, for the same reason that HFCS has a lower GI than sucrose.

[WhyNot]

@Joey_P

I’ve heard that honey is very similar to HFCS as well. But I think one of the reasons that honey and agave are healthier then HFCS is that you don’t consume nearly as much of it. HFCS is in ‘everything’. But if you go out of your way to get non-HFCS food and then get food with Agave or Honey in it, you’ll end up consuming far less Agave or Honey then you would HFCS.

IOW, if you get bread without HFCS in it and peanut butter with agave in it, you’ll have less sweeteners in your diet then if you get bread with HFCS and ‘regular’ peanut butter.

And I think *this *is a perfectly cromulent reason to look for the “no HFCS label”…as long as your next step is to check the Nutritional Information panel for grams of sugar per slice and make sure they’re not just using a *different *sweetener in the bread.

“I’m trying to reduce my intake of empty calories from sweeteners in foods that don’t need sweeteners,” is a good, reasonable reason. “HFCS isn’t naaaaaatural,” isn’t. IMHO, of course.

@Staggerlee

Here’s a relevant story from a few years ago - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3809539.stm - Coca Cola tried launching its Dansani brand of bottled water in the UK, only for people to get up in arms about having their tap water sold back to them (albeit filtered) at a mark-up.

But then I imagine that most bottled water is a rip-off if scrutinised.

Dasani water sells very well here (Chicago, USA). :rolleyes: <----directed at bottled water, not you