# cane sugar in soft drinks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 14, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773 "2004-08-14T00:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/1 "2004-08-14T00:29:48Z")
Regarding Cecil’s classic (heh!) [Coca-Cola](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_033.html) column: It’s pretty durn hard to do any taste-tests with products that don’t exist anymore, 'leastways not 'round these parts. But there’s a Dr. Pepper bottler here in Texas that still uses only cane sugar as a sweetener, and a little diner down the street from my old apartment that sells it. And for a few days after I get one of their hand-mixed sodas, any other soda tastes really weird. I’m kind of amazed that these big companies survived the transition to corn syrup! ---
**Author:** ![dangermouse1956](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@dangermouse1956](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermouse1956)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/2 "2004-08-14T19:11:43Z")
From Cecil’s column: > [@](#): > > you can still get Coke made with sugar in parts of Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, and Europe. I’d bet there are ways for the rest of us to order these products, but I haven’t seen any. Anyone know? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/3 "2004-08-14T20:24:32Z")
Look for Coca Cola in glass bottles in your local Mexican grocery store. They are usually bottled in Mexico and are made with cane sugar. I can definitely taste the difference. ---
**Author:** ![dangermouse1956](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@dangermouse1956](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermouse1956)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/4 "2004-08-15T02:10:41Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > Look for Coca Cola in glass bottles in your local Mexican grocery store. They are usually bottled in Mexico and are made with cane sugar. I can definitely taste the difference. Thanks, Mike. An intelligent, common-sense kind of answer that I should have thought of myself. Thanks for making me feel dumb. :smack: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/5 "2004-08-16T00:44:38Z")
There’s a small -label brand available in New York and (probably) other large cities, Boylan, which makes a very nice cola that’s cane-sugar sweetened. If you can’t find cane-sugar Coca-Cola see if you can find Boylan’s. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/6 "2004-08-16T06:37:51Z")
If your neighborhood has a shortage of Mexican groceries, you can also (as mentioned in the other thread on this topic) wait until shortly before Passover, and see if any stores in your area carry Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola, which is sweetened with sugar rather than corn syrup. Or if that’s too long to wait, pop into Casaflodnak this evening and I’ll pour you a glass 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/7 "2004-08-16T11:49:37Z")
[Pop the Soda Shop](http://www.popsoda.com) carries a wide range of pops, including Mexican Coke, and will ship pretty much anywhere, if you’re up to paying the shipping costs. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/8 "2004-08-16T13:07:38Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > … see if any stores in your area carry Kosher for Passover … Cane syrup isn’t kosher? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/9 "2004-08-16T13:12:54Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Cane syrup isn’t kosher? Why not? That should be CORN syrup. Preview! Preview! Always preview! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/10 "2004-08-16T13:23:11Z")
One branch of Judism (Ashkenazi or Sephardic, I forget which) doesn’t allow the use of corn during Passover. [http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/sephardicandashkenazicpassover.html](http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/passover/sephardicandashkenazicpassover.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/11 "2004-08-17T04:32:55Z")
Coca Cola still uses cane sugar in the Dominican Rep. It definitely tastes different (and to me better) from the American version. I prefer diet anyways. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/12 "2004-08-17T15:49:21Z")
Is it possible that something about Corn Syrup that makes Americans (including me) fat? The rise in obesity has paralleled the rise in the use of corn syrup instead of cane/beet sugar. The fact that it is not used in Europe was a tip-off. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/13 "2004-08-17T16:13:35Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Is it possible that something about Corn Syrup that makes Americans (including me) fat? Yes, the fact that we consume huge quantities of it. For the most part, our problem with obesity is that we consume too many calories and don’t exercise enough. Once we bring that under control we can worry about what type of calories we consume. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773/14 "2004-08-17T22:28:48Z")
There was a study in the news early this year that seemed to indicate that high-fructose corn syrup was more fattening than sucrose, calorie-for-calorie. It was speculated that secretion of metabolism-increase hormones was stimulated by sucrose, but not by fructose. Of course, other studies have shown no link between corn syrup and weight gain. Exactly how different sugars are used by the body is something that will surely get a lot of scientific attention in the next few years.