Coca-cola and real sugar.

In “Is it true Coca-Cola once contained cocaine?”, Cecil notes that, sadly, Coca-Cola no longer contains either cocaine or ‘real’ cane sugar, and also that while cocaine is pretty much a lost ingredient one can still find sugar in Coke in parts of Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and Europe. I’ll note here that on my recent trip to Israel I found that there, too, one could still buy Coca-Cola in glass bottles with real sugar.

Where else in the world is sugar alive in that hallowed red bottle? Is it only the US that’s deprived?

The high price of sugar in the US is mostly due to our cunning plan to drive Castro out of Cuba by making the Cubans so poor and miserable that they’ll throw him out. It should work any day now.

In the meantime, in parts of the US with reasonably large Jewish populations, you can get soft drinks with real sugar around Passover.

Dr. Pepper is still made with cane sugar, but only if you buy it from the Dublin plant.

I can get “Mexican” coke at my local Tacquerias here in Chicago. Old glass bottles, everything’s printed in Spanish except the words Coca-Cola, and it does taste slightly different. I think. I haven’t done a blind taste-test or anything. Do you suppose it’s the sugar containing Coke? I wonder if they import it into the Mexican marts or if it’s just plain ol’ US Coke in older, Spanish printed bottles.

I was in Singapore last week, and the cans of Coca-Cola I drank there listed sugar among the ingredients.

This dovetails interestingly with Cecil’s column on high fructose corn syrup. Before Cecil set me straight on this matter, I spent a few years trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup in my food – soft drinks, bread, ketchup, whatever. I also wanted to see if I could do it – sort of a dare.

I found substitutes for just about everything – bread was the most difficult – but Coca-Cola, of course, was impossible. Except, as noted above, around Passover. Corn isn’t kosher for Passover (there’s a column about that, too), so during Passover Coke can be found made with real cane sugar.

The trick is looking for the Coke bottles (usually only 2-liters) with the special caps with the Hebrew characters on them. I don’t remember there being anything in English to specify, and the label (and ingredients list) still reads “sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup”. But, of course, the kosher seal takes precedence.

So that’s how you can tell, this Passover (and for a couple of weeks before), if your area is selling kosher Coca-Cola.

– Chris.

NPR did a report on this last spring.

According to Linda Wertheimer, the bottles “may be distinguished by a yellow cap”. She notes that the bubbles are finer, and there is no unpleasant corn syrup aftertaste.

I wasn’t able to try this last Passover (the stores were sold out by the time I heard this report), but I’ll be comparing them this year.

Best to all,

plynck

[QUOTE=Plynck]
NPR did a report on this last spring.

According to Linda Wertheimer, the bottles “may be distinguished by a yellow cap”. She notes that the bubbles are finer, and there is no unpleasant corn syrup aftertaste.

I wasn’t able to try this last Passover (the stores were sold out by the time I heard this report), but I’ll be comparing them this year.
/QUOTE]

The difference isn’t vast, but I think it is noticeable. But then, I’m not always sure there’s a difference between Coke and Pepsi. I also remember hearing about a taste test which showed that, blindfolded, people couldn’t even tell the difference between Sprite and Coke.

I get a kick out of restaurants where I order a Coke and the waiter says, “Is Pepsi okay?” On bad days I just order “caffeinated, carbonated, caramel-colored beverage.”

Anyway, my point: The yellow cap isn’t always useful these days. A lot of promotions – the Super Bowl, for one, I think – also result in yellow caps on Coke 2-liter bottles. The Hebrew is the clue: I doubt Tom Cruise will be cross-promoting his next blockbuster in Hebrew. Although you never know about Mel Gibson…

– Chris.

What is it in corn syrup that makes it non kosher?

Uh, corn. Not that corn is unkosher, as Dex points out in [url:http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcornsta.html]this column. It’s just hametz, that is, not allowed during Passover.

Dammit. I’ll get the hang of this bulletin board crap eventually.

Thanks **crywalt ** for your (almost) link

Is that what that odd ‘sticking’ feeling you get after drinking Coke comes from? I’ve noticed that it’s not present in Coke C2, which is sweetened with the godsend known as Splenda.

On the Passover note, I’ve never heard of cane-sugar-sweetened Coke being sold around Passover. I live in Southern California, which is fairly Jewish (San Diego less so than LA), so I’ll have to investigate this. Is this why Israel drinks cane-sugar soda, by the way? (One notes upon arrival in Israel that it’s a little difficult to find non-kosher food, at least in the Jewish areas, the majority of the country.)

That’s ludicrous.

By the way, I’ll note here that, having now been to Israel and had cane-sugar-sweetened Coke, it’s plain to me that it’s just better that way. The Coke outfit will certainly see a lot more sales through this individual when they switch back here. Until then, I don’t buy Coke except at fast-food outfits that serve neither Dr. Pepper (my personal favorite) or Pepsi.

Well, I got it right up a few posts. At least that shows I can type sometimes. Just, you know, not every time.

Personally, I found C2 to be slightly less awful than Diet Coke, which is a little like being slightly less awful than being burned at the stake.

Just my opinion, of course. I’ve occasionally bumped into low-carb drinks flavored with sucralose, too, which is almost tolerable, but still pretty nasty.

As far as I’ve heard, Europe and Asia use cane sugar because it’s cheaper than importing corn or the syrup made therefrom. Corn syrup is made here in the U.S., though, so between that and the embargo against Cuba and the U.S. federal price supports for native sugar, corn syrup is cheaper.

Yes, the flavor of your Coke has been sold down the river for political reasons. Hooray for capitalism!

Splenda is a brand name of sucralose, so C2 is sweetened with sucralose.

I’ve heard there’s legislation underway to end the cigar embargo. Is the rest of the embargo–including, I presume, cane sugar–coming down, too? Actually, is any of it coming down any time soon?

Good clarification. C2 is sucralose and aspartame, which may account for its extreme unpleasantness. Aspartame is evil, sucralose less so. Until we find out it kills rabbits on sight or something.

Nope, half of the sugar (corn syrup) is replaced by splenda.

Now if they’d replace all of it, I’d be all set! :slight_smile: Until they do, it’s either “Waist Watchers” brand, which has no caffeine :mad: Or the standard Diet Coke for me.

-Butler
(who drinks at least 2 liters a day, yes, plenty of water too… no I’ve checked, not diabetic)

I’m fairly sure C2 has aspartame in it. Maybe Coke is trying different formulas out in different places? They’ve started selling in 1.5 liter bottles around here, for example (at, oddly enough, about the same price they used to sell 2 liter bottles). I’ll check next time I’m at the store.

You may not be diabetic, but get your fasting sugar level checked and see if you’ve wandered into glucose intolerant (which is where I am these days). I think that’s a fasting glucose level of 115 to 125 or thereabouts. Turns out the bad news is, that means I’m on the way to becoming diabetic. The good news is, the process can be reversed by diet and exercise. So sayeth the current studies. In six months with a dietician and new exercise regimen, I’ve lost 20 pounds, and my glucose levels have gone exactly nowhere. Lost fat: Good. High glucose anyway: Bad.