# Coca-Cola: Sucrose vs HFCS -- the battle continues **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 14, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283 "2011-09-14T13:23:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/21 "2011-09-16T16:12:38Z")
> [@Mornac](#): > > –I thought that the only thing that was a “throwback” about Pepsi Throwback was the carton. Is the product itself an old formulation? When did Pepsi change? Sometime in the 80’s, like most everyone else. > **[Pepsi-Cola Made with Real Sugar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throwback_%28drink%29)** > > Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop Made with Real Sugar, originally named Pepsi Throwback and Pepsi Made with Real Sugar and still branded that way in some international markets, is a soft drink sold by PepsiCo. The drink is flavored with cane sugar and beet sugar instead of the sugar substitute high-fructose corn syrup that has been used in the standard version of Pepsi within North America since the 1980s. > The Pepsi Throwback name was replaced by the name Pepsi-Cola Made with Real Sugar in June 2014 and r... ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/22 "2011-09-16T17:51:07Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Fructose and glucose are absorbed directly in the bloodstream while sucrose has to make a trip in the stomach first. Wait - are you saying that fructose and glucose are absorbed through the skin in your mouth, or throat? I think they all have to make it to the stomach to be absorbed. Sucrose takes a little longer because that weak bond between the fructose part and the glucose part has to get broken first by digestion. On the other hand, I’ve heard that this breaking happens really quickly, so the nutritional difference between sucrose and HFCS is very slight. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/23 "2011-09-16T17:57:15Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > See, in theory, you could achieve the same sweetness with less HFCS as compared to sugar. (Because of the higher fructose ratio). The problem is that because it’s so damn cheap, companies put more in than is necessary, resulting in a sweeter taste. Actually. HFCS-42 and sugar have similar [sweetness levels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relativesweetness.png). Most HFCS is HFCS-55, so it’s a wee bit sweeter than sugar alone, but I’m not sure if its all that much sweeter tasting. It’s not like some of the artificial sweeteners that are hundreds or sometimes thousands of times sweeter. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/24 "2011-09-16T18:33:46Z")
If I recall correctly, saliva contains small amounts of amylase and other enzymes, which could mean that sucrose takes longer to breakdown. Also, I remember something about fructose not being absorbed by the body but having a similar smell signature on QI but I can’t find the exact quote. ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/25 "2011-09-16T22:22:06Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > The main problem with HFCS is that we use a whole lot of it in our diets. > > Now, you can get the 12 ounce can or a 20 ounce bottle as a _single serving_. And, you can get up to 3 liters in a single bottle. That’s a lot of sugar no matter what form it is in. I find that HFCS-sweetened beverages just plain leave me thirsty, which doesn’t happen with artificial sweetener or sucrose. Maybe they’re simply not very satisfying. (Which, I suppose, is good news if you’re in the business of selling soda.) I can’t help but wonder how well a “Big Gulp” made with sugar would have gone down… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/26 "2011-09-17T00:05:47Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Now, you can get the 12 ounce can or a 20 ounce bottle as a _single serving_. And, you can get up to 3 liters in a single bottle. That’s a lot of sugar no matter what form it is in. I like the 6 ounce small Cokes. I speculate that the ratio of syrup to carbonated water is higher than larger containers, but perhaps they use a different syrup. Recently I bought Coke from Mexico at an Hispanic grocery, and was disappointed when it tasted just like Coke made in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/27 "2011-09-18T21:27:12Z")
Our local Albertsons grocery chain started carrying Mexican Coke in the imports section for a dollar for a 12 oz bottle. The first time I bought one, I managed to drop it in the parking lot. :smack: It exploded like a bomb, but the smell was incredible. I hadn’t smelt coke like that in decades, not since I was a kid. I’ve since found it makes the only rum and cokes I enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/28 "2011-09-19T13:14:24Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Actually. HFCS-42 and sugar have similar [sweetness levels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relativesweetness.png). Most HFCS is HFCS-55, so it’s a wee bit sweeter than sugar alone, but I’m not sure if its all that much sweeter tasting. It’s not like some of the artificial sweeteners that are hundreds or sometimes thousands of times sweeter. But Soda uses HFCS-55. It is sweeter, so you could use less, but they don’t. My point stands. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/29 "2011-09-19T19:16:28Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I like the 6 ounce small Cokes. I speculate that the ratio of syrup to carbonated water is higher than larger containers, but perhaps they use a different syrup. What makes you think they are other than the same forumula packaged in smaller containers? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/30 "2011-09-19T19:20:27Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > What makes you think they are other than the same forumula packaged in smaller containers? Because they taste different to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/31 "2011-09-19T20:32:14Z")
I’ve been a Diet Coke drinker for years now, and I’ve never been able to tell the difference between Diet Coke with no HFCS, and Diet Coke for Passover with no sugar. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/32 "2011-09-19T20:43:33Z")
Well that settles it then, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Rickymouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Rickymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickymouse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/33 "2011-09-19T21:54:32Z")
I like coffee with cream and sugar. I prefer pure cane sugar from Hawaii. In the morning I like about two teaspoons of sugar in my coffee and reduce the amount after I wake up more. I also drink it black if I don’t need the sugar. Thirty calories for a 12 oz. cup of coffee is better than drinking a 150 calorie coke in my book. I used to like the locally bottled glass cokes they had around here a few years ago, but Coca-Cola shut down the bottling company unless they got the expensive computer controled equipment to guarantee exact formulation in every bottle. The local company had a stronger syrupy formula that everyone liked and it was not feasible to change it to the regular formula. They quit bottling. ---
**Author:** ![Rickymouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Rickymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickymouse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/34 "2011-09-19T22:05:52Z")
The combinations of the Phosphoric acid and caffien coupled with other chemistry in the coke changes how the sugars are accepted and utilized in the human body Irishman. I haven’t gotten access to the other brands of cola’s chemistry so I do not know if similar chemistry occurs. When studying how things work you cannot stop at a point where you’re knowledge or perception ends. It takes research and desire to figure out what’s really happening and to truly understand things. I’m sure there are other things involved like mineral deficiencies that can cause sugar problems and insulin receptor problems or pancrease problems that can cause other areas of concern. I do not recomend drinking coke but I do not say it’s bad for everyone. Some people may need it’s chemistry to remain normal as I need my coffee. I come from a multigeneration coffee drinking culture and eliminating something we have evolved around is not good. I guess if a woman does not drink coffee while pregnant than the offspring may be able to quit without detrimental effects in health. I prefer to keep drinking my coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/35 "2011-09-20T00:20:12Z")
😕:eek: Cite?! ---
**Author:** ![Rickymouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Rickymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickymouse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/36 "2011-09-20T00:53:21Z")
I’m way past needing references to evidence by other people just to make oppinions and statements about my past basic research. What I am referring to is equivelent to basic biochemistry research about the same as entry level college students would learn about in the bio chem field if they had interest in checking things out. I do enjoy debating things with some people who do not constantly state others interpretations of evidence as absolute. There are a lot of chemical databases on the net if you look for them and lots of journal entries also available on the net. I research to quench my desire for knowledge, not to prove to others every step of my research and which authors helped me with my journey. It is worse to quote an authors article in an interpretation that could have flaws causing discredit to the author that gave us evidence. If I were to cite evidence from a researcher I would contact the researcher personally and ask them if I could use their research as evidence and discuss it with them first to see if my interpretation is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/37 "2011-09-20T01:27:45Z")
OK, then perhaps you can explain HOW phosphoric acid and caffeine affects the acceptance and utilization of sugars in the body? ---
**Author:** ![Rickymouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Rickymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickymouse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/38 "2011-09-20T04:50:17Z")
Phosphorus in the right mineral complex is necessary for the ATP in our bodies and is also an intrical part of the NAD cycle for cellular energy transmission. Another words the timing of Phosphorus makes sugar available for cellular energy. Lots of things have phosphorus in them in high concentrations from Pea soup to watermellons. NAD requires the Nicotinic Acid which needs to be timed also for maximum absorbtion with other chemistry. It’s a lot easier to understand this stuff than to try to explain it to others not knowing the extent of their knowledge of cellular respiration. And I’m not even an expert on this stuff, maybe if I trained for 5 years I would understand translating these things better. Caffeine is sort of a catalyst or possesses steroidal actions that speed metabolism and make reactions happen faster. There are so many words in the languages of science that are just repeats of other words. I feel it is to confuse and intimidate those who are not educated in the specific sciences. I am trying to translate things into my language of thought wich is “laymans terms”. I am basicly studying the properties of foods and the ways we prepare them. With a list of ingredients there can be a very different result of chemistry created depending on how they are prepared and the order that they are added in preparing food. Some foods can’t even be cut with a steel knife to be prepared. If you roll an orange it becomes sweeter and it’s sugar/carb ratio changes. There are a lot of good chemists in most of our food industry but their expertise is restricted by the “cost effective” and “competiveness” in our industries. ---
**Author:** ![signal11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@signal11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/signal11)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/39 "2011-09-29T18:20:28Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I’ve said this before on these boards, but you can’t compare the taste of Mexican Coke with sugar and American Coke with HFCS, and assert that the difference is due to using sugar instead of HFCS. The differences in taste could be due to differences in the water used in bottling. You would need Coke made using the same water, some with sugar and some with HFCS, to do a proper test. > > My FWIW: I attempted to do this test with a bottle of Kosher for Passover Coke and a bottle of normal red-cap Coke. I was planning to do a blind test, but even knowing which bottle they came from, **I couldn’t taste any difference**. They both tasted a little sweeter than I thought I was used to. Maybe it was because I was thinking about the taste, instead of just drinking it. Maybe the red-cap was also made with sugar for some reason. It’s not the water. I regularly drink Coke bottled all over Africa, SE Asia, mid-East, Mexico and Haiti. I can instantly discern between Coke made from HFCS and that made from cane sugar. Cane sugar has a distinct aroma and it carries through the processing. The best way to describe it is a woody, almost smokey flavor. Simply put, it’s the difference in taste between brown and white sugar. If you can’t tell the difference between brown and white sugar, then you probably won’t be able to tell the difference. Most people can, once they know what they’re looking for. Taking the cane sugar aroma out of Coke is like removing caffeine from coffee. For someone whose new to drinking coffee or has never had anything but decaf, the additional bitterness of the caffeine probably feels like a foreign adulterant. If you’re used to the genuine article, the decaf/HFCS is missing an essential part of what makes the taste so enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Rickymouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Rickymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickymouse)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283/40 "2011-09-29T18:42:41Z")
It may be a little hard for some to understand but some people can taste or smell things differently than others. It does not mean that someone is right or wrong in the way their tastebuds and mind percieves things, it only means that we are different. Many people eat lindberger cheese but I can’t stand the taste or smell. Does it mean that someone is inferior? Definitely not. I feel the color of our eyes also affects what people see. It only stands to reason that blue eyes reflect some of the blue in things and may cause a craving for the missing color. We all don’t see things exactly the same but do not realize we don’t because we have only seen from our eyes. The same also holds true with taste. If we are low in some substance we will crave it. Trouble is we have changed things so they no longer contain the vitamins, minerals, or chemicals we crave in them anymore. How do we fix this problem? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-sucrose-vs-hfcs-the-battle-continues/596283.md?page=3)