Ok, I was reading the ingredients list while drinking Dr. Pepper and a question popped in my head that I always wondered. Why is there is phosphoric acid in it? I assume it might be for taste (for Dr. Pepper, I taste the lactic acid much more), but how did they decide that something that can remove rust be used food?
It’s a soft drink and a rust remover…
Lemon juice will clean copper and brass. So will vinegar. What point are we making here?
The phosphoric acid gives a tangy bite. At a guess, I would say it is cheaper than other tangy (rather than sour) food acids, such as citric, tartaric and malic acids.
Also consider that the environment you are sending your soda to is full of HCl, which will cheerfully remove the enamel from your teeth given the chance.
Acid is not as scary as Hollywood would have us believe.
Exactly. Acids are tasty.
Yup. I’ve got some right here with a lovely flavour of bitter almOMG)!£"$)_(*&!!!>…