# Soft drinks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 1999, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172 "1999-11-16T00:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/1 "1999-11-16T00:46:00Z")
That general and pointless enough. I have no points to make. I just haven’t got any favorite soft drinks anymore. Water I can drink with lots of ice. Caffeine issues are here: [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000109.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000109.html) With Mountain Dew I never understood why there is brominated vegetable oil in there. Phosphates: do we need them? Do they all have them. My doc brother in law says they contribute to osteoporosis. All regular drinks are too sweet for me. Some 3/4 of the sugar currently used would still taste sweet to me. The new sweetener in Pepsi 1 tastes awful to me. I used to drink nutrasweet drinks for several years. This is worse. ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/2 "1999-11-16T00:48:00Z")
IS That general and pointless enough? ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/3 "1999-11-16T00:51:00Z")
Long live Diet Dr. Pepper ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/4 "1999-11-16T00:52:00Z")
“Futurama” on soft drinks------------- **Fry:Maybe the secret ingredient of the soda is PEOPLE! HUMAN BEINGS!** _Leela: No there’s already a soda that uses people–Soylent Cola._ **Fry: Is it any good?** _Leela: It varies from person to person._ * * * Is an appreciation of beauty a function of the human soul? ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/5 "1999-11-16T01:08:00Z")
There are soft drinks which don’t contain phosphates; look for “phosphoric acid” in the ingredients list to see if a particular soda does. Coca-Cola definitely does; it’s the only one I know for certain. Brominated vegetable oil makes the soft drink look cloudy, like citrus juice. It might also change the “mouth feel” a little bit, but I think the main reason it’s used is cosmetic. ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/6 "1999-11-16T03:45:00Z")
Futurama? …give me a clue…is this on TV ? ---
**Author:** ![PurpleCrackwhore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@PurpleCrackwhore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleCrackwhore)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/7 "1999-11-16T03:48:00Z")
Grape Koolaid…followed closely by peach flavored iced tea ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/8 "1999-11-16T04:15:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The new sweetener in Pepsi 1 tastes awful to me. I used to drink nutrasweet drinks for several years. This is worse. The sweetener’s called acesulfame-k and in Europe and Canada, where this soda has been around for a long time (under the name Pepsi Max) it’s much, much better. I think they just got the proportions of it wrong in Pepsi One. So what’s this I read about Nutrasweet causing brain tumors anyway, truth or UL? ---
**Author:** ![putrid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@putrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/putrid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/9 "1999-11-16T09:22:00Z")
Yeah, Futurama is an animated show on the Fox _network_. ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/10 "1999-11-16T12:00:00Z")
I’m too lazy to look for it, but look in Cecil’s archive under Nutrasweet, aspartame or Gulf War syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/11 "1999-11-16T14:03:00Z")
Funnee…I LOVE diet Dr Pepper! Maybe we are a match made in Heaven. 🙂 * * * Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.–Coleridge ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/12 "1999-11-16T15:19:00Z")
I like sugar-filled Dr. Pepper! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/13 "1999-11-16T19:38:00Z")
It’s always struck me as odd that a group of such intelligent, knowledgeable, and witty persons as yourselves should include so many soft drink-drinkers. What’s the point of soft drinks? You’re thirsty, drink some water. You’re sleepy, drink some coffee. You want a buzz, drink some beer. The ascendancy of the soft drink industry in the 20th century has always seemed like a prime example of advertising/marketing types creating a need in order to fill it. – crabby old Uke, sitting on the front-porch rocker, shaking his fist at passing motorcars ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/14 "1999-11-16T19:44:00Z")
Ike - scoot over - I’ll shake my fist with you. We never even have pop (or soda or soft drinks - I’m from Chicago - that’s what we call it) in our house. If my kid is thirsty, he drinks milk or water. He gets enough sugar from other sources. If I’m thirsty, I drink coffee (in the morning) or water or beer (when not drinking coffee). I have a huge cup of ice water at my desk all day - haven’t bought pop at work since I’ve been here (3 years). ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/15 "1999-11-16T20:01:00Z")
Judge if you must, but I can’t go one day without a Mt. Dew (hence the screen name). Actually, I’m “in the process of” quitting smoking right now. I’ll tackle the caffeine addiction when I’m good and ready. Until then, I’ll have a Dew in one hand and a cancer stick in the other. * * * “They have the internet on computers now.”–Homer J. Simpson ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/16 "1999-11-16T21:26:00Z")
Michelle… Great minds think alike. And how are things at the Bitter Single Women Company? ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/17 "1999-11-16T21:42:00Z")
Ike, I don’t like coffee. I will very occasionally have a cup after dinner-- it goes well with some desserts-- but it’s really not pleasant stuff. And drinking it on an empty stomach is a good way to make myself queasy. When I want to consume caffeine, I usually drink Mountain Dew. I’m not pouring the stuff down your throat, so why do you have a problem with it? (Please don’t bother trying to tell me that “empty calories” are going to ruin my nutrition or make me obese. My diet and calorie intake are just fine, and I’m at an ideal weight for my height.) * * * Laugh hard; it’s a long way to the bank. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/18 "1999-11-16T22:43:00Z")
Why soft drinks? Because they have caffeine and they’re sweet. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/19 "1999-11-16T22:49:00Z")
And they make you burp! When I was having stress-related stomach problems (mostly due to getting up early for school) the only thing that helped was a slam of fresh RC Cola. I can’t drink coffee or other hot liquids, but I do love to eat sugar cubes that are dunked in coffee. From what I’ve heard, phosphoric acid leeches the calcuim from your bones, contributing to osteoporosis. * * * I’ll be there Where I’ll teach what I’ve been taught And I’ve been taught… ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172/20 "1999-11-17T01:29:00Z")
I’m trying various drinks to cut down caffeine, which was mostly numerous cups of tea a day with milk for me. Coffee I used to drink a few years.Herbal tea I don’t care for. When I go to restaurants I have to order a water and a soft drink, otherwise they keep refilling the soft drink 3 times. Beer I never got used to with dinner, except barbecue or German food. Cranberry juice is pretty awful in metal cans, so is tea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soft-drinks/11172.md?page=2)