# Who Is Ester And Why Is She In My Sports Drink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584 "2002-07-06T03:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/1 "2002-07-06T03:35:29Z")
And why is it important for me to know she’s from Wood Rosen (wherever that might be)? 😉 I could swear that there was a thread on this before, but a search came up empty. Anybody know what the stuff is and why its in a sports drink? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/2 "2002-07-06T03:46:42Z")
It’s an emulsifier. Look, at least Ethel’s gotten out of your gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/3 "2002-07-06T03:56:57Z")
So it says “wood rosen ester?” Presumably, then, wood rosen has an acid group on it -COOH Take the H off, replace it with a carbon chain, and voila: ester! I’ll just have to assume that yabob’s right about its function. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/4 "2002-07-06T04:10:34Z")
Um, no. Wood rosIn (glyceryl) ester is used in drinks to adjust their “weight,” and to make them opaque. [http://www.herc.com/abouthercules/news/99/EsterGum.htm](http://www.herc.com/abouthercules/news/99/EsterGum.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/5 "2002-07-06T05:37:59Z")
It says in **Nametag’s** link that wood rosin ester “improves the stability of citrus-oil flavor concentrates”, which is why the artificial lemonade I inadvertantly drank this last week tasted even even more lemon-peely than usual. YeccH ! ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/6 "2002-07-06T06:17:57Z")
Ah, that would explain why orange soda almost always has “ester of wood rosin” as an ingredient. I always assumed that it was part of the artificial orange flavoring. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/7 "2002-07-06T07:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nametag \* > \*\*Um, no. Wood rosIn (glyceryl) ester is used in drinks to adjust their “weight,” and to make them opaque. > > [http://www.herc.com/abouthercules/news/99/EsterGum.htm](http://www.herc.com/abouthercules/news/99/EsterGum.htm) \*\* Um, yes. Stabilizing oils in water is what an emulsifier does, and in order for soda to be really “cloudy,” as the page says, it just about has to have something emulsified in it to scatter light. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-ester-and-why-is-she-in-my-sports-drink/117584/8 "2002-07-06T21:23:09Z")
Ester is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equa . . . No wait. That’s Easter. Ummm . . . Nevermind.