The 32 best soft drinks - ranking (2023)

At least that's what Coca-Cola wants you to think. To convince him, he pressured doctors to stop saying bad things about their products, like the fact that drinking soda is associated with weight gain, diabetes and heart attacks. According to a recent report, the company invests tens of millions in medical conferences and research.port inNew York Times. And in a recent letter to the USDA, the Sugar Association even challenged the notion that added sugar causes cavities.

But the trick doesn't work. When we eat this, not that! In 2007, about 61 percent of teens reported drinking soda regularly. Thanks to our own awareness campaign and that of others raising awareness of liquid sugar, that number has dropped to just 51% two years ago. (Out of the loop? Check thisAmazing things that happen to your body when you stop drinking soda.) So, to keep us well carbonated, soda makers are experimenting with more and more exotic flavors. In fact, PepsiCo is introducing craft sodas; Its new line, called Stubborn Soda, is already bringing exotic flavors like vanilla agave cream and tarragon black cherry to people in California, Florida and Colorado.

But what's really in your soda?

Eat this, not that!who brought over 50 soft drinks from the market to our food lab. First, let's sort them by calories, carbs, and sugars. We then looked at the ingredients in each can and assigned downsides to sodas with more chemicals and additives than those that were nutritionally similar. Keep reading to discover America's worst soda and the best of the worst.

12 oz, 180 calories, 48g carbs, 48g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural Flavors, Tartaric Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Citric Acid, Red 40, Blue 1

Mix up a bag of Skittles and you still need to add 6 grams of sugar to balance this can's sweetness of corn syrup, citric acid and artificial coloring. In fact, this bag of Skittles contains the exact same ingredients, including Red 40, which Canadian researchers have determined to be contaminated with known carcinogens. Even without its disturbing origin story: Fanta was developed by the for-profit Coca-Cola company in Germany, when the Nazis banned the import of US-made Coca-Cola, this would still be the absolute worst soft drink in America!

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Caramel Color, Red 40, Blue 1

12 fl oz, 190 calories, 46g carbs, 46g sugar

With more sugar than seven Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies, Stewart's Black Cherry would be a "That's not it!" It is the most caloric on this list just because of the sweetness. And like many of the sodas on this list, it also contains caramel coloring. This additive would not be dangerous if prepared the old-fashioned way: with water and sugar on the stove. But the food industry follows a different recipe: They treat sugar with ammonia, which can produce some nasty carcinogens. FORReport of the Science Center of Public Interestestimated that high levels of caramel color in soft drinks cause about 15,000 cases of cancer annually in the United States.

12 ounces, 180 calories, 45g carbs, 45g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cherry and Other Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative) and Artificial Color (40 Red)

With just one gram less sugar than Stewart's Black Cherry, Dr. Brown Black Cherry horrifies most doctors, and it's not just because of the sugar. Like Stewarts and many of the colored sodas here, this one has the artificially colored Red 40, which ranks lower than our next entry despite having less sugar. Don't mess with Brown.

12 fl oz, 180 calories, 48g carbs, 48g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose and/or Sugar Corn Syrup, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Flavored Vanilla Extract, Caffeine.

A&W markets heavily in nostalgic roadside restaurants: The company founded the nation's first chain in 1923. But their creamy soda is a car wreck made of HFCS and artificial colors and flavors. This isn't your grandparents' lemonade in the worst way.

12 fl oz, 180 calories, 47g carbs, 47g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor)

Speaking of cream, you'd have to down 12 servings of Reddi-Whip to match the calorie count of Mug Cream Soda (distributed by Pepsi), and you'd have to eat 12 Hershey's Kisses on top of that to match it. amount of sugar. Get out of the can and lose up to 14 kilos in 16 days avoiding thembad habits that lead to a fat belly!

12 fl oz, 180 calories, 46g carbs, 46g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose and/or Sugar Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavors

You Gotta Love This Ingredients List - This American Classic Might Have SugarjHFC. Add two scoops of vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float and you've got sugar in a cold mug for more than two days.

12 fl oz, 170 calories, 46g carbs, 46g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Orange Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Caffeine, Sodium Citrate, Erythorbic Acid (Preserves Freshness), Gum Arabic, Calcium disodium EDTA (to protect taste), brominated Vegetable oil, yellow 5

Your Mountain Dew contains flame retardants. This lime-green soda (and other citrus-flavored sodas) won't keep your interior fireproof, but it does contain brominated vegetable oil, a patented flame retardant for plastics that has been banned in food in Europe and Japan. . Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, which acts as an emulsifier in citrus-flavored soft drinks, is found in about 10% of soft drinks sold in the US. "Bromine overexposure," according to an Environmental News article.

12 fl oz, 170 calories, 46g carbs, 46g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Orange Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Sodium Benzoate, Natural Flavor, Caffeine, Sodium Citrate, Gum Arabic, Calcium Disodium EDTA, Red 40, Oil brominated vegetable, yellow 5, blue 1

As mentioned earlier, Europe and Japan have already banned the use of flame retardant brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in their carbonated beverages. Red alert! Folks, to really get six pack abs, don't make the dew and instead go through this complete list ofFoods That Release Your Stomach!

12 fl oz, 180 calories, 44g carbs, 44g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Caramel Color.

With more calories than a Mountain Dew (but less artificial colors, hence its higher rating), this cream would make even Prince blush.

12 fl oz, 170 calories, 42g carbs, 42g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Gum Acacia, Citric Acid, Caffeine Free

You know, when you add a few Mentos to a two liter Diet Coke and it all explodes? (Don't try this at home.) This is due to the gum arabic in the candy, which is also a natural emulsifier in this soda. Despite the odd name, it's probably the most natural ingredient in this sugary juice.

12 ounces, 172 calories, 46.5g carbs, 42g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Orange Juice Concentrate, Potassium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Potassium Citrate, Caffeine, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor) flavor), yellow 5, yellow 6, locust bean gum, blue 1

It's not uncommon to see "potassium sodium benzoate added to some diet sodas and fruit drinks," says Leslie Bonci, R.D. Eat this, not that! Unfortunately, especially since Surge contains orange juice, "they can form benzene, which is carcinogenic when combined with vitamin C, ascorbic acid in juices or soft drinks," he says.

12 fl oz, 170 calories, 47g carbs, 47g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Orange Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate and EDTA (To Protect Flavor), Potassium Citrate, Caffeine, Yellow 5, Locust Bean Gum

Not only is this citrusy soda high in sugar and calories, but it's also fortified with the preservative sodium benzoate. Although studies show that the chemical is harmless in small amounts, when combined with vitamin C (like that found in Mello-Yello), it can form benzene, a carcinogen. Don't let your yellow mello.

12 fl oz, 162 calories, 44.4 g carbs, 43.2 g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Modified Corn Starch, Natural Flavors, Caffeine, Ester Gum, Yellow 6, Red 40

What do you get when you combine carbonated water with high-fructose corn syrup and a variety of hard-to-pronounce chemicals? This sip of citrus inspiration. It gets its attractive orange color from Yellow 5 and Red 40.Pediatric MagazineThe study linked Yellow 5 to hyperactivity in children, and Canadian researchers found that Red 40 was contaminated with known carcinogens.

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 45g carbs, 45g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Citric Acid, Caffeine, Artificial and Natural Flavors, Acacia.

Barq's root beer sits in the middle of the pack in terms of carbs and sugars and has a slightly less terrible chemical profile than the competition. It's better than A+W Root Beer, but a little worse than Mug.

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 45g carbs, 44g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Natural Flavors, Modified Food Starch, Sodium Polyphosphates, Resin Glycerol Esters, Yellow 6, Red 40

I don't know about you, but after a long day of hard work and play, I like to sit back, relax, and crack open a can of resin glycerine esters. Wood resin is added to many fruit drinks to help the fruit-flavored oils mix with the water. While not necessarily harmful, again: you are drinking the oil and water sold to you by Coca-Cola.

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 43g carbs, 43g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Gum Arabic, Natural Flavors, Ester Gum, Yellow 6, Brominated Soybean Oil, Red 40

Orange Crush shares the same nutritional stats as our upcoming soda, Mug's Root Beer, but we're subtracting points from brominated soybean oil, which, like we said, crushes things.

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 43g carbs, 43g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Modified Food Starch, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor), Quillaia Extract

Quillaia extract? The best (and worst) part of researching these sodas on Eat This, Not That! The Food Lab stumbles upon the strange ingredients that soda makers (in this case, Pepsi) add to their concoctions. Quillaia is another tree bark and will help your root beer to foam. Be more afraid of the sugar here: you're basically drinking four root beer-flavored dum dum laced with additives.

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 42g carbs, 42g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavor, Caffeine, Citric Acid

Nothing wild here: Exactly the same ingredients as most sodas, and as much sugar as more than three cups of cherries (minus the cherries).

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 42g carbs, 41g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Gum Acacia, Gum Ester, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor)

Our childhood nostalgia is shattered: the children's favorite brand doesn't have a real grapefruit. On the plus side, it has no BVO. Would you like a sandwich instead? Fuel up quickly with muscle-building protein in theseThe 50 best snacks to lose weight!

12 fl oz, 160 calories, 41g carbs, 41g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Quillaia Extract, Gum Arabic, Cassava Extract

If you wouldn't eat three and a half cups of Apple Jacks, you should stay away from this root beer. That's the sugar equivalent of what's in a 12-ounce can.

12 fl oz, 150 calories, 42g carbs, 42g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine

As we approach the top ten, you'll find the oils and artificial flavors gone, and you'll see some of the most popular sodas for what they really are: carbonated water, HSFC, some acids, and little else. Unfortunately, this classic, once made with real cherry juice, is a variation on a common concoction. It's like finding out your great-grandfather has always worked in accounting.

12 fl oz, 150 calories, 41g carbs, 41g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Sugar, Phosphoric Acid, Caffeine, Citric Acid, Natural Flavoring

Perennial #2 in the Coca-Cola War has 5 grams more sugar than a 3 Musketeers bar and 1 gram more carbs. Let It Sink In: ​​One of America's Most Popular Soft DrinksOtoo much sugar. Instead of drinking a smoothie, they can actually help you lose weight!

150 calories, 40g carbs, 40g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Caramel Color, Phosphorus, Acid, Caffeine, Natural Flavor

Sugar is the master of disguise. Maltodextrin, brown rice syrup, dextrose, sucrose - he's got more alter egos than the Avengers. But its most famous cover, as you've read so far, is high fructose corn syrup. Pepsi hopes you'll forget it's always the same sweet thing by heavily promoting this new brand, which is formulated without sugar and without HFCS. but in one2014 review of five studiesWhen comparing the effects of sugar and HFCS, no differences were found in changes in blood sugar levels, lipid levels or appetite between table sugar consumption and HFCS consumption. In other words, your body cannot differentiate one from the other, both are just sugar.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 39g carbs, 39g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Artificial and Natural Flavors, Caffeine, Monosodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Polyethylene Glycol.

Pibb Xtra is a "spicy" cherry soda found primarily in the South or in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. Contains propylene glycol, a preservative, thickener and stabilizer that is also used as an antifreeze for aircraft de-icing and as a plasticizer in the manufacture of polyester resins. , and is found in electronic cigarettes. Lemonade is highly rated for its calorie count, but we don't recommend drinking it!

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 39g carbs, 38g sugar

Ingredients: Citric Acid, Filtered Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural Flavors, Potassium Benzoate (Preservative), Red 40

No caramel color - rating goes up! Red 40: Rank decreases.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 39g carbs, 39g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine.

Eat this, not that! has been behind Coca-Cola since its inception, as the company itself is responsible for HFCS energy drinks Sprite, Barq's, Fanta, Dr. Pepper, Fuze Tea, Powerade, Monster and more, not to mention the sugary "VitaminWater". However, the company's flagship beverage is less harmful than most sodas on this list. This doesn't mean you should drink. This means you shouldn't drink soda. For a healthier high without preservatives, drink tea.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 39g carbs, 38g sugar

Ingredients: Filtered Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Natural Flavors, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor)

The best thing about clear sodas: no caramel color. Worst of all, they are still soft drinks and contain the same ingredients as the rest. Distributed today by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, this classic has lost ground since its heyday in the '80s, but it's still a refreshing drink that doesn't get much better than a cola.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 38g carbs, 38g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor).

Promoted by top athletes, Sprite has low marketing and a slightly lower calorie count than the other citrus sodas on this list. But we can't imagine LeBron and his friends downing a can of corn syrup before a game.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 36g carbs, 35g sugar

Ingredients:* Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Natural Flavors, Caramel Color

Our mothers always gave us this when we had stomachaches. Now, as adults, our tummy hurts just looking at it. Blame Canada. Their motto is "Real Ginger, Real Taste", but the main ingredients here are carbonated water and HSFC. However, with fewer calories than the rest, it tops that nefarious list.

12 fl oz, 140 calories, 34g carbs, 34g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Celery Seed Extract with Other Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative) and Caramel Color.

The healthiest sounding soda on this list is almost. But unfortunately for Jewish deli fans everywhere, Cel Ray combines real celery seed extract with HFCS.

12 fl oz, 120 calories, 33g carbs, 32g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Quinine, Natural Flavors

Don't worry about quinine, which is often associated with treating malaria, as it is also the main ingredient in harmless tonic water. No, rather we are afraid that this drink mixer is ordinary. Despite being at the top of this list, it still contains as much HFCS sugar as 10 croissants. At least there are no artificial flavors (and unfortunately no ginger either).

12 fl oz, 100 calories, 26g carbs, 26g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (To Protect Flavor), Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Sucralose

This is the second-worst soda, with one big caveat: Lisa Moskovitz, RD, founder of The NY Nutrition Group, says, "...high-fructose corn syrup has been shown to increase appetite and, over time, lead to to health problems like obesity and ... lead to diabetes." Yes, yes, you knew it was bad, but hear us out again: HFCS is bad! However, thanks to the artificial sweetener sucralose, Seagram's Ginger Ale has a lower calorie count than most.

12 fl oz, 120 calories, 30g carbs, 29g sugar

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preserves Freshness), Purified Stevia Leaf Extract

In a competition of sugar water full of additives, there is no winner. Sierra Mist has as many calories as a pack of Now and Laters and only 7 grams less sugar. Still, it ranks number one on this list because it contains no artificial flavors and uses the sweetener stevia leaf extract, which, while under review, is plant-based and could hold the key to solving America's obesity epidemic. helping those with a sweet tooth. without the addition will satisfy the calories.