Course:FNH200/2013w Team17 CocaCola

Although Coca-Cola is currently a company and trademark that is both known and distributed worldwide, there are major health concerns and debate on the prevalence of Coca-Cola in our society. This project will provide a brief overview of the development of Coca-Cola's packaging from bottling to canning, ingredients and additives used, the major health concerns that revolve around Coca-Cola consumption, as well as a comparison of several Coca Cola products and what differs between them.

Introduction and History

Coca-Cola was created by John Pemberton in order to combat his addiction to morphine. The prototype Coca-Cola was formulated at his Eagle Drug and Chemical House, a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia. Originally, Coca-Cola was known as a coca wine. In 1886, Pemberton removed the alcohol content from his coca wine after the Atlanta and Fulton Country passed the prohibition legislation.

John Pemberton - Inventor of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola was first sold in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, in May of 1886. It was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass. Four hundred glasses of the product were sold in the first year.

By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola were on the market, sold by three separate businesses. John Pemberton declared that the name "Coca-Cola" belonged to his son, Charley, but the other two manufacturers could continue to use the formula.

In 1888, Asa Candler purchased a one-third interest in the formula of an almost completely unknown proprietary elixir known as Coca-Cola. In 1892, Asa Candler founded "The Coca-Cola Company” (the current corporation).

Atlanta's Fleeman's Pharmacy was the longest running commercial Coca-Cola soda foundation, it opened in 1914 and was run until 1995.

In April 2007, in Canada, the name "Coca-Cola Classic" was changed back to "Coca-Cola".

By the time of its 50th anniversary, Coca-Cola had reached the status of a national icon in the USA. In recent years, more Coca-Cola products have been introduced to the market, for example, Coca-Cola with Lime in 2005; Coca-Cola Orange in 2007; and the last production: Coca-Cola Life which is only available in Argentina.

Bottle Designs

Coca Cole History of Bottles & Cans

The first bottling of Coca-Cola occurred in 1891. The proprietor of the bottling works was Joseph A. Biedenharn. The original bottles were Biedenharn bottles, very different from the much later hobble-skirt design of 1915.The Coca-Cola bottle, called the "contour bottle" within the company, was created by bottle designer Earl Dean. It was described as "a bottle which a person could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was." Karl Lagerfeld is the latest designer to have created a collection of aluminum bottles for Coca-Cola. Lagerfeld is not the first fashion designer to create a special version of the famous Coca-Cola Contour bottle. A number of other limited edition bottles by fashion designers for Coca Cola Light soda have been created in the last few years.

Bottling and Preservation

Processing

Coca-Cola has over 250 partner companies globally, which are responsible for bottling. The Coca-Cola company develops drinks and sells syrup concentrate (made from concentrated beverage base and liquid sweetener) to bottling companies. The bottling companies mix the syrup with sugar, local filtered water, as well as carbon dioxide for fizz, are responsible for distribution of the product.

The bottling process of Coca-Cola can be summarized in a few main steps:

1) The bottles are sterilized using jet streams and water, in order to remove any microorganisms and other impurities.

2) Pure water and refined sugar are added to the bottle, followed by the Coca-Cola concentrate as well as caramel colouring.

3) The bottles are gently shaken to mix, and carbon dioxide is added for fizz.

4) The bottles are checked by a human for quality.

It can be noted that all steps, excluding the last one, are performed sterilely by machines, and the bottles are transferred from one station to the next automatically by an overhead conveyor belt.

Cans of Coca-Cola are manufactured in a similar process, where the sterile aluminum cans are filled while shaped like open cups. The lids are crimped on after all the contents of the drink have been added, sealing the can. The cans generally have pressurized gas inside, in order to be durable during distribution and handling.

Preservation

Coca-Cola is preserved by its high sugar content and acidity. Sugar functions as a preservative by binding to water, and thus decreasing the water activity of the beverage and depriving microorganisms from the water they would need to carry out spoilage causing and disease causing reactions.

Coca-Cola has an acidic pH of 2.5, due to the relatively high concentration of phosphoric acid it contains. This preserves the product in that foods with pH below 4.6 do not support microorganism growth.

In addition to this, the product is bottled in a low oxygen environment, in order to suppress aerobic microorganisms.

Ingredients and Additives

Ingredients

Ingredients List - Diet Coke

Due to the global production of Coca-Cola, the list of ingredients varies from country to country as well as the quantity of the packaging material. In the example below, we examine the ingredients and nutritional facts of a 591 mL bottle of regular Coca-Cola produced in Canada.

591 mL bottle of Coca Cola Calories = 260 Fat = 0g Cholesterol = 0g Sodium = 65mg Carbohydrates = 70 g Sugars = 70 g Caffeine = 62 mg Protein = 0 g

Coca-Cola claims that “Most of the sodium found in sparkling beverages like Coca-Cola or Diet Coke comes from the water used to produce the beverage itself.” Also, they claim “Coca Cola contains no artificial flavours or preservatives – and has not since its invention in 1886”

Additives

Ingredients listed in a Canadian produced bottle of Coca Cola: Carbonated water, Sugar/Glucose-Fructose, Caramel Colour (C), Phosphoric Acid (pH, S, Yf), Natural Flavour, Caffeine (X).

According to Health Canada’s Food Additive Dictionary, “A food additive is any chemical substance that is added to food during preparation or storage and either becomes a part of the food or affects its characteristics for the purpose of achieving a particular technical effect.”

Referring to the above definition, the following ingredients found in Coca Cola are considered Food Additives:

Caramel colour – a colouring agent used to provide the product with an appetizing appearance to the consumer. Without this additive, the processing or storage of the product may result in an unappealing colour.

Coca Cola with Caramel Colour

Phosphoric Acid – a pH-adjusting agent, sequestering agent, as well as yeast foods. pH-adjusting agents are added to the product to reduce, increase, or maintain the pH (acidity) of the product which can affect the microbiological quality, flavour, and texture. Sequestering agents are added to prevent metallic elements in taking part in chemical or enzymatic reactions causing colour or flavour deterioration. Yeast foods are substances that act as nutrients for yeasts.

Caffeine is categorized under the miscellaneous agents.

Health Concerns

There are a number of health concerns associated with to the regular consumption of Coca Cola. According to a study performed in 2005, pop and other sweetened drinks are the main source of calories in the American diet This is a problem because of the obesity epidemic America is facing and since these carbonated drinks, including Coca-Cola, provide "empty calories" with little nutrition.

In another study, Jacobson and Michael observed that people who regularly drink pops, such as coke, exhibited a lower intake of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin and vitamin A (2005). Over consumption of Coca-Cola can lead to increased risk of diabetes as well as heart disease. However, over consumption of most foods have negative effects, so this section will focus on more specific and potentially harming consequences of coca cola that regular consumers might be exposed to or suffer from.

Acidity:

As with all acidic drinks, the habitual consumption of coca cola can lead to dental erosion, although evidence has shown that Coca-Cola does not have more adverse effects on tooth decay than other pops and acidic fruit juices.

Phosphoric Acid:

The presence of phosphoric acid in Coca Cola combined with long term regular use has shown a correlation to the development of osteoporosis in older women, but not men Osteoporosis is a disease which is characterized by low bone mass, and deterioration of bone tissue and can have serious negative health effects on people afflicted by it. This correlation has been noted with all cokes, regardless of the presence of caffeine or sugar.

4-MeI:

It has recently been discovered that the chemical agent used to colour Coca-Cola (as well as other carbonated beverages) to give it its brown, caramel hue is potentially dangerous to consumers. Research performed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessments have shown that long term exposure to the chemical 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI) caused lung cancer in mice. The chemical was supposed to be reduced and limited to 29 micrograms per soda can. However, this 29 microgram limit may or may not be sufficient to deal with this problem. Random Coca-Cola products have been tested for 4-MeI and were found to contain roughly 4 micrograms in each sample. Although this is below the limit of 29 micrograms, many people drink more than one coca cola a day, which may have detrimental effects on consumers health.

On March 8, 2012, the Globe and Mail released a news report addressing claims from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) of a potential carcinogen in Coca Cola. The center found that 4-methylimidazole is a component of a mix of chemicals labelled as "caramel colouring" in Coca Cola, and is considered carcinogenic. The CPSI estimates that Coca Cola and Pepsi are responsible for approximately 15,000 cancer cases in the United States alone, due to this chemical.

However, Coca-Cola Canada states “all of [their] products are safe and comply with regulations in every country where [they] operate," and clarifies that caramel colour is approved by regulators around the world, including Health Canada.

The findings from CPSI are not definitive and do not include the amount of chemical exposure required to result in cancerous effects. However, it raises the question of consumer’s safety and the amount of carcinogens exposure allowed to consumers.

Diet Coke vs. Coke Zero

Diet Coke was first released in 1982, and has been a favourite sugar-free soft drink ever since. However, many male consumers shied from this product because it had a very “feminine” appeal. So in 2005, the Coca-Cola company produced a more “masculine” product; Coke Zero.

While Diet Coke was created with its own flavour profile, Coke Zero’s flavour was aimed to imitate the original Coca-Cola taste. Aside from that, Diet Coke and Coke Zero have very little difference in nutritional information and content. Both are sugar free, contain no calories, and have the same amount of aspartame and acesulfame potassium which means that they have the same amount of sweetness.

There have been some claims that both Diet Coke and Coke Zero actually contains between 1 to 4 calories, however since the serving size contains less than 5 calories, the Coca-Cola company is not required to write that out in the nutritional information.

Diet Coke

The nutritional information on Diet Coke states that the product contains 0 Calories, 0g Fat, 70mg Sodium, 0g Total Carbs, and 0g Protein.

The ingredients used in Diet Coke are: Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzonate, natural flavors, citric acid, caffeine.

Coke Zero

File:CokeZero.jpg

Coke Zero vs. Diet Coke

The nutritional information on Coke Zero states that the product contains 0 Calories, 0g Fat, 70mg Sodium, 0g Total Carbs, and 0g Protein.

The ingredients used in Coke Zero are: Carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, potassium benzonate, natural flavors, potassium citrate, acesulfame potassium, caffeine.

Aspartame & Acesulfame Potassium

While not found in the regular Coca-Cola, Aspartame and Acesulfame Potassium are the main sweeteners found in Diet Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero. Under Health Canada’s Food Additive Dictionary, both are considered to be additives.

In comparison to sucrose, Aspartame is 180 to 220 times sweeter while Acesulfame Potassium is 200 times sweeter. Therefore, smaller amounts are required to produce the same level of sweetness, thus making Aspartame a low-calorie sweetener. Acesulfame Potassium on the other hand cannot be metabolized by the human body and thus is labeled a non caloric sweetener.

Another benefit to ingesting Aspartame and Acesulfame Potassium instead of sucrose is that Aspartame does not increase blood glucose or insulin levels while Acesulfame Potassium is not ably fermented by oral bacteria and therefore does not cause cavities.

However, Aspartame will break down at high temperatures, degrading to DKP/diketopiperzine and so can not be used in baked goods. This is one of the reasons why products sweetened with Aspartame needs a best before date. Contrarily, Acesulfame Potassium (while it needs to be combined with other sweeteners, usually Aspartame) is very stable at varying heat temperatures and pH ranges and is therefore the preferred choice of sweeteners by processing companies.

Caffeine:

It has been found that while the levels of sweetness are near identical in the two drinks, the caffeine levels actually vary. According to a Catherine Saxelby on her FoodWatch blog Diet Coke contains 12.8 mg of caffeine per every 100ml, Coke Zero contains 9.6 mg/100ml and regular Coke contains 9.7mg/100ml.

Exam Question

What food additive is used in Coca Cola to provide its colour and what health concerns have recently been surrounded this additive? If there are health concerns identified, are they significant to the general population?

ANSWER: Caramel colouring is used in Coca Cola to provide the product with an appetizing appearance to the consumer. Recently 4-methylimidazole (4-Mel), a chemical found in the caramel colour has been identified as potentially dangerous as it may be carcinogenic when consumed. No, the health concerns are typically not significant to the general population due to the substantial amount of 29 micrograms of 4-Mel needed to induce these carcinogenic effects. A typical Coca-Cola product have only been tested to contain approximately 4 micrograms.

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