Soft drinks like Fanta, Mirinda, Limca and mountain dew are some popular drinks in summer. Kids and adult love to enjoy them with ice after a long and hot day. But do you know the ingredients and the health effects of these drinks in the long run? If you have not given it much thought yet, you might want to do so!
Fanta
Fanta is famous as an orange flavored drink that is produced by the Coca Cola company. IT contains local flavors of fruits, and people love its tangy taste.
Ingredients
The main ingredients of Fanta are carbonated water, preservatives (221), stabilizers (414, 445), sugar, acidity regulator (330), permitted food colors, added flavors that are nature-identical or natural flavoring substances.
Mirinda
Mirinda is an orange drink similar to Fanta but is produced by Pepsico. A cold bottle of Mirinda is something that people appreciate a lot in summers.
Ingredients
The ingredients in Mirinda include sugar, added flavor, synthetic food flavor 110 apart from carbonated water, preservatives (IN211), acidity regulators (IN 330, IN 331) and stabilizers (IN 1450, IN 445).
Limca
Limca is a lemony and tangy drink that is enjoyed by people during summers. People also feel energized after drinking a chilled glass of Limca in summers.
Ingredients
The main ingredients of Limca include acidity regulators (330, 331), carbonated water, sugar, preservatives (221) and stabilizers (414, 471). It contains Class II Preservatives that are permitted and some other additional flavors with artificial flavoring substances.
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew became popular because of their daring advertisements that succeeded in luring young adults. It is a loved drink by people across ages. They love it, especially in summers, to beat the heat.
Ingredients
Concentrated orange juice, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, citric acid, gum arabic, calcium disodium, yellow 5, brominated vegetable oil, caffeine, natural flavors, erythorbic acid, and some others.
Health Effects
There is no nutritional value in these drinks, and it is not safe for young adults or children because of its high sugar content. The presence of a high amount of sugar in all these drinks means that it might lead to obesity if consumed in large quantities. Therefore, it must be consumed in very small amount even by people who do not suffer from problems like diabetes or obesity. Some of the synthetic colors used in these drinks may intensify asthma for some people. It might also lead to hyperactivity in children. In addition to that, some of these drinks do not specify the type of sugar that they use, which means they don’t highlight if it is cane sugar or sucrose or fruit sugar or fructose. It is essential to know the type of sugar to assess the health effects accurately. Also, the additional flavors that are used in these drinks might have an allergic reaction in some people and are not suitable for pregnant women or infants. Hence, the health effects of these drinks can be dangerous in the long run. Therefore, it is advised to drink these soft drinks in moderation. It is always a good idea to check out the ingredients before you consume something.
Conclusion
To sum up, it can be seen that the overall ingredients in most of these drinks are more or less the same. Therefore, the health effects of these drinks are also similar, even if they taste different. The high amount of sugar and artificial flavors are the main ingredients that might have adverse effects on health if consumed regularly for long periods. So, think before consuming these drinks and think twice before giving it to younger children.