Cola one of the highest selling items in your supermarket

Cigarettes aside, one of the highest selling supermarket lines in Australia today is the 1.25 litre bottle of cola.

Shockingly, the top five positions are almost all occupied by this brand’s products.

So what exactly is in this soft drink?

The ingredients list is:

• Carbonated water
• Sugar (sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup depending on country of origin)
• Caffeine
• Phosphoric acid Caramel (E150d)
• Natural flavorings

A can of cola (355 ml) has 39 grams of carbohydrates (approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar), 50 mg of sodium and 140 calories.

An artificial colour like E150d is linked to gastrointestinal problems and asthma.

To find out more about what the ‘natural flavorings’ actually are, you need to be one of only two people in the world with access to the recipe kept in a secured vault in the USA.

As consumers we have a right to know what we are putting in our bodies. We also have a right to avoid products that have no place in a healthy lifestyle.

Read more about cola ingredients

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Lindy Schneider is a writer and researcher with a keen interest in health, wellbeing and natural childcare. She is an advocator of a chemical-free lifestyle in the best interests of her family, the community and a sustainable world. She lives in the Yarra Valley with her partner and two young children.