Soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Diet Coke have been found to contain alcohol © RexSupposedly non-alcoholic soft drinks may actually contain traces of alcohol, according to researchers in France who tested 19 colas at the National Institute of Consumption (NIC). They discovered that more than half of them contained alcohol.
Of those tested, ten were found to contain traces of alcohol. These included popular drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola Classic Light (known as Diet Coke in the UK) and Coke Zero.
The colas that didn’t contain alcohol included brands Auchan, Cora, Casino, Leader Price and Man U-Cola.
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But before you worry about drink driving on a couple of cans of coke, the study notes that the quantities of alcohol were extremely low - just 10mg in every litre. This equates to 0.001 per cent alcohol in each drink.
“It is possible that traces of alcohol come from the process of making Coca Cola”, said Michel Pepin, scientific director for Coca-Cola France.
However, he insisted that Coca-Cola drinks were a proven ‘soft drink’ and 'the government authorities in which they are sold' recognise them as such.
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“Some soft drinks can contain minute traces of alcohol because of the ingredients used,” according to a quote by a spokesman for Pepsi Cola.
“The Pepsi Cola recipe does not contain alcohol.”
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Both Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola agreed that the natural fruits in cola drinks can ferment and produce alcohol.
But given recent bad press soft drinks have had, perhaps that’s the least of fizzy drink fans’ worries.