Talk:Soft drink

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Last archived 2011-12-23

Streamline?

In my view the article is unnecessarily complex. Coming from Scotland, UK, my understanding of a "soft drink" is any alternative to a "hard" alcoholic drink, although not usually used to include tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. It does include water, alcohol-free beer, fruit juice and any drink commonly consumed by a someone not wishing an alcoholic drink in a bar setting. Perhaps the meaning differs from region to region of the English-speaking world. EdX20 (talk) 20:43, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

I believe this is the case. An English friend of mine shares your definition, while in Australia the usage of "soft drink" fits this article perfectly. --182.239.191.224 (talk) 08:21, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Stronger Citations

Much of this article, including the "Health effects" and subsequent sections, appear to be extremely speculative. I noted some areas where citations could be added. Will look for research and references to add. Would welcome any help or thoughts! KatCray (talk) 20:54, 3 June 2011 (UTC)KatCray

Kool-Aid says it is a soft drink right on the label

It is also on the list of American soft drinks. So why does this article say it is not? --64.255.164.53 (talk) 01:56, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

This actually leads me to think that the article is "wrong" throughout the lead section and in the title as far as what it's about. My suspicion is that we have here now an article about Carbonated beverages which should be moved, and that since these are a subset of Soft drinks, a more general overview should go here instead. Does anyone know if there are industry guidelines on what's labeled as what that would clear this up? - RedWordSmith (talk) 07:44, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

It has long been accepted that soft drinks are carbonated nonalcoholic beverages. There are no guidelines or laws about this, but dictionary definitions and common usage prevail. Kool-Aid's labelling is wishful thinking. Wahrmund (talk) 20:04, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Beer is a carbonated beverage but not a soft one, so I don't think that will work out. Rmhermen (talk) 20:59, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Indeed. Maybe Soda (beverage) would be better? This would have the advantage of being analogous to diet soda. - RedWordSmith (talk) 23:22, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Source for this? The first link for the article notes that there are many terms used to refer to carbonated beverages, some of which are clearly not appropriate for the title of this article (eg Lemonade). If we were to go by common usage, the dialect study puts Soda far ahead at 53% vs 6% for Soft drink, in the U.S. at least. Further, two dictionaries, Random House and our own Wiktionary suggest that soft drinks are usually 'but not always' carbonated, and another, the Collins English Dictionary/World English Dictionary (at the RH link), says only that a soft drink is "a nonalcoholic drink, usually cold." What benefit would it give Kool-Aid to label their product as a soft drink if it were not, in what is, relative to the rest of the front package, fine print? - RedWordSmith (talk) 21:24, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

I found the following concerning this question:

Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1966, does not have an entry for soft drink. but it has an entry for soda water that describes what we now call soft drinks.

soda water 2a: a beverage consisting of water highly charged with carbonic acid gas that is effervescent when not under pressure and is used in the manufacture of soft drinks ... 2b: or soda pop : a bottled soft drink consisting of such charged water with added flavor and sweet syrup.

The Columbia Guide to Standard Anerican English (copyright 1993 by Columbia University Press) refers soft drink(s) to its entry at soda, which has:.

soda, club soda, pop, seltzer, soda pop, soft drink(s), sparkling water, tonic. All these are names for nonalcoholic beverages usually carbonated so as to fizz, bubble, or "sparkle." The general terms are soft drinks (as distinguished from "hard" [alcoholic] drinks), soda, pop, and soda pop .... These beverages may have any of a variety of flavors or none at all.

The New Oxford American Dictionary (copyright 2010, by Oxford University Press) has:

soft drink a nonalcoholic drink, esp. one that is carbonated.

I think we can safely disregard the Wiktionary definition.

The dialect study referenced in the article is useless for the purposes of this discussion, first because the article title references standard English and not any of the many various dialects, and second because the study's question stands our issue on its head since it asks: "What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?" Rather, it should have asked, "What is your generic term for a soft drink?", when completely different results would have been obtained.

As for Kool-Aid's describing their product as a "soft drink," they gain absolutely no benefit from doing so, yet they do have to call the stuff something, don't they? Wahrmund (talk) 17:50, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Deleting dubious claim

Reason 1: Kool-Aid specifically calls itself a soft drink, and has for years, right on its labeling. There is only one authority in this country on accepted names for prepared food and nonalcoholic drink products, and that is the FDA. If there were a strict definition of what could and could not be called a soft drink, and Kool-aid failed to adhere to that in any way, the FDA would not allow them to label themselves as one. Kool-Aid and similar products came under heavy srutiny from the FDA in the late 70s and early 80s for their sugar content and the types of artificial color they used, and so any labeling concern would have come to light during that time.

Reason 2: The FDA specifically talks about "carbonated soft drinks." If carbonation were a prerequisite for being a soft drink, why would the FDA need to differentiate between carbonated soft drinks and uncarbonated soft drinks?

Reason 3: the FDA specifically calls Kool-Aid a soft drink . Read the report on this foot note, it lists several Kool-Aid flavors as soft drinks in this study on benzoate levels in soft drinks.

Reason 4: Kool-Aid has officially been recognized as a soft drink, when the state of Nebraska legislature designated Kool-Aid the official state soft drink.

I am removing the claim that it is not a soft drink. Mmyers1976 (talk) 17:17, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Increased fructose associates with elevated blood pressure. -- PMID 20595676

Jalal DI, Smits G, Johnson RJ, Chonchol M.

Increased fructose associates with elevated blood pressure.

J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010 Sep;21(9):1543-9. Epub 2010 Jul 1.

PMID 20595676

PMCID: PMC3013529

Free PMC Article

http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed

Abstract

The recent increase in fructose consumption in industrialized nations mirrors the rise in the prevalence of hypertension, but epidemiologic studies have inconsistently linked these observations. We investigated whether increased fructose intake from added sugars associates with an increased risk for higher BP levels in US adults without a history of hypertension. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003 to 2006) involving 4528 adults without a history of hypertension. Median fructose intake was 74 g/d, corresponding to 2.5 sugary soft drinks each day. After adjustment for demographics; comorbidities; physical activity; total kilocalorie intake; and dietary confounders such as total carbohydrate, alcohol, salt, and vitamin C intake, an increased fructose intake of > or =74 g/d independently and significantly associated with higher odds of elevated BP levels: It led to a 26, 30, and 77% higher risk for BP cutoffs of > or =135/85, > or =140/90, and > or =160/100 mmHg, respectively. These results suggest that high fructose intake, in the form of added sugar, independently associates with higher BP levels among US adults without a history of hypertension. Comment in

PMID 20595676

PMCID: PMC3013529

Free PMC Article

http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed

99.190.133.143 (talk) 23:05, 1 November 2011 (UTC)