With their seemingly endless varieties and the ability to cater to those who like full-flavoured drinks and those who prefer healthier alternatives, soft drinks have endured for a long time and show no signs of ever slowing down. 

But just because soft drinks are so ubiquitous doesn’t mean we know everything about them. In this blog, we’ve listed four interesting facts you may have not known about one of the world’s most popular beverage types.

1. More soft drinks than you could imagine

Think about the last time you went to a supermarket and checked out the soft drink aisle. With the selection of regular, diet, sugar-free, energy-based (and so on) soft drink variations out there, the amount of choice can be overwhelming. On a global scale, however, it gets even more full on.

The Coca-Cola Company alone has approximately 3,500 soft drinks under its belt. If you were to try one each day, it would take you nine years to get through them all. And it’s a safe bet that, by then, hundreds – if not thousands – more soft drinks under the Coca-Cola Company will be out there.

2. 7 Up once had lithium in it

The drug lithium citrate functions as a mood stabiliser that can help in the treatment of depression and bipolar disorders. While today it requires a prescription, it once was commonplace in a number of medicated beverages. One of those beverages was called ‘Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon Soda’ – a bit of a mouthful to say.

Eventually (in 1948), lithium was removed from the beverage and it became commonly known as 7 Up. Another interesting fact worth noting is that no one actually knows where the name ‘7 Up’ came from. While some theories do exist, none of them have been definitively proven as the origins of its name.

3. A kosher version of Coca-Cola exists

During the observation of Passover, many of those who observe the Jewish faith cannot eat or drink certain foods that aren’t deemed kosher. While this can differ depending on the form of Judaism someone belongs to, corn is not deemed kosher and cannot be consumed throughout the duration of Passover.

To account for this, Coke has corn syrup-free version of the beverage known as kosher for Passover Coke. It can be identified by its yellow lid and is placed in stores during March and April to coincide with the Passover season. As it is sweetened by cane sugar and not corn syrup, it has a slightly different taste.

4. Diet soft drink cocktails make you more inebriated

If you enjoy cocktails, then it’s worth noting that ones made with ‘diet’ variations of soft drinks are likely to get you more inebriated. Research by Northern Kentucky University found that drinking cocktails comprising diet soft drink could get people 18% drunker than cocktails comprising regular soft drink.

The basis for this is relatively simple. When drinking a cocktail with regular soft drink, the body identifies the sugar in it as food and slows down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. With little-to-no sugar in diet variants, the alcohol is absorbed quicker and leads to more rapid inebriation.