Coca Cola vs Pepsi Cola, They Are Not Much Different Actually
If you look at the contents of a Coca Cola can and compare it to a Pepsi Cola can you will notice that they are almost the same - they provide the same energy, come with the same amount of sugar of over 10%, use the same coloring agent (E150d), contain the same phosphoric acid... probably the difference is in the "natural flavors" used (besides caffeine). The notable difference is the presence of gum arabic (that one also has an E number - E414) as a stabilizer in Pepsi, it is actually used a lot in the food industry including in a lot of drinks. There is of course some specifics in the taste of the two drinks, but that it achieved with the difference of the flavors used and these are a very small part of the mix...
What I actually wanted to try is to test how acidic each of them is as well as what is the TDS value. The level of acidity as in pH level can be affected by the water that each of the companies use as well as the amount of phosphoric acid that each drink has. Phosphoric acid of course has more significant influence as the water is usually near the neutral level of pH 7, while acids go under that. The TDS or Total Dissolved Solids is essentially a measurement of the conductivity of liquids as it takes into account the presence of mobile charged ions such as minerals, salts or metals and is measured in ppm (parts per million).
Phosphoric acid (E338) is mostly used in soaps and detergents and then comes the food industry in second place where it is used to guess what "acidify foods and beverages" with different variants of cola drinks using it mostly. There are a lot of other uses for that acid, including using it as a sanitizing agent in some industries... remember this is an acid that you are drinking. One of the common "wow effects" of Coca Cola is the rust removal feature that is present thanks to the phosphoric acid the drink contains.
Starting with the Coca Cola - 298 ppm TDS level and pH level of 2.43 . That is quite an acidic drink on any scale, guess why it helps remove rust as well as with digestive issues. Just for the sake of comparison, the gastric acid or stomach acid that is found in your stomach and is used to digest food is 1.5 to 3.5.
The Pepsi Cola is actually very similar in results, told you the two drinks are not much different actually. The TDS is slightly higher at 307 ppm and the pH level is a bit lower at 2.41, this means more a bit more conductive liquids and a bit higher level of acidity, though not much different than the one of Coca Cola.
So anyone using Pepsi Cola to remove rust or everyone is sticking to Coca Cola... :D
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