| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico 
Report: Mexican Coke May Be a Myth
 myfoxchicago.com
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November 05, 2010
| | Bottles of Mexican Coke. (D.C.Atty/Flickr.com) | |
Turns out there might not be a difference between Coke sold in the United States and in Mexico after all.
That could be bad news to the cult-like followers of Mexican Coke, which even have their own Facebook page.
The Mexican Coke's advantage, fans say, is that it is made with real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) like the American version.
But lab tests have revealed the Mexican Coke is hardly different from its American counterpart, containing levels of sucrose (table sugar), fructose and glucose, TIME reported.
The findings come from the journal Obesity, which analyzed the chemical structure of sweeteners in Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other sodas.
"The investigators could not find any sucrose in the Coke, but did find plenty of glucose and fructose," wrote nutrition expert Marion Nestle on her blog, Food Politics. "This suggests that Mexican Coke is also made with HFCS (or it could also mean that the sucrose had been split into its constituent glucose and fructose)."
Nestle added, however, that the study did not analyze enough samples of the beverages to come to a firm conclusion about their contents.
Coke spokesman Scott Williamson said different sweeteners are used by the company's bottling partners in different parts of the world because of issues like price and availability. He said any taste difference is "imperceptible."
The idea of making Coke using real cane sugar is appealing to the public. The Consumerist reported that a recent survey it conducted asked readers if they would buy a cane sugar version of Coca Cola. The result was an overwhelming 89 percent of respondents said "yes."
But the study that appeared in Obesity noted consuming real sugar comes with its own health risks.
"Even when beverages are not sweetened with HFCS and instead contain cane sugar or crystalline fructose, which are often viewed by the public as healthier, more natural alternatives, the overall total sugar content and the fructose content of the beverages are still high and still of concern," the study said.
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