Whether we’ve cultivated the tea-leaf,
picked the coffee bean or cracked open a cacao-nut, we humans have been
consuming caffeine for many hundreds of years.
Despite our familiarity with this stimulating and flavour-giving substance, it’s still regularly misunderstood. Coca-Cola Journey recently spoke with Jim Moshovelis to get some answers to common questions.
As Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager atCoca-Cola South Pacific, Jim is an expert on the matter of
caffeine, ensuring all the company’s products comply with strict
regulations around its use.
What
kind of effect does caffeine have on the body?
It depends on how much caffeine you have. If
you’re having caffeine in an energy drink for example, it provides a stimulant
effect, it gives you energy. At lower levels, as it’s typically used in
soft drinks, it has less of a stimulant effect and is used mainly for its taste
profile. It forms part of the overall complex flavour profile of a
product.
And is that the only reason caffeine is used in soft drinks?
That’s the reason we use caffeine in soft drinks; to enhance its flavour.
How much
caffeine is in a can of
The maximum amount you’re allowed to put into a soft
drink by Food Standards Australian and New Zealand is 14.5mg per 100ml. In
something like Coca-Cola, you’ve got 9.7mg per 100ml.
Addiction is a harsh term. When it comes to food
and beverages, what people are usually saying when they’re addicted to
something is that they like it. They like the taste of it. And something
we find is that people go to the product they like the most taste-wise, above
everything else. Whether it contains caffeine or not, in my opinion, is
irrelevant. Taste is the more important factor.
It depends on how much you’re drinking. Those
people tend to be drinking multiple cups of coffee, or they might be more
sensitive to caffeine.
Is there
a lot of testing to ensure that all
Yes, we do test our products, and we do test for
caffeine levels. We have a number of programs, testing on-site during
manufacture, and we also do random sampling of products that are out in
the marketplace.
Despite our familiarity with this stimulating and flavour-giving substance, it’s still regularly misunderstood. Coca-Cola Journey recently spoke with Jim Moshovelis to get some answers to common questions.
As Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager at
What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a substance you find in many foods and beverages, from tea, coffee, chocolate or cocoa. It’s found naturally in coffee beans and tea plants. It’s a substance that provides stimulant properties, but it also has flavour properties as well.What
kind of effect does caffeine have on the body?
It depends on how much caffeine you have. If
you’re having caffeine in an energy drink for example, it provides a stimulant
effect, it gives you energy. At lower levels, as it’s typically used in
soft drinks, it has less of a stimulant effect and is used mainly for its taste
profile. It forms part of the overall complex flavour profile of a
product. What exactly does caffeine do to the flavour profile of a soft drink?
Caffeine actually has a bitter taste to it, so it really depends on the overall flavour of a drink. It complements sweeteners we use in a beverage. In cola products, for example, that bitterness is actually used as part of the taste, partly to counter the sweetness, and partly because it adds to the unique cola taste.And is that the only reason caffeine is used in soft drinks?
That’s the reason we use caffeine in soft drinks; to enhance its flavour.
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