We know that Coca Cola sold in the US is sweetened with corn syrup, and that Coke Zero is formulated to be as close as possible to the standard recipe.

But… Coca Cola here in the UK has always been sweetened with cane sugar.

Is the UK version of Coke Zero formulated differently to imitate the flavour of cane sugar instead? Or do we get a Coke Zero that’s trying to imitate HFCS?

(Side note: I’m aware a certain president recently decided Coke US should be made with cane sugar too, but that fact makes my question less interesting so I’m choosing to ignore it.)

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[–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

As popcornpizza called out, most of the answers in this thread unfortunately seem unrelated to your question.

I live in the US and haven't been to the UK in years, but I do visit Romania every year or two. I don't notice a big difference between Coke Zero sold in the US versus Romania. I'm certainly not a Coke Zero expert, but they taste pretty much the same to me. My hunch is that Coke Zero tastes the same across Europe, but I'm happy to be corrected.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago

    Interesting! And thanks for actually reading the question properly.

    If that’s true it might suggest Coke Zero tastes the same worldwide? In which case I wonder which original Coca Cola it’s closest to?

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Do they call it Coke Naught?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Semi-related - we had salt and vinegar pringles in Europe and they were good, but then when we got back to the US they were just much more intense and flavorful. We did not compare ingredients.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    We love salt and vinegar in the UK. I think statistically it’s the second most popular flavour of crisps here, after cheese and onion.

    Sorry to hear the US somehow ruined it, although I’ve had pickle flavour crisps from the USA and enjoyed them, so I think there is hope.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    US has some good salt and vinegar chips, you just gotta get the right brand.

    At risk of wading into a larger conflict about naming conventions for fried potato snacks, Pringles aren't really considered "chips" over here, but "potato crisps" due to their district texture and flavor.

    If you get a good brand of salt and vinegar (preferably kettle cooked imo) chips here, they can be very strong.

    Though I have had some issues with consistency in the past where one bag will just have hardly any flavoring, but I guess that's bound to happen one or two times when you eat literal tons of potato chips.

    Personally, I'm a fan of jalapeno kettle cooked chips.

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