{"id":63905,"date":"2025-08-07T01:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T01:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63905\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T01:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T01:06:07","slug":"6-soda-brands-with-the-most-alarming-ingredient-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63905\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Soda Brands With the Most Alarming Ingredient Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soda<\/a> has historically had a bad name in terms of health. The new healthy soda boom, led by probiotic soda brands like Poppi and Olipop, is making the soda experience a little more guilt-free, fueled by healthier ingredients and fewer additives and artificial colors. However, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD\/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board-Certified Sports Dietitian and co-author of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies,<\/a> tells us there are still so many sodas on the market with alarming ingredients. Here are 6 soda brands with the most alarming ingredient lists.<\/p>\n

\tMountain Dew<\/p>\n

\"MountainPepsiCo<\/p>\n

Mountain Dew stands out for its combination of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), caffeine, artificial flavors, and artificial colors like Yellow 5, also known as tartrazine. Yellow 5 is one of the most widely used synthetic food dyes in the U.S.\u2014and it\u2019s on its way out if the FDA has its way. In 2025, the agency announced plans to phase out petroleum-based artificial dyes such as Yellow 5, Red 40, and Yellow 6 by the end of 2026, citing growing concerns about potential neurobehavioral effects in children. While still technically legal, these dyes are under increasing scrutiny, and many manufacturers are already reformulating. Mountain Dew also delivers a whopping 77 grams of sugar per 20 oz bottle, more than many sodas\u2014for comparison, a 20 oz Coca-Cola contains 65 grams.<\/p>\n

\tCoca-Cola Cherry<\/p>\n

\"cocaCoca-Cola<\/p>\n

Coca-Cola Cherry is another flavor-enhanced soda with lots of problematic ingredients. In addition to High Fructose Corn Syrup it also has artificial flavors, caramel coloring, and lots of sugar, 57g per 20 oz bottle.\u00a0\u201cSweetness masks acidity that may erode tooth enamel over time,\u201d Collingwood adds.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e<\/p>\n

The 26 Unhealthiest Sodas\u2014Ranked by Sugar Content<\/a><\/p>\n

\tFanta Orange<\/p>\n

\"fantaCoca-Cola<\/p>\n

Fanta Orange is popular with kids, but it is full of unhealthy ingredients. Why is it alarming? If is filled with artificial dyes\u00a0(Yellow 6, Red 40) and HFCS. \u201cIt has no real orange juice\u00a0despite the flavor,\u201d says Collingwood. It is also full of sugar, 44g per 20 oz. \u201cBright dyes are potentially linked to behavioral issues in children,\u201d says Collingwood.<\/p>\n

\tDr Pepper<\/p>\n

\"DrDr. Pepper<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Pepper is also alarming. \u201cA cocktail of 23 artificial flavors,\u201d says Collingwood. It has HFCS,\u00a0caramel coloring, and phosphoric acid, and boasts 64 grams of sugar. \u201cHigh acidity and chemical load,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\tRockstar Energy Soda<\/p>\n

\"rockstarRockstar<\/a><\/p>\n

Rockstar Energy Soda may give you a burst of energy, but it\u2019s not natural by any means. \u201cIt has excessive caffeine\u00a0combined with sugar,\u201d says Collingwood. Ingredients include artificial flavors and colors, taurine, guarana, and other stimulants, and lots of sugar \u2013 63g per 16 oz. \u201cRaises heart rate and blood pressure; not recommended for kids or sensitive individuals,\u201d says Collingwood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Soda has historically had a bad name in terms of health. The new healthy soda boom, led by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[47253,97,269,3288],"class_list":{"0":"post-63905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-diet-soda","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-soda"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}