Harry: From calorie
count to portion sizes, we wanted to find out all the differences between Coca-Cola in the UK and the US. This is "Food Wars." In the UK, regular Coke
comes in eight portion sizes, starting with this mini can,
which is 150 milliliters. Then we have three
options which all include 250 milliliters of Coke. Then we have our standard
can, which is 330 milliliters. Our standard plastic
bottle is 500 milliliters. From there, we move up to
this bottle, which is 1 liter. 1.25 liters, 1.5 liters, and 2.25 liters. It's worth noting that
these ones are only stocked by a limited number of
shops, including Iceland. The supermarket chain, not the country. And in the US, our classic
Coke comes in these sizes. The mini can, which is 7.5 ounces. Then this mini bottle, which is 8 ounces. Then we jump up to the
standard 12-ounce can. That also comes in a
little 12-ounce bottle. From there, we got this guy,
which is the 16.9 fluid ounces, aka 500 milliliters. Then we have a 20-ounce bottle. And finally, our biggest, the 2 liter, which is also 67.6 ounces. Now, that means as far as
Coca-Cola classic is concerned, the UK's largest size
is actually 12.5% larger than that in the US. There is a reason why we're
specifying regular Coke here. The UK government brought in a sugar tax, which raised the price of sugary drinks in an effort to reduce
people's sugar consumption. Instead of raising the prices
of some of their drinks, what Coca-Cola did was just to make the sugary versions of their
drinks a little bit smaller. For example, how the normal
largest size of regular Coke is 1.5 liters, whereas the largest size
of Coke Zero is 2 liters. Whereas here in the US, we
don't have a specific sugar tax. So we can get our bottles of
classic Coke and diet Coke in the same size and for the same price. As a consequence of the UK sugar rules, it actually means that
the 2.25 regular Coke isn't our largest bottle size. That crown [thud] goes to this, the 3-liter diet Coke bottle. Now, this absolute unit is 50% larger than the biggest bottle in America. If you're doing, like, a party, maybe? If you're buying that for yourself, like, you've got a problem. I'm sorry. That is ridiculously huge
and really hilarious. Now, I want to point
out that on Walmart.com, they have this 3-liter
bottle of diet Coke on it, but it's not available anywhere. So my assumption is at one
point in the United States, there was 3-liter bottles available. But if Walmart doesn't have it, I'm assuming it isn't anywhere. That being said, in terms
of multipack options, the US still comes out on top. Our single largest multipack is the 35-pack of 12-ounce cans. Let's get a picture of that on the screen. I ordered it online, and
here's what they sent me. 24-pack, and nine loose cans. Now, correct me if I'm wrong,
but what's 24 plus nine? It ain't 35. And when I emailed the
place that I bought it from, they said, "Oh, sorry,
you're missing two cans, so we'll just refund you the two cans." And I'm like, "No, I
don't want the two cans, I want the 35-pack 'cause that's what I'm
doing for this video," and they just sent me $2
back, so thank you for that. Anyway, so then I go, nuts to this. I'm going to Walmart.com. Give me the 35-pack. Buy. Enter. And then they sent me three 12-packs, which
is more than 35 cans, so I guess technically
they're being generous, but once again, it's not
that I need 35 cans of soda. I need the 35-can pack for
this video specifically. There's a 35-can pack
somewhere in America, and everyone's just sending
me roughly 35 cans of soda. Thank you for that. Our largest single item is this. This is a 24-pack of 330-milliliter cans, which comes to a total of 7.92 liters. Here is everything that's in regular Coke. Harry: Carbonated water.
Joe: Carbonated water. Harry: Sugar.
Joe: High-fructose corn syrup. Harry: Color (caramel E150d).
Joe: Caramel color. Harry: Phosphoric acid.
Joe: Phosphoric acid. Harry: And natural flavorings,
Joe: And natural flavors. Harry: including caffeine.
Joe: Caffeine. Now, obviously we don't get
a full ingredients list, because the recipe of Coca-Cola
is a closely guarded secret. At the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, there's reportedly a vault which
contains the secret formula written down on a piece of paper. Who cares if the recipe gets loose? Coca-Cola, no one's gonna edge you up. Pepsi can't beat you. Who cares? I mean, how do you even make cola? You probably just go into the factory and eyeball it and figure it out. It's not super famous because
you don't know how to make it, it's super famous because
they edged everybody out. You won. Do you – I don't care. Do you want the recipe? I couldn't care less. So, what do we know about the recipe? Well, there is one obvious difference, and that's the use of
high-fructose corn syrup in the US versus the use of sugar in the UK. Corn syrup is everywhere in American food. It's cheaper for manufacturers to use because the government gives
subsidies to corn farmers, keeping the corn supply
high and the prices low. Should you be worried about consuming high-fructose corn syrup? The short answer is not really. Some studies have suggested that the negative effects of sugar tend to come from fructose
rather than from glucose, but the high fructose in
high-fructose corn syrup only relates to its fructose content in relation to other corn syrups. It actually still has less fructose than table sugar or than honey. The main difference it
causes might be the taste. You've heard Americans
talk about Mexican Coke. You can find it in most
Mexican restaurants and in some grocery stores next to the regular Coke
in the glass bottle. Mexican Coke is made with cane sugar; our regular Coke is made with
high-fructose corn syrup. People tend to like the Mexican Coke more because it has a sweeter sugary taste. So right now to compare and contrast, I'm going to do a blind taste test of both American Coke and Mexican Coke. Hang on. And Harry was nice enough to send me a United Kingdom Coke. I've also got some British
Coke, some Mexican Coke, and some American Coke. I'm now going to blindfold myself and let our camera operator, Sarah, pour the Cokes out for me. I'm blindfolded. I don't
know which one's which. I'm going to try them one after the other and try and figure out which one's which. I'm going to start on the right. Hm. See, it could just be mind games, but that doesn't taste like
exactly what I'm used to. No. 2. Ooh. OK. That one tastes pretty good. No. 3. These two taste pretty similar. This one tastes a bit
weird for some reason. I'm going to guess that this
one is American, on the right. I was expecting more of a
difference, I'll be honest. I'll go with British in the
middle, Mexican on my left. Put them in front of me, and
then I'll unblindfold myself. Wow. OK. That was Mexican Coke. I was right about British. I just got Mexican and
American Coke mixed up. Wow. OK. A lot of people have really
hyped up Mexican Coke to me, and I honestly, like, that was my least favorite of the three. They taste exactly the same. So I'm going to go UK, Mexico, USA. Wow, really? ["America the Beautiful" plays] I'm so great at pointless things! Any other ingredients to look out for? Well, one of them might be caramel color. As we know, certain
classes of caramel color have a byproduct which has
been linked to causing cancer. Unfortunately, the caramel E150d that Coke in the UK uses
is one of these classes. We reached out to Coca-Cola here in the US to see if that was the case, because the type is not
specified on the label. They told us that it is in fact the same E150d caramel
color in the States. But what about diet Coke? It still contains caramel color, but instead of using sugar
and corn syrup to sweeten it, in the US it's sweetened with aspartame, and in the UK it's
sweetened with aspartame as well acesulfame K. The good news is that both
the EU and the FDA say that acesulfame K is safe for consumption. In terms of the difference with Coke Zero, in the US, our Coke Zero uses
ace K as well as aspartame. Rumors have existed for years claiming that aspartame causes cancer, but it turns out that that
is likely to be false. The claims originated from
some Italian researchers way back in 2005. I feel like I heard about
that in the '80s, but OK. People were quick to call their methods and results into question. The FDA says, "the use of aspartame as a general ... sweetener ... is safe." While the European Food
Safety Authority says, "Studies do not suggest an increased risk associated with the aspartame consumption for ... leukemia, brain tumours
or a variety of cancers." There's a cool side effect for Coke using these artificial sweeteners
you might not know about. Because they're so much more
sweet than sugar per pound, there's a tiny amount of them
dissolved in your diet Coke compared to the amount of
sugar that's in a classic Coke. That means a can of Coke is
denser than that of a diet Coke. So when you put said Coke in water ... to the bottom. Diet Coke ... floats. One other rumor we felt
compelled to address was the role of cocaine in Coca-Cola. This dates right back to the 1800s when the drink was invented. Coca-Cola's official stance on this is that there's never been
cocaine in any of its products. What it does seem to contain,
however, is coca extract. Coca is the plant from
which cocaine is extracted. Fluid extract of coca was
one of the ingredients in a list "This American Life" discovered which was reportedly a recipe for an early version of Coca-Cola. And it seems like they're still using it. In 1988, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said, "Ingredients from the coca leaf are used, but there is no cocaine in it and it all is being tightly overseen by regulatory authorities." What's fun is that Coca-Cola
got a specific exemption from the United Nations
in order to keep using coca extract as an ingredient. Specifically, Article 27 of the Single Convention
on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. There's only one facility in the US licensed to import and process coca leaves through a special deal with the DEA. It is owned by the Stepan Company, and it's in Maywood, New Jersey. According to the Peruvian officials, they buy around 100 metric tons of dried Peruvian coca leaves each year. They reportedly process
them and de-cocanize them, taking all of the cocaine out of them. The cocaine is sold to hospitals
for use as an anesthetic, and the cocaine-free extract is then sent to Coca-Cola
for use in their products. Coca-Cola's official line
on the subject is, quote, "Coca-Cola does not contain cocaine or any other harmful substance, and cocaine has never been an added ingredient in Coca-Cola." End quote. But it's fair to say that
cocaine and coca extract are not the same thing. So the latter might in fact be one of their not-so-secret
secret ingredients. Here are all the Coca-Cola
products in the UK that you won't find in the US. And here's all the Coca-Cola
items you'll find in the US that you cannot find in the UK. I want to start with two exclusive flavors you can get in the US
you can't get in the UK. They're these two right here, cherry vanilla and orange vanilla. Cherry vanilla seems pretty standard. I think I've had this a bunch of times. It's great. It's refreshing. I enjoy it. We can't get cherry vanilla in the UK, but we can get cherry
and we can get vanilla, so I guess I can make my own. Oh, God. Ah! [exhales] [exhales] Panic over. The smart thing to do would
be to mix these in a glass, but I'm not a smart man. Ah. Pretty good. The only exclusive Coke
flavor we can currently get – [coughs] sorry. The only exclusive Coke
flavor we can currently get in the UK is this one, which
is diet Coke Sublime Lime. As the name suggests, it's just diet Coke flavored with lime. Next up, caffeine-free Coca-Cola, not to be confused with
caffeine-free diet Coke, which is what you guys
have over there in the UK. Apparently that's your
only caffeine-free option? For shame. This one is delicious. It actually tastes just like Coke. It's perfect for after 2 p.m. when you want to keep
drinking soda, like me. But if you like caffeine and you want a little bit of a boost, Coke Energy I believe is
available in both countries, but one exclusive Coke Energy flavor you can't get in the UK is this. The Coke Energy zero sugar. The Coke Energy drinks
are being phased out. I can't imagine why. I think they're actually really good. In fact, I went ahead
and got the other ones. Regular. I don't really like zero sugar, but I do like just regular. Oh, yeah. I'm into that. Yeah, thank you. It's good. I mean, like ... energy meter's going up, Yuelei! Going up! If you're like me and
you love soda and coffee, Coke in the US has you covered with these. You got caramel, vanilla,
vanilla no sugar, dark blend, and dark blend zero sugar. Oh, my God, I sincerely
love these so much. Zero sugar can go there. Ooh, which one do I want? Hits the spot. The I-want-to-jack-my-caffeine-levels- through-the-roof spot. Dude, Coke and coffee's good together. Has anyone had two of
these at the same time? I don't think they have. They don't mix very well. But individually they're great. Uh-oh. I might have overdone it. We don't have Coke coffees in the UK. However, Coca-Cola owns Costa Coffee, which is a coffee chain in the UK, and they produce canned coffees. So I guess, again, I
can try and make my own. So, the issue here is
they do do Americanos, but I got latte instead. So see how well milk
combines with Coke, I guess. Yeah. Um. [laughs] Regretting quite a lot
of things right now. Namely all the life choices
that led me to this point. Cheers. Nope. Not even a little bit. No, no, no. Don't do that. No one else do that. Please, God. Ugh. Just like really watery, fizzy coffee that is kind of sweet and ... ugh. No. Bad. The final exclusive
range in the UK is this, Coca-Cola signature mixers. Coca-Cola worked with bartenders to design special Cokes
with different flavors which are designed to
be used in cocktails. These come with smoky notes, spicy notes, herbal notes, and woody notes. Tag yourself. I am spicy notes. Cool. [rumbling] My stomach is making some weird
noises after drinking that. No one else do that, please, God. Ugh! Apparently these are
designed to be enjoyed with premium dark spirits. Now, I know nothing about
mixology, but thankfully, a bartender friend from Australia came through with a recipe. So now I'm going to use
the smoky notes Coca-Cola to put a "Food Wars" twist on a Jack's godfather highball. Cocktail Time. Slight hiccup. Don't have a bottle opener. This is either going to work or I'm going to break my keys
and be locked out of my house. Improvisation. Slash. Alcoholism. Ooh, it does smell quite smoky. Harry was kind enough to send me this, so now I have one as well. It just says, "Pour ingredients
into an ice-filled glass." Formally apologize to
any actual bartenders who are watching this while
I butcher your profession. 30 milliliters of
Tennessee whiskey we have, and then 20 milliliters of Disaronno. A delightful smoky Coke. Next we mix together. And there you have it. Thanks to Coke, we've put our own spin on a
Jack's godfather highball. Cheers. Ooh. That's delicious. Um, yeah, I'm not going
to make that drink, 'cause I don't have all that stuff. So I'm going to go ahead
and make a Joe highball. First, get yourself the
biggest glass available. Step two: no ice. Find yourself some whiskey. Cheers, my man. Oh, man. What is in this? If I was to do it again,
I'd use less of this. It's iced tea, guys. I'm not gonna f---ing drink whiskey this early in the morning. You know what it tastes like? Flat Coke. Oh, man, I'm getting a headache though. Last but not least, in the
US, you have the option to order customized Coke bottles. Check out the one I made. Joe and Harry. Here's everything that's
in a 500-milliliter bottle of Coca-Cola in the UK. And here's everything in that same bottle of classic Coke in the US. That means that the UK's version actually has slightly more
calories in it than the US. Joe: And we have more sugar. And for some reason, our Coke
has a little bit of sodium, while the UK seems to have none. Obviously, the main thing to
look out for here is the sugar. 500 milliliters in both the US and the UK contains over 100% of
your daily allowance. 53 grams of sugar. [laughs] It does put it in perspective, doesn't it? You never see it laid out like that, but that is how much sugar is in Coke. And I drink a lot of Coke. That's concerning. It's also worth noting that both countries put the same amount of
caffeine in their Coke. For reference, the average
cup of filtered coffee contains about 96 milligrams of caffeine. So that's exactly double the
amount in this bottle of Coke. Interestingly, diet Coke is
actually more caffeinated than regular Coke. There's 63 milligrams in this bottle, which is a 30% increase. And it makes sense, 'cause
our Coke with coffee contains 69 milligrams of
caffeine per 12 fluid ounces. If you do the math to find
out the figure per ounce, it's double the caffeine
of a regular Coke. But the real caffeine king
is my boy Coke Energy. Mm. Whether you get the classic or the cherry, the 12-ounce can contains
114 milligrams of caffeine, which is triple the caffeine content of a regular Coke per ounce. Yo, don't I know it. I'm going to chug as much of this as I can without throwing up and
then see what we can do. [burps loudly] God, that's so gross. The max I got to there was 90 decibels, which, according to this thing I found, is about as loud as a leaf
blower, which is pretty good.
