What are the most popular brands of carbonated fruit drinks?

Which carbonated fruit drinks are widely sold?

These are widely available brands, listed in no order of quality or sales:

• Fanta: Coca-Cola’s fruit-flavored line, best known for orange; flavors differ by country.
• Sprite: lemon-lime soda.
• Fresca: a grapefruit-style citrus soda, sold without sugar.
• Sunkist and Crush: orange sodas, also sold in other fruit flavors.
• Mountain Dew: a citrus-flavored soda from PepsiCo.
• Ting: a grapefruit soda from the Caribbean, also sold in some US stores.

Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper and Mug Root Beer from the old list are cola, pepper or root beer flavors, not fruit drinks.

Is a fruit soda the same as sparkling juice?

No. Fruit soda is usually carbonated water with sugar or sweetener, acids and fruit flavoring, sometimes with a small percentage of juice. Sparkling juice is mostly juice with bubbles added. The only way to tell is the ingredient list and the Nutrition Facts panel.

How to choose one

• Juice content: some labels state the percentage of juice; many state none.
• Added sugars: look at grams of added sugars per serving and the serving size, which is often smaller than the bottle.
• Sweeteners: diet and zero versions use non-sugar sweeteners; they are listed in the ingredients.
• Caffeine: most fruit sodas have none, but some citrus sodas do. The label or maker’s page will say.
• Colors and preservatives: listed by name in the ingredients.

Are carbonated fruit drinks a healthier choice?

The old text claimed they have fewer calories than sodas and add vitamins. We found no official source for that. Regular fruit sodas can contain as much sugar as other sodas, so compare labels instead of assuming. For hydration, plain or sparkling water is the simplest choice; if you want fruit taste, 100% juice mixed with plain sparkling water gives you control over sweetness.