Soft Drinks Case Study

Abstract

The research was aimed at identifying the relation between soft drink consumption patterns within university students and whether consumption amounts and habits lead to diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The research was aimed at gaining more knowledge on soft drink consumption and the reasons behind consuming soft drinks. Questionnaires were made and completed by 50 university student in Sydney, then analysed and findings were recorded. A further 10 students from University of Western Sydney were selected to collect qualitative information.

Literature

A soft drink is defined as a sweetened and carbonated beverage in which, does not contain alcohol. The history of soft drinks goes back to the mineral waters found in natural springs. It was believed by ancient societies that bathing in natural springs and/or drinking mineral waters could cure many diseases. Originally, soft drinks were Sherbets developed by Arabic chemists and at first served in the medieval Near East. Sherbet is made from fruit juices, extracts of flowers or herbs, combined with sugar and water to create a syrup. In the Western world, the first marketed soft drinks appeared in the 17th century. They were non-carbonated and made from water and lemon juice sweetened with honey (Rossant, 2005).

Until the 1980s, soft drinks had almost all of their food energy from refined cane sugar or corn syrup. Now, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used in almost fully as a sweetener as it is cheaper. HFCS though, has been said to as containing a number of harmful effects on human health, such as promoting diabetes, hyperactivity, hypertension, and a host of other problems (Forristal, 2003). Even though there is many evidence shown to support these claims, it is known that the human body breaks down sucrose into glucose and fructose before it is absorbed by the intestines. Also, simple sugars such