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This Ingredient Is The Only Difference Between Pepsi And Coke

It's all in the citric content.

Michelle No
by Michelle No

BuzzFeed Staff

The world is basically divided into people who like Pepsi and those who prefer Coke.

PepsiCo / @selenagomez / Via Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/selenagomez/?hl=en

Pepsi lovers SWEAR their soda is more refreshing, while Coke fans stand by their soda's classically sweet taste.

@jamescharles / Via Twitter: @jamescharles

And despite all the debate, no one's really nailed down what's so different about the two flavors.

CNN

Well, it actually turns out author Malcolm Gladwell's already done just that.

vimeo.com

In a passage from his 2005 book Blink, recently resurfaced by Foodbeast, Gladwell explains the difference between the cola rivals in a single sentence: "Pepsi is characterized by a citrusy flavor burst, unlike the more raisiny-vanilla taste of Coke."

amazon.com

In fact, if you look up each soda's ingredients, you'll notice that while Pepsi includes citric acid in its list...

origin-www.pepsicobeveragefacts.com*26*01-01&form=RTD&size=20

...Coke is made up of the same ingredients, minus the citric acid and added sugar.

coca-colaproductfacts.com

Not that the explanation settles which flavor is better.

  1. So, which cola IS better?

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So, which cola IS better?
  1.  
    vote votes
    Coke — it's the original, after all.
  2.  
    vote votes
    Pepsi. Why are we still arguing about this?
  3.  
    vote votes
    Neither are that great, TBH.
  4.  
    vote votes
    Ew, soda.
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