Why do industrial drinks mark caffeine as a flavoring?
The ingredients list is sometimes written "Flavors: ... Caffeine" (Arômes: ... Caféine) on official Coca-Cola cans and home-brand cola bottles here in France.
Why is caffeine marked as an aroma rather than an ingredient? It makes it sound like there is a caffeine substitute rather than the real thing.
Best Answer
It could be because food ingredients are supposed to be listed in the order of their "amount":
Here's the definition from FDA:
The ingredient list on a food label is the listing of each ingredient in descending order of predominance. FDA Food Labelling Guide
Periodic videos channel on YouTube showed how 6-cups of coffee leads to only 100mg of caffeine. So the amount of caffeine is insignificant by weight when compared to other ingredients (milligrams vs grams). It would likely fall below the reportable requirements if caffeine did not have the effect it does.
For example, according to FDA "Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 10 grams" is "OK" for ground allspice.
So it would make sense to still list it, but under the other category of aroma/flavour.
In Addition, as noted by @Sneftel in the comments, caffeine does have a very bitter flavour and adding "bitters" is obviously considered flavouring.
Interestingly, and to your point, some pain medications do contain caffeine and it's surely not listed as a flavouring or aroma on those labels.
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Quick Answer about "Why do industrial drinks mark caffeine as a flavoring?"
Caffeine was in fact originally added to drinks as a flavoring. When making caffeine-free versions of some drinks, a substitute bitter is used to replicate the flavor of caffeine.Why is caffeine used as a Flavouring?
Caffeine contributes to the flavor profiles of beverage and food products, and other bitter compounds, such as quinine, cannot replicate caffeine s bitterness. Research also has indicated caffeine's ability to enhance desirable tastes, such as sweetness and saltiness, in beverages by modifying neurological pathways.Does caffeine flavouring have caffeine?
Food with coffee flavors usually has caffeine in them as they are mostly made from real coffee or coffee extract. But, if the flavor is made artificially from ingredients other than coffee, then the food will most likely be caffeine-free.Is caffeine a flavoring agent in cola soft drinks?
Caffeine is an added ingredient in approximately 70% of soft drinks consumed in the United States. The soft drink manufacturers' justification to regulatory agencies and the public for adding caffeine to soft drinks is that caffeine is a flavoring agent.Why is caffeine added to drinks?
If you're having caffeine in an energy drink for example, it provides a stimulant effect, it gives you energy. At lower levels, as it's typically used in soft drinks, it has less of a stimulant effect and is used mainly for its taste profile. It forms part of the overall complex flavour profile of a product.HOW MUCH G-FUEL CAN YOU DRINK? - TALKING ABOUT CAFFEINE!
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Answer 2
Caffeine was in fact originally added to drinks as a flavoring. When making caffeine-free versions of some drinks, a substitute bitter is used to replicate the flavor of caffeine. Studies demonstrate that caffeine's flavor can be detected at the levels present in beverages like coffee but not reliably at the levels present in drinks like cola.
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