How 10 US Sodas Differ From Their International Versions

One pleasure of traveling abroad is tasting international versions of popular American products. It's interesting to experience the subtle, or glaring, differences in flavor, texture and ingredients, that vary based on regional palates. Whether it's Mexican Doritos, which apparently taste better, or McDonald's U.S. vs. UK serving sizes, brands must adopt a "when in Rome" approach.

American products sometimes include ingredients that are illegal in other countries. Companies have to reformulate the recipe before they can be legally sold. The changes are often too subtle to recognize, though there are many popular products with noticeably different flavor profiles.

Take soda, for example. Mexican Coca-Cola is famously known for having a distinctive taste when compared to the American original. While mostly due to the ingredients, some say that canned and bottled soda taste different, too. It's one of several U.S. sodas included in this list that differ from their international versions.

If you "wanta Fanta" overseas, expect a totally different soda than the vibrant-colored one sold stateside. The U.S. version says it contains "natural orange flavors," which is pretty vague. However, Fanta overseas specifies that it is made with 3.7 percent orange juice and 1.3 percent citrus fruit from concentrate, along with natural orange flavoring. Carrot and pumpkin vegetable extracts are also included. America's iconic orange Fanta color comes from the synthetic food dye Yellow No. 6, an ingredient subject to strict guidelines in the UK that's absent from their Fanta. As a result, the color there is pale orange.

Americans love sugary soda and Fanta has a staggering amount — 73 grams per 20 fluid ounces compared to 27 grams per 20.28 fluid ounces in the UK version. In place of high-fructose corn syrup, Coca-Cola Great Britain uses real sugar, acesulfame K and sucralose as sweeteners. You'd have to consume almost three UK Fantas to match the sugar in one bottle of U.S. Fanta, which has a significantly sweeter sip. 

At Coca-Cola HQ in Atlanta, visitors are given the rare opportunity to taste Coke from around the world. The hype surrounding Mexican Coke's superiority is no secret. Fans cite several reasons why it trumps the American classic, primarily because it's sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. While both types of sweeteners contain fructose and glucose, Coke made with cane sugar has a more natural, less processed taste, per Reader's Digest.

Mexican Coke comes in a glass bottle, as well, which, unlike plastic and aluminum, doesn't leech into the soda's flavor, giving it an untainted, fresher mouthfeel. The south-of-the-border version is also rumored to be more bubbly, but that might just be the novelty of it all. Ironically, in a blind taste test conducted for Serious Eats by celebrity chef J. Kenji Lopéz-Alt, people chose American Coke over Mexican, so maybe the domestic version deserves more love.

Ever wondered how Pepsi tastes in the Middle East? The PepsiCo Product Facts website says the American version is made with "natural flavors," but doesn't reveal specific country-based recipes. However, according to one YouTuber, Pepsi from Iraq has a spiced aftertaste, likely from an unknown ingredient added to the formula. The original recipe included lemon, orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander and petitgrain oils, so it's safe to assume that Pepsi in every country carries that general profile.

Aromatics are prominently used in Middle Eastern cuisine, so Pepsi likely added the spice element to suit the regional palate. According to a photo of the label shared on Reddit, Pepsi sold in Iraq also uses sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. As we've already covered, cola made with real sugar tastes cleaner, which, when paired with a spiced aftertaste, makes Iraqi Pepsi unique. 

The flavor of Dr Pepper is famously composed of 23 ingredients. Alas, the iconic soda brand keeps specifics under wraps. When comparing U.S. Dr Pepper to the UK variety, many of the ingredients are the same, except for the use of real sugar in the latter. America, of course, uses high-fructose corn syrup. However, more interesting is that sugar comprises 78 percent of one can, compared to the UK, where it makes up less than 50 percent. That says a lot about how sugar is consumed in the UK versus the U.S.. Funny enough, according to a Reddit user's taste comparison, U.S. Dr Pepper is somehow more sugary yet watered down at the same time.

The sodium content is another story. America uses 55 milligrams of sodium per can, whereas the UK uses three times more. Different preservatives are used, too — benzoate in the U.S. and potassium sorbate across the pond. The former increases acidity in the flavor profile, while the other has a neutral taste. It's unclear why the UK chose potassium sorbate as the preservative when benzoate is legal there.

Canada Dry includes little of the ingredient it's supposed to be made from. According to the U.S. website, it contains less than 2 percent of ginger extract, which in 2019, was revealed to be a concentration derived from ginger called ginger oleoresin, rather than real ground ginger, per CBC. A lawsuit forced the U.S. to remove "made with real ginger" from the can design, though it remained in Canada, where ginger extract isn't listed as an ingredient at all. They each have "natural flavors," but that may refer to another aspect of the flavor profile.

Both are pretty similar otherwise. American Canada Dry has 140 calories and 36 carbohydrates, respectively, ten and four more than the Canadian version. And, America uses 4 extra grams of sugar. The cans are similar shades of greens, with a vintage-style design in Canada and a more modern, artsy one in the U.S.. The last distinction should come as no surprise by now. America loves high-fructose corn syrup, but Canada uses real sugar.

The differences between U.S. Canada Dry and Canadian may be minor, but when it comes to Crush Cream Soda, they're night and day. In fact, an American who's never seen Canada's take on cream soda would mistake it for strawberry due to its bright red color, instead of the State's familiar brown color. Even more odd is that American Crush cream soda is clear. A side-by-side comparison shows that the ingredients are nearly identical, except Canada uses amaranth and caramel color. Amaranth is a food coloring agent that makes the soda a candy red. 

Caramel color is an interesting addition, as it's commonly used to color sodas brown, but here it serves a different purpose. The additive can also improve foaming characteristics, overall mouthfeel, and even the flavor, per Sethness Roquette. The U.S. ingredient list also says "color," but for reasons unknown. A YouTuber did a taste test, saying that the Canadian version is more bubblegum-forward while the American is creamier with stronger carbonation.

When brothers Ally and Barney Hartman invented Mountain Dew in the 1940s, they probably never imagined it would be the global success it is today. Here we are, nearly one hundred years later, comparing U.S. Mountain Dew to the UK variety. Off the bat, we know that America fancies high-fructose corn syrup, so that's to be expected. The inclusion of concentrated orange juice is a head-scratcher, though. Both sodas have a combined 19 ingredients but only share four of the same: Carbonated water, citric acid, caffeine and gum arabic.

Potassium sorbate is used as the preservative in the UK and sodium benzoate in America. This may be one of the rare cases where the U.S. version is "healthier," because it includes concentrated orange juice and natural flavors, whereas the other just uses "flavorings." Strangely enough, both are the same green color, despite Yellow 5 dye only being in the U.S. Mountain Dew. The nutrition facts are fairly similar, as well. The UK variety has one additional gram of sugar, and the American one has over twice the sodium.

We've already delved into American-made Dr Pepper, but how does the Japanese version compare? You'll be surprised to know that both use high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, except Japan adds carbonic acid, which imparts a subtle acidity that enhances how sweetness is perceived. Japan-made Dr Pepper is smoother and tastes sweeter, likely due to the carbonic acid. The ingredients are mostly identical otherwise. The biggest curveball is that Japan only uses 20 of Dr Pepper's iconic 23 flavors. One of the can designs reads, "Over 20 Fruit Flavors." 

In its entire 140 years, however, no one has managed to unearth the real recipe behind Dr Pepper's unique taste. The black cherry, citrus and vanilla are easy enough to detect, but the more nuanced notes and spiced undertones are harder to pin down. One assumption is an aromatic blend of black pepper, anise, ginger and cardamom, but really, it's impossible to know what 3 ingredients are missing from the Japanese formulation, and how the soda maker retains the flavor profile despite.

For the 2017 holiday season, PepsiCo released the Salted Caramel flavor. Exclusive to Japan, the home of unique Ramune soda flavors, it was perfectly suited for the country's sweet-loving locals. It combined the classic Pepsi taste with a syrupy caramel aftertaste, yet used less sugar than the original. Sadly, according to the LA Times, the soda maker's adventurous experiment didn't receive the best response.

One Pepsi diehard, nevertheless, saved a bottle of Salted Caramel long enough to compare it against a similar limited-edition flavor: Caramel Punch. The Japanese-exclusive dropped years later in 2020, also during the holidays. It was described as having a "sweet and rich caramel flavor and a secret ingredient of salt." The taste test concluded that the caramel was more pronounced in the Salted Caramel, whereas ironically, Caramel Punch was more like a flick of caramel flavor. To the reviewer, it all boiled down to preference.

Both came in plastic bottles, the Salted Caramel in 20 fluid ounces and the Caramel Punch in 16.5 fluid ounces. The former had a brown vintage-style label design with clean lettering and an illustration of a caramel candy, while the Caramel Punch donned a large Pepsi logo, cartoony Japanese font and multi-color label.

Lots of people don't know what makes root beer and sarsaparilla different. Root beer was originally inspired by a First Nations brew called sassafras, which has a taste very close to modern root beer. Sarsaparilla has a completely distinct origin and overall flavor profile but shares similar earthy and spicy notes. Today, both ingredients are highly regulated by the FDA — most root beer brands replicate the sassafras taste with aromatic blends, and most sarsaparilla beverage products contain artificial flavoring.

In Indonesia, however, A&W root beer is named A&W Rosa Sarsaparilla. Based on the website, the sarsaparilla appears to be a synthetic flavor. Nonetheless, it underscores how major soda makers adjust to regional palates. Badak Sumatra is a popular sarsaparilla drink in the region. The other differences are to be expected: high-fructose corn syrup in U.S. A&W, and sugar in the other, though the Rosa Sarsaparilla also includes artificial sweeteners. The Indonesian A&W comes in a 330 milliliter can with a clean, pale brown design, a large logo, and simple font. The American can carries the brand's iconic root beer barrel design.