Why does canned coke taste better

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While the good people of Coca-Cola make a good point that their secret formula doesn't change whether you are taking a refreshing sip from a can or a bottle, turns out that the packaging itself might affect the taste. According to food chemist Sara Risch, founder of food and packaging consultancy Science by Design, while the soda's formula remains the same, the plastic, aluminum, or glass packaging can impact the flavor as the liquid reacts with polymers in the packaging, she told Popular Science.

Not to give you too many flashbacks to high school chemistry class, but according to Popular Science , polymers are the molecules inside the packaging that can add properties to the material they are used in. Source: Twitter. The Huffington Post conducted a blind taste test to see if people could tell whether the Coke was from a bottle, a can, or from a fountain. Their final tallies of their survey put the can out ahead of the plastic bottle on taste test alone.

It was unanimous. The same drink tastes better in a can that drinking it from a cup. And the reason why glass bottles tend to be very popular among people — when they can get them — is because glass does not have any properties that could influence the taste of the soft drink at all. However, after all the chat about it online — where everyone has their own preference - there is a distinct lack of scientific evidence published that can truly answer this great debate. So, which do you prefer your soft drink in?

Can or bottle? Let us know in the comments. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www. Please note that TheJournal. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies policy. News images provided by Press Association and Photocall Ireland unless otherwise stated.

Irish sport images provided by Inpho Photography unless otherwise stated. Rick Sachleben, a retired chemist with the American Chemical Society, says this has little effect on the taste. Rick Sachleben: The amount of that material that would get into the contents of a container are so low I don't think it would have any effect on the flavor.

Narrator: This lining protects the taste of the soda and keeps it from being contaminated by the metal. Sachleben: The likelihood of having a break in that lacquer coating, that plastic coating, and exposing the contents to the metal are pretty, pretty low. Narrator: Despite protective lining, some people still think there's a metal taste. Sometimes cans can taste a little bit metallic. Narrator: So where is this sensation coming from? Sachleben: Your tongue is very sensitive to metal.

The one time when the product is exposed to the metal itself is when the can's opened. You put your tongue on a metal can it's entirely possible, especially people who are sensitive to it, there would be just enough to come off to change the way things tasted on their tongue. While both cans and plastic bottles contain chemicals you probably wouldn't want to consume in large quantities, they are perfectly safe to drink out of. Sachleben: All containers that they use, glass, plastic, metal, have been extensively tested for what will leech into the liquid that's put in them.

Narrator: The FDA also regulates the amount of contaminants allowed in drinks to make sure they're safe. But humans have been known to detect even minute amounts of contaminants according to Christy Spackman, a researcher at Harvey Mudd College, who studies taste. Christy Spackman: Here too to remember that zero is not always zero. People can detect certain things at levels well below instrumental detection; it depends on the molecule and it depends on the human.