SUGAR QUALITY IN SOFT DRINK MANUFACTURE:

THE ACID BEVERAGE FLOC PROBLEM

Les A. Edye *

1. INTRODUCTION

A floc or floccule is a small portion ofmatter resembling a tuft of wool or a wispy cloud .
In soft drink or acidic beverage manufacture the term is used to describe a visible defect in
the produc t. This visible defect may be particulate and sedimentary or tuft-like and
suspended in the beverage, and may be attributed to microbial contamination or to water and
sugar ingredients that are of unsuitable quality for beverage manufacture. Microb ial
contamination of soft drinks is considered to be outside the scope ofthis review. Simple tests
of microbial contamination and a review of the microbiology of soft drinks are described by
Ashurst (1998) .
The emphasis in this contribution is focused on floc in soft drinks that is not a result of
microbial contamination. This type of floc is referred to by the sugar and beverage
manufacturing industries as acid beverage floc (ABF) . While ABF is harmless, it is
nevertheless a visible defect and consumers reject the soft drink product for aesthetic reasons .
Since in many parts of the world soft drink manufactur ers are large consumers of sugar
(sucrose) and sugar is implicated in ABF formation , the issue of ingredient quality and ABF
is a major concern to both soft drink and sugar manufacturers.
In the late 70's, 25% ofUS sugar production was consumed by soft drink manufacturers,
and consequently, ABF was a major issue to the US industry . During this time researchers
at the Sugar Processing Research Institute Inc. (SPRI , then the Cane Sugar Refining Research
Project Inc.) conducted extensive research on the nature and cause of ABF in soft drinks
manufactured from cane sugar. Clarke , Godshall, Roberts, and Carpenter are the author s of
work produced by the SPRI during this period. Their published work is a major part of
literature on this subje ct and is given coverage here. In the early 80's, high fructose com
syrup (HFCS) consumption by US soft drink manufacturers increased from 0.8 to over 3
million tons, with a consequent decrease in sucrose consumption to less than 300,000 tons
(ca . 5% of production). In November 1984, major US soft drink companies announced that
100% HFCS would be used in their products (Moore et al., 1991). ABF was no longer an
issue to the US sugar industry and research in the US on this subject, previously conside red
essential, effectively ceased .
Both beet and cane sugar are reported to form ABF. The similarities and differences
between ABF from cane and beet sugar are discussed. Where sugar is implicated in ABF
formation , it is principally through the precipitation ofpolysaccharide impuri ties in sugar that
are sparingly soluble in the acidic beverage . Therefore, the nature of polysaccharide

'Sugar Research Institute. Mackay, Austral ia

Quality of Fresh and Processed Foods, edited by Shah idi et al.

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers , 200·t 317
318 EDYE

impurities in sugar is considered. Chill haze in alcoholic beverages, caused by the interaction
of polyphenols and proteins, also is relevant to ABF and is discus sed here .

2. THE SOFT DRINK MANUFACTURER'S PERSPECTIVE

From the perspective of the soft drink manufacturer, the appearance of ABF in soft
drinks is a qualit y problem that is not easil y managed. There is no easy, quick and reliable
test for ABF in the sugar ingredient. When ABF is manifest in soft drinks the product is
usually at the point of retail. While there is a strong link between ABF and sugar quality,
ABF is a complex coacervate containing material from the sugar, water and most likely also
the flavored syrup ingredients. Furthermore, the mechanism of ABF formation is still not
well established. While to some extent water quality plays a role in ABF formation,
nevertheless, no floc guarantees in sugar purchase contracts are often required by soft drink
manufacturers. When ABF appears in soft drink , the sugar manufacturer is quickly blamed
and compensation is sought.
Taylor (1998) describes the ingredi ents of soft drinks and briefly mentions an unsightly
precipitate in soft drinks resulting from algal polysaccharides and polypeptides, and humic
acids in the water supply . Taylor (1998) failed to acknowledge the contribution of sugar
products to soft drink floc and this may be part of the parley between beverage and sugar
manufacturers.
Taylor ( 1998), however, described the contents of soft drink syrup formulations . Food
grade saponins are used to improve the foaming characteristics of cola and other
formulations, and stabilizers, such as alginates, carrageen, vegetable gums, pectin, acacia ,
guar, tragacanth, xanthan and carboxymethylcellulose are used to improve mouthfeel,
increase viscosity, and stabili ze natural cloudiness (and in fruit drinks to disperse fruit
solids). It is not surprising that it has been difficult to elucidate the chemistry of acid
beverage floc formation and the contribution of sugar impurities to its cause , given that
polysaccharides and saponins may be present in the syrup formulations as well as in the sugar
as impurities (albeit at mg/kg quantities in both cases) .
The section on carbonated beverages (Jones, 1978) in the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopaedia
of Chemical Technology also lists and describ es the ingredients of soft drinks . Poor quality
sugar is noted to have extremely detrimental effects on beverage taste , odor and stability.
Quality control is discussed and the effects of algae in the water supply mentioned to cause
a sediment. No mention is made of ABF . However, in terms of quality control there is very
little the beverage manufa cturer can do about ABF, as the beverage would likely be on the
retail shelf before the problem is manifest.
Hammond (1998) also states, 'The most common cause for floc formation in clear soft
drinks is microbial growth .' He also attributes another cause of floc to algal polysaccharides
in the water supply. Certainly, these possibilities should be eliminated before the sugar
supply is implicated in floc formation.

3. FLOC IN SOFT DlUNKS FROM BEET SUGARS

As early as 1952, researchers at Spreckels Sugar Company, a Californian beet processor.

had isolated floc from simulated acid beverages and found the floc to contain saponins and
small amounts ofhigh molecular weight materials (most likely pectin) (Eis et a!., 1952) . The
saponins were determined to be the glycosides of the triterpene oleanolic acid . Subsequent
to this work , Ridout et al., (1994) elucidated the structures of three beet saponins (all were