Soft-drink

Tien -Thanh Nguyen, Ph.D - HUST

April.2020
What is soft-drink

- It is generally accepted that they are sweetened,

water-based beverages, usually with a balancing acidity.
- Flavoured by the use of natural or artificial materials, are
frequently coloured and often contain an amount of fruit
juice, fruit pulp or other natural ingredients.
Classifications
• There are two basic types of soft drinks:
• ready-to-drink (RTD) products (dominant)
• the concentrated or dilute-to-taste (squashes and cordials).
• If based on CO2: carbonated and non-carbonated

Squashes and cordials

RTD soft-drink composition
• The simplest form of beverage contained such a mix of these basic
nutritional components in water, with flavouring, colouring and chemical
preservatives added as necessary.
• Typically contain around 10–11% sugar
• 0.3–0.5% of added acid (usually citric acid).
• Without or with carbon dioxide to render the product ‘sparkling’, or ‘fizzy’,
2-5 volume of CO2
• Fruit juice can be added (level of 5–10%) a pleasing effect of both taste and
appearance could be achieved. Such products were typically described as
‘fruit juice drinks’, ‘fruit drinks’.
• Various other including vitamins and minerals, clouding agents and
foaming agents, and plant extracts can be added
Concentrate
• These products are purchased in concentrate form by the consumer,
who then adds water (which can be carbonated if required) to
achieve the desired taste.
• Most concentrated beverages contain fruit juice
• Concentrated soft drinks are usually flash-pasteurised and chemically
preserved
Non-carbonated soft drinks
Non-carbonated softdrink

• Including RTD and concentrated (dilutables)

• Non-carbonated, therefore must be cared about microorganism, oxygen…
Dilutable soft-drink
• Similar to syrup.
• Low-cost, convenient means of producing soft drinks .
• Advantages: the ability to use differing syrup/water ratios, the ability to produce
variable volumes of end-product, and the possibility of using different diluents
such as water, alcoholic drinks or milk.
• Dilutable products are sold in concentrate form and are then mixed with water for
consumption: 9 parts water to 1 part concentrate. The most recent innovations in
this sector are the super concentrates which are diluted 1 part concentrate with
around 80 parts water.
• A well-known example: concentrated orange juice as a dilutable ‘syrup’ in the
United Kingdom during the Second World War: 60°Brix concentrated orange juice.
The product was produced for and distributed by the UK government as a means
of enhancing the nutritional intake of babies and young children, particularly in
respect of their vitamin C needs.
Dilutables soft-drink
Ingredients of dilutable soft-drink
Ingredients of dilutable soft-drink
Fruit components
• Concentrated juices
• Comminutes: for citrus fruit, where
the oils that reside in the flavedo
(coloured peel) have intense flavour
characteristics. At its simplest,
comminution involves taking a
complete orange (or other citrus fruit)
and making a pulp from it).
Ingredients
Carbohydrates
Ingredients
• Sucrose : available as a bulk dry solid, or as a 67°Brix syrup
• Invert sugar : is produced by acid or enzymic hydrolysis of the disaccharide
sucrose into its component parts of fructose and dextrose (glucose). The main
advantage of such a syrup is the reduced likelihood of crystallisation and an
increase in osmolality. Sweetness is 1.2 times compared to succrose
• Glucose syrups: manufactured by hydrolysis with acid or enzyme from starch –
usually corn starch (maize), commercially available include 42DE and 63DE syrups,
and solid levels are usually around 80% w/w, often extremely viscous (if below
30°C)
• Modified glucose syrups: high-fructose glucose syrup (HFGS): a part of glucose is
converted to fructose to increase the sweeteness.
• Fructose syrup: fructose syrup has been produced using inulin as a source (from
some plant root). expensive for routine use in beverage production.
Ingredients
• Intense sweeteners
Ingredients
• Saccharin: has a sweetness factor (compared with sucrose) of 450 for the soluble form
(sodium saccharin dihydrate), saccharin is little used now because of its bitter aftertaste.
• Aspartame: It is a peptide made from two amino acids – phenylalanine and aspartic acid
– but, in an acidic beverage medium, it will slowly hydrolyse to its components and loss
of sweetness.
• Acesulfame K: similar taste characteristics to aspartame, but without the disadvantages
of hydrolysis causing loss of sweetness. The product has found wide use in beverages.
• Cyclamic acid: in the form of cyclamate salts, could cause of certain cancers, now little
commercial use.
• Sucralose: a chemically modified sugar with a very high sweetness factor, comparable
with that of saccharin, but without the unpleasant aftertaste. The sweetness profile of
sucralose is claimed to be excellent, and it has already found wide use in the beverage
and food industries.
• Stevia: extracts of the stevia plant, provide a glycoside that is about 250–300 times
sweeter than sugar, applied a zero-calorie natural sweetener. Its use is permitted in
flavoured drinks at a level of up to 80 mg per litre (or per kg) of steviol glycosides
Ingredients
• Acidulants:
• The preferred acidulant for dilutable (and other) soft drinks is citric acid.
This is readily available both as a crystalline solid (citric acid anhydrous)
and as a 50% w/w solution in bulk.
• Other acidulants include malic acid, lactic acid and tartaric acid.
• Phosphoric acid, until recently permitted only in cola drinks
• Ascorbic acid is usually employed as an antioxidant, rather than as a
direct acidulant.
Ingredients
• Preservatives : most dilutable drinks need preservatives, the main reason
for this is that dilutable products are used over a period of time, during
which the container will remain partially full. The storage period will vary
few hours from first opening, to several weeks, or even months. It should
be remained free from fermentation, mould growth or other microbial
development, and to retain an acceptable taste.
Ingredients
• Flavourings Flavourings either natural or nature-identical flavours, are
widely used in dilutable soft drinks, to boost or substitute those
occurring naturally.
• Colourings: Most dilutable beverages are formulated with added
colourings although, depending on the fruit preparation used, many
products will have a significant level of colour delivered by the fruit
components.
• The most common natural colours used in dilutables include β-carotene,
apocarotenal, curcumin and anthocyanins.
• To maintain the color, antioxidants such as SO2 and ascorbic acid should be used
• Other additives: Various other additives are used in dilutable soft drinks
manufacture, including antioxidants, acidity regulators, emulsifiers,
stabilisers, and cloudy agents depend on type of dilutables
Processing
• The manufacture of
dilutables is essentially a
very simple process, with
the required ingredients
being mixed in order in a
large vessel. After checking
the final volume for
process variables the
mixture is then flash
pasteurised and filled into
the required containers.
Mixing
• High grade stainless steel mixing vessel.
• A stirrer, the power and design of which take
account of whether sugar is to be added as a
crystalline solid (thus needing dissolution) or added
as a syrup. Inside surface of the vessel is fitted with
fixed baffles to increase the efficiency of mixing.
• Mixing can also be done through an external
circulating loop, with an in-line pump or
emulsifying mixer.
Pasteurisation
• Flash pasteurisation
• For a normally preserved dilutable soft drink, the typical conditions for flash
pasteurisation are 85–90°C for 30–60 seconds. The actual conditions should be
determined by reference to the quality of ingredients used, although pasteurisation
must never be used as a means of employing sub-standard components. Products
containing particulate, such as fruit cells, should be pasteurised in a plate pasteuriser
with 3–4 mm spacing, or in a tubular pasteuriser.
• In-pack pasteurisation
• In-pack pasteurisation is used for dilutable products without preservatives. Dilutables
without preservative must be labelled to encourage refrigerated storage and short
shelf life.
• In-pack pasteurisation normally demands large and expensive tunnel pasteurisers.
Homogenisation

• Some manufacturers homogenise all

cloudy dilutable products, to obtain
maximum physical stability for the
product, but others achieve the same
result by careful ingredient selection. If
homogenisation is to be used, a
piston-type unit is preferred, with an
operating pressure range of around 50–
100 bar.
Filling and packaging

• Gravity fillers are normally employed for dilutable products, and filling speeds
tend to be fairly slow, as container sizes are relatively large. For most dilutables,
the smallest container is usually 0.7 litres, with sizes up to 3 or 5 litres being
common.
• Most manufacturers now use polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which
provide a good degree of protection from oxygen ingress, but without the
weight disadvantages of glass packs.
RTD non-carbonated soft-drink

• RTD non-carbonated drinks are usually made by formulations and

processes that are identical to the manufacture of dilutables, except
that the dilution takes place by manufacturer
• However, because many non-carbonated drinks often sell in
low-unit-price markets, many of the early formulations used contained
little, if any, fruit components.
RTD non-carbonated soft-drink
• Microorganism problems with non-carbonated RTD soft-drink
• not aseptically packed, and these relate to microbial contamination.
• no carbon dioxide in their head space
• à employ aseptic packing lines (capital-intensive, or use flash pasteurisation
and scrupulous downstream hygiene, and close control over formulations.
• Oxygen problem of non-carbonated RTD products
• contain atmospheric air in their headspace, resulting flavour and colour
deterioration in a short time period.
• necessary to add antioxidants, such as ascorbic acid, and to use flavour and
colour preparations that are stable to oxidation.
Non-carbonated RTD soft-drink processing
Carbonated soft-drinks
CO2 production
• Carbon dioxide is a non-toxic, inert gas that is virtually tasteless and is
readily available at a reasonable cost.
• It is soluble in liquids (the degree of solubility increasing as the liquid
temperature decreases) and can exist as a gas, liquid or solid.
• When dissolved in water it forms carbonic acid producing the acidic
and biting taste found in carbonated waters and soft drinks.
• Above a certain level of carbonation, carbon dioxide also has a
preserving property, which is a bonus from its use
CO2 production
• Several methods of carbon dioxide production are in commercial use
• Fermentation: yeast ferment sucrose or other fermentable carbohydrate to carbon
dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide can be collected and passed through a
separator to remove any trace carry-over of foam, then being compressed. It is then
scrubbed with water in a packed tower, removing water-soluble impurities such as
alcohol, ketones and other aroma chemicals produced during fermentation.
• Direct combustion : A hydrocarbon fuel or natural gas can be burned specifically in
order to produce carbon dioxide. The flue gas is cooled and scrubbed to remove any
impurities that may be present. The resultant gas is then passed through an
absorbent tower, where it comes into contact with a carbon dioxide absorbing
solution. The absorbing solution is pumped to a stripper tower, where carbon dioxide
is released in vapour form. The resultant carbon dioxide vapour is then cooled and
further treated to meet the requirements for use within a beverage.
CO2 production: an example from fermentation
CO2 requirements
RTD production: mixing of ingredients
Carbonation
• Dissolubility of gas depends on temperature and pressure

Volume of CO2 can

disolve in liquid
Carbonation
Carbonation
Filling
• Filling principles reservoir
Filling
Removal of O2 in bottle
PET filling line
PET bottles
PET Preform

PET bottle can formed prior

filling from pre-form
Glass bottles filling line