Caffeine Free Coca-Cola

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Objective of the experiment........................................................................................................................2
Material and method...................................................................................................................................2
Material used in the experiment.............................................................................................................2
Participants..............................................................................................................................................2
Sensory procedure..................................................................................................................................3
Data analysis................................................................................................................................................3
Results pie chart..................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................6
Assumptions of the study........................................................................................................................6
List of reference...........................................................................................................................................7
Introduction
Coke, mostly known as Coca-Cola is a soft beverage processed by the Coca-Cola Company. Its
production began over a century ago towards the end of 19th century. According to Donnelly, B.
2009, the drink is known all over the world due to the company’s comprehensive advertising.
The carbonated soft drink is now being produced in different flavors having different amounts of
sugar levels included in the processing. The products are Caffeine free Coca-Cola, zero sugar
Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla and the most common diet coke Coca-Cola,
thanks to the availability of different alternative sweeteners and food additives that are used in
production of flavors.
Due to the increasing levels of obesity, diabetes and diet related diseases, the health ministries
are concerned about the role of sugar intake. Kweon M 2009 defined alternative sugars as food
additives that can be used to replace sugar since they have a lower food energy level compared to
sugar. Alternative sugars are proposed to be used in production of food in processing firms in a
bid to reduce sugar intake. The presence of sugar in processed foods is not only used for
sweetening purposes but also to preserve, palate, modify food texture, adding flavor and color
adding. According to Ibrahim O.O 2016, the common sugar alternative include erythritol which
is used in the processing of chewing gum, candies, and beverages, mammitol mostly used in
production of chewing gum and dusting power, isomalt commonly used in processing of dusting
power and lactitol which is used in processing of jams, candies and desserts. According to Gupta
P 2013 alternative sugars usage can significantly reduce dental carries.
1

According to Carpenter R.P 2012, sensory evaluation is a scientific analysis that is aimed at
testing sensory activities such as smell and taste using scientific methods. Sensory evaluation is
majorly designed to evaluate people’s different taste, smell, sound and visual, these kinds of
tasting preference is most important to food processing companies since they will use the results
to know what people prefer most compared to similar product and to know what to change and to
produce which type in abundance. The experiment in this lab report uses sensory analysis to
establish statistical relationship between three types of Coke soft drink using triangular test.
Triangle test is a discriminant test which uses scientific methods to gauge difference in food
products produced. It is important in every product development since it is easy, time-saving and
cost-efficient for a large company product testing since it only requires a different product and
the original products provided to experiment participants for testing. The results are usually
importing in product preference setting and mode of production.
Objective of the experiment
The experiment had two major objectives:
 The first objective was to demonstrate an analysis of the ancient triangular test using
binomial model
 The second and also main objective of the conducting this experiment was to determine if
the Coca-Cola provided samples was different with respect to the flavor test.
Material and method
Material used in the experiment
 Three Coca-Cola samples were provided having two of the same flavor and one of a
different flavor based on the original first Coca-Cola soda samples provided.
 A cell phone was used to open the provided link used in Coca-Cola samples coded
derivation.
 Crackers and water was used to clean palate between the Coca-Cola soda sample testing
 3 digit Codes were used to represent different Coca-Cola soda samples.
 A pen and a note book were also used in the experiment to keep and record the found
data results.
Participants
A total of 51 participants participated in the experiment. All of the participants were given codes
to be used as their names in the experiment ranging from 1004 to 1065. Each participant was
given three different Coca-Cola soda samples and was required to test and recorded found results
with identity numbers of 1 and 2 representing Coca-Cola original and Coca-Cola no sugars
2

respectively. Later when the testing of flavor is done each of the participants is then given the
identity of the Coca-Cola samples provided to be compared with the found results. Only 27 of
the 51 participants were able to correctly identify the identity of the Coca-Cola soda samples.
Sensory procedure
When collecting data from research participant it is always important to collect data ethically.
Ethics was maintained in the data collection by making sure that all participants were willing to
take part in the experiment and they were provided information concerning the research. The
data used in this experiment was collected ethically using the following procedure:
 Each of the 51 participants was provided with three different Coca-Cola soda flavors
samples having two samples of the same flavor and one sample of a different flavor. The
pattern of the Coca-Cola flavors samples was randomly changed.
 Each of the participants was required to test the Coca-Cola soda sample from left to right
and record the result using number 1 and 2 representing Coca-Cola original and Coca-
Cola no sugars respectively.
 The participants are allowed to break their palates using water and crackers before testing
the next soda sample.
 The participants are allowed to retest as they please but they must record their predicted
soda identity. In a case where the participant was unable to distinguish the flavors they
were supposed to guess the identity. Choice making was compulsory.
 The participants are to record the results and to identify out the different Coca-Cola soda
sample among the three samples provided.
 After completing the testing procedure the participants are provided with the identity of
the Coca-Cola soda samples provided.
 The participants are thanked for their participant in the experiment.
Data analysis
The data results found from the experiment was analyzed using Excel and the following results
were obtained. From the experiment done 27 of the 51 (52.9%) participants included in the study
were able to find correct identity of the Coca-Cola soda samples provided. 24 (47.1%) of the
experiment participants were unable to correctly identify the different Coca-Cola soda sample
through testing.
Results table
3

Results pie chart
Triangular test Discussion
Discriminant test analysis using excel XLSTAT
4
Results
F % Valid % Cumulative %
Valid Correct 27 52.9 52.9 52.9
Incorrect 24 47.1 47.1 100.0
Total 51 100.0 100.0

Correct Incorrect
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Frequency (Correct)
Categories
Frequency
Using the table F.L provided on the minimum of correct judgment on statistical significance
were are able to observe that using 51 participants, to have correct judgment on sensory abilities
using the triangular testing method, at least 26 participants should be correct at 5% alpha and 30
at 1% alpha.
The experiment done had 27 correct participants. Hence we conclude that the Coca-Cola soda
flavors must have been different.
According to Ventura E.E and Davis 2011, the Coca-Cola on sugar was introduced into the
world market by the soft drink company to curb excessive sugar consumption by the product
consumers, however the introduction of sugar alternatives to the drink made palatable changes
that could be noticed by some consumers. It also increased the number of consumers consuming
the product since it was sugar free. The similarity shared by the product is only based on looks
for instance all have almost the same caramel color and similar packaging and their difference
noted on their tastes because of different sweeteners used in their production. Coca-Cola no
sugar is processed using sweetened with aspartame and acesulphame potassium at 2.83
milligrams per soda ounce while Coca-Cola original is processed using high fructose containing
cane sugar. However, also the bottling of the soda might have affected the taste making similar
flavors to taste differently.
Ennis J.M 2012 defined triangular test as a simple test based on sensory evaluation and is
advantageous since it is easier to learn and compute, cheap and also requires no specific
techniques to be used by both the researcher and the research participant. All needed are change
product and unchanged provided to the participant at a random having two of similar products
and one unique. The major setback of triangular test that it is error prone mainly due to the
5

environment of testing for instance a person having a cold might not be able to distinguish tastes,
packaging can affect the taste of products and also some of the participants might prefer to guess
the identity of different sample.
On studies done, it constantly showed that the addiction no of sweeteners to original do affect the
taste and the desired preference of the clients, for instance a study by Renwick 2010 found that
sweeteners affected the taste of the products and at an extreme point alternative sugars had no
health benefits as compared to sugars. The results found in the experiment done had no
difference with other researches done earlier.
Conclusion
From the study it concluded that the Coca-Cola soda samples were different. According to
Swithers S.E 2013, the use of the different sweeteners in processing of the soda products does
actually affect their taste in the long run. It also concluded that the triangular taste is significant
in tasting the evaluating the sensory abilities.
On further experiments to be done in future, a high number of participants should be included in
the study to increase results significance.
Assumptions of the study
 It was assumed that the participants picked for the study were a fair representation of the
entire population.
 It was assumed that the tools used in the statistical analysis significant in finding of the
results.
 It was assumed that the packaging of the Coca-Cola soda sample did not affected their
taste
 It was assumed that the crackers and water provided were able to clean out the
participants palates during the testing process.
6

List of reference
Carpenter, R. P., Lyon, D. H., & Hasdell, T. A. (2012). Guidelines for sensory analysis in food
product development and quality control. Springer Science & Business Media.
Donnelly, B. (2009). “Coke is it!”: Placing Coca-Cola in McCarthy's THE ROAD. The
Explicator, 68(1), 70-73.
Ennis, J. M. (2012). Guiding the switch from triangle testing to tetrad testing. Journal of sensory
studies, 27(4), 223-231.
Gupta, P., Gupta, N., Pawar, A. P., Birajdar, S. S., Natt, A. S., & Singh, H. P. (2013). Role of
sugar and sugar substitutes in dental caries: a review. ISRN dentistry, 2013.
Ibrahim, O. O. (2016). Sugars alcohols: Chemical structures, manufacturing, properties and
applications. EC Nutrition, 6(5), 817-824.
Kweon, M., Slade, L., Levine, H., Martin, R., & Souza, E. (2009). Exploration of sugar
functionality in sugar‐snap and wire‐cut cookie baking: Implications for potential sucrose
replacement or reduction. Cereal chemistry, 86(4), 425-433.
Renwick, A. G., & Molinary, S. V. (2010). Sweet-taste receptors, low-energy sweeteners,
glucose absorption and insulin release. British journal of nutrition, 104(10), 1415-1420.
Swithers, S. E. (2013). Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing
metabolic derangements. Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 24(9), 431-441.
Ventura, E. E., Davis, J. N., & Goran, M. I. (2011). Sugar content of popular sweetened
beverages based on objective laboratory analysis: focus on fructose
content. Obesity, 19(4), 868-874.
7