I don’t mean in a chemical way I understand that part
I mean in a “why would they have to change the recipe for the us” way
In: Other
From the videos I have seen online (I am American) the Fanta in Europe looks more like orange juice , and ours is more of a soda, they are different because the Fanta in the Us has certain chemicals that aren’t allowed in Europe
In some other markets, orange Fanta is based around using orange juice as an ingredient.
In the US, it is produced without using any juices at all.
That’s why there’s some differences in flavor and appearance.
I’ve had both and I believe it’s because our Fanta (UK) is made using orange juice for flavour and orange carrot and pumpkin for colour. Where as the US doesn’t use much of the natural stuff but has lots more sugar
The European Union has stricter laws about additives to food, and that includes dyes. Specifically Yellow 6 and Red 40 are what gives US Fanta it’s coloring, and are considered harmful in the EU due to potential side effects.
As well, European soft drinks just tend to be different due to those same laws about additives. It goes beyond dyes and into other chemicals which the US deems safe but not the EU.
The Fanta I drank in Kenya as a kid was almost certainly UK Fanta, and it was as orange as it was when it came to the US years later.
It has nothing to do with the actual recipe, just choice of artificial coloring. So I’d assume it’s purely because of the pre-existing expectations of different markets.
There’s even [differences in recipies between eu countries.](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/travel-tourism/fanta-tastes-different-abroad-holiday-24529828) Spanish and Italian Fanta lemon was always more lemony than the UK version although that might not be the case these days.
I don’t know why but I can tell you that European Fanta is so much better than US Fanta that they’re (in my head) completely different drinks
There can also be a cultural explanation: extremely colorful and flashy soft drinks are seen as ‘unnatural’ and unhealthy in Europe. On the contrary, in the US a pale yellow drink would seem too bland for customers and feel like less tasty because of the color, since the US market has been accustomed to ‘unnatural’ flavors and colors for quite a long time and they are sign of that class of drinks.
In short, everybody knows that orange juice is yellow and not orange, but American people would expect an orange flavored soft drink not to be that color because soft drinks are different than juice, while European people would expect an orange drink to be the same color as orange juice because any other color would feel artificial and hence not good
Going out on a limb here, but when I think “yellow soda” as an American, I think “Mountain Dew”, which I understand is apparently [banned in dozens of other countries](https://www.mashed.com/466632/the-surprising-reason-mountain-dew-is-banned-in-other-countries/). A soda manufacturer can use food coloring to make their drinks any color they want. Since they’re trying to maximize profits like a good little capitalist corporation, they’re going to go with whatever is cheapest while still being legal and also, importantly, fills a market gap.
Since there is no “yellow soda” in Europe due to Mountain Dew being banned, there is a market gap for yellow-colored Fanta that does not exist in America.
Also, some Americans will inevitably associate the color yellow in a soda with a highly-caffeinated soda (it’s kind of a thing here: yellow soda == liquid stimulant) and be subsequently disappointed when it is actually caffeine-free.
European Fanta looks more like orange juice. American Fanta looks more like freshly waxed orange rind, a very unnatural look for a drink.
I can only speculate, but perhaps European consumers prefer sodas that feel healthier because they look more like natural juice, whereas American consumers are more worried that their soda will make compromises on flavor and texture in the name of some namby-pamby “health” interests and prefer something that is unambiguously artificial.
Latest Answers