Why is there citric acid in sugar free drinks?
In: Biology
The two things are not directly related. Citric acid is sour, and has a generally pleasant flavor, but it is not particularly sweet in any way. a sugar-free drink that contains citric acid almost certainly will have some sort of artificial sweetener in order to balance that out.
Citric acid is added to drinks because it is a pleasant sour flavor wanted in the drink. Being an acid it can have a secondary effect of being a preservative (but not typically in the concentrations used in food), but that is not the primary reason it is in the drink. It is in the drink for flavor purposes. Any drink with flavoring of citrus fruits or of tart fruits such as black cherry or cranberry will have higher amounts of citric acid to make up that flavor profile.
Additionally citrate salts are used in food and drink to deliver minerals in a form the body can breakdown and process. So things like Gatorade, fitness waters, etc will have citrates in them which means they will have citric acid.
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