The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1914-06-18
Soft Drinks.

The average soft drink is SO well
known TO every body that it is not
worth while to describe it. Suffice to
say that it is made by adding to water
little sugar, a little acid of some sort,
various tiavors, usually some color or
other, and very often syrup contain
ing caffeine in order to give stimu-
liant effect. The acids used are COM
monty tartaric and citric. Tartaric
acid should not be used and is forbid
den by law as il has b I'd effect on
the digestion when even comparatively
little is taken. Citric acid may be
used in moderation. This is the acid
which is found in lemons and is harm
less in a reasonable amount. 1t goes
without saying, that no mineral acid
ought to be used in any degree what
ever. The fiavors used may either be
essential oils or artificial essences made
chemically. Very often it does not
pay to initiate such thing as lemon
oil although this is not infrequently
done The lemon flavor is given by
the acid and the lemon oil or by citrel,
which is the chief havoring material
of lemon Oil, and the sugar is added to
stimulate lemonade. Artificial essen
ces are made from various chemical
products. Crushed pineapple flavor is
butyric ether dissolved in alcohol.
Banana fiavors are a mixture butyric
ether and amyl acetate. Apple oil is
amyI vaIerianrte in alcohol, etc. Some
authorities even state that the poison
Gus oxalic acid may be used in some of
these things, such as "apple oil" and
"black cherry flavor"
Caffeine drinks are by this time we'll
known to most people; these are the
ones which are usually sold as ''dope,n
drinks ending in the word ''ola," etc.
They have distinctive stimulent eff
feet, and likewise form habit. In
other words, one drink of them 'calls
for another" The habit is bad in it.
self, as is in any disturbanc of the
natural processes of the body, but
quite as important, or possibly more
so, is the fact that it breaks down the
Resistance of the will to outside infu-
ences, and in that way opens up an |
easy path for the requirement of other
habits, such as indulgence in heroin
or morphine. There has been large
increase noted in many of the cities of
the country in the last few years in the
use of heroin by boys and by young
men, and l am of opinion that part
Of these may be due to the fact that
they have learned from the drinking
Of these caffeine drinks at soda fount-
ains and such places that stimulation
can be obtained without the use of al
,0hol and are therefore ready to take
up almost anything which will give
them more stimulation than they get
rom the caffeine drinks.
All soft drinks, containing as they
10 sugar, are bad for the stomach when
90 frequently used, and particularly
are they bad for children who are so
liable to drink them to excess. 1t is
to suggest that caffeine
i1nks should not be used at ALL either
oy adults or children, and particularly
,ught the latter be forbidden to drink
hem.
Soft drinks may be adulterated in
he first place by the use of impure
water. The addition of the favoring
md colonng materials and sugar tc
oft drinks does not kill the bacteria
which may be in any impure water,
md SO a man may acquire case of
Uphold from a source one hundred