Five Finger Discounts

A couple months ago, I began the process of “can elimination” at our house. This was after reading all about the BPA lining in the cans. This is unhealthy for us and I don’t want to keep purchasing unhealthy items so cans are out except for canned tomatoes. The reason why I’m giving in to the canned tomatoes for now, is because I can’t seem to find them in jars. If a company starts putting them in jars, I will stop buying the cans. For now, I’m only buying the tomatoes, which is a big difference from where we began. I used to buy all kinds of veggies in cans- especially corn and green beans. I now buy them fresh or frozen. I have a couple cans left in my pantry, but once they are gone, I won’t be buying them again.

Well, soda cans are no different. I looked around for bottled Coca-Cola and could not find it at my local grocery store. I finally found it at Super Target. One small 6pk of 8oz. bottles was $4! Can you believe that? But, I bought them anyway, as we don’t drink too much soda and I really wanted to stop purchasing cans. A few days later, I went to Costco and while shopping, I saw that they were selling cases of the large 12oz. bottles. It didn’t have the price by them, but I decided to buy them anyway as the 12oz. bottles were a better size for us (comparable to the cans). It turns out that I paid $18.29 for the 24 bottles! Yikes!!

Let’s forget about the price for a minute and focus on the bottles. Every time I have a bottle of Coca-Cola vs. a can, I tell my husband how I enjoy the flavor from a bottle so much more. And finally, I realized why. This Saturday, we bought some pizza and when we have pizza, we HAVE to have Coca-Cola. I looked at the calories and realized my bottle of Coke had more calories than the can of Coke. I then went to the fridge and took out a can and compared the ingredients and nutrition label. I was floored when I saw that the Coca-Cola ingredients from a bottle were different than those in the can. The can has High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) where the bottle contains sugar! Below are pictures of them both. No wonder the bottled Coca-Cola tastes better.

I don’t know if this is the same for the small bottles that I bought originally at Target because I didn’t look at the ingredients assuming they were the same. These bottles from Costco actually say “Producto de Mexico” – Product of Mexico. And as I recall from visiting the Coke area in Epcot many moons ago, Coca-Cola makes different tasting sodas for different countries. So, this might be the case for these bottles only as they are imported from Mexico. I will have to check out the ones from Target the next time I go. This might also be the reason for the STEEP price of $18.29 for the case.

Although the price is outrageous, I will continue to buy the bottles from Mexico over the cans from the USA. Why? Because I would rather drink sugar than HFCS. In my opinion, it is healthier, it is natural and it tastes better. I know sugar is not good for me, but I prefer a natural “not good for me” product over an unnatural “not good for me” product. I am also happy to be eliminating cans and the BPA in their lining. Now I just wish I could get them for the same price as the cans:)

Tags: BPA, Coca-Cola, Ingredients