Most people would agree that Coca-Cola tastes better, somehow, out of a glass bottle. It’s still good out of a plastic bottle or can, but glass is king.
Why is that?
It’s due to the liquid reacting with polymers in the packaging, according to Sara Risch, a food chemist and member of the Institute of Food Technologists.
Polymers are the molecules inside packaging that add properties to the materials they are used in. Polymers in aluminum cans, for instance, can absorb some of the soluble flavor of Coke.
“While packaging and food companies work to prevent any interactions, they can occur,” the founder of Science by Design told Popular Science.
And in plastic bottles, acetaldehyde can migrate into the soda.
Glass bottles, being the most inert material, provide the cleanest way to drink Coke.
Image via Julien Belli/Flickr
