New Product Friday
New Product Friday
Sati Soda The Healthy Soda Company: Energy Berry Soda
Yerba mate is a staple of South American culture. Brewed as a tea, it boosts energy, focus, and possibly promotes weight loss and improvements in blood sugar. Although it has been used for hundreds of years, it is recently becoming a trending functional ingredient for the beverages. Playing into people’s desire for clean, natural sources of energy, the popularity of yerba mate is being led by brands such as Guayaki and Clean Cause. In today’s New Product Friday, Sati Soda harnesses the power of yerba mate and combines it with guarana seed extract to create a natural alternative to the traditional Cocoa Cola soda. Let’s take a look at their Energy Berry Soda to see how it compares:
Sparkling Water— Self explanatory
Organic Cane Sugar—Organically grown sugarcane is lightly processed to create cane sugar. Even though organic cane sugar is less processed than table sugar, it still retains the calories and other negative side effects of table sugar.
Berry Flavor—Not properly labeled, it is unknown whether this flavor is natural or artificial (or some other combination). The soda only calls out “no artificial sweeteners” (and not “no artificial flavors”), so it leads to believe that there might be artificial flavors used. Artificial flavors are derived by chemical processes and are cheaper and easier to work with.
Non-GMO Citric Acid—Citric acid is naturally present in citrus fruits and creates a sour taste. Commercial citric acid is created as a by-product when a fungus is fed with sugar (usually from corn, wheat, or cane sugar). The “Non-GMO” designation means that the sugar that the fungus feeds on is from a non-genetically modified source.
Organic Guarana Seed Extract—Native to South America, the guarana fruit seeds are high in caffeine and antioxidants. Traditionally, the seeds are ground up and brewed as tea providing increased focus and energy.
Organic Yerba Mate Leaf Extract—Another plant native to South America, yerba mate is rich in caffeine and antioxidants. Like guarana, yerba mate is traditionally brewed as a tea and has been used for increased focus and energy.
Final Evaluation
Ingredient Quality: B+. There are no claims for this beverage, but the majority of the ingredients are organic. The only exception is the “Berry flavor”; it is unknown whether the flavor is natural, artificial, or some other combination.
Ingredient Clarity: A. All ingredients are purposely added and make sense to the overall product.
Functional Benefit: B. Guarana seed and yerba mate extracts are staples in South American culture. They have a long and rich history of being brewed as a tea to increase energy, focus, and stamina. They also contain antioxidants which combats short- and long-term inflammation in the body. Although both extracts have historical and scientifically proven benefits, it is unknown whether the amounts included in this beverage are beneficial. Since the product is being marketed as an energy beverage, it should claim a minimum amount of caffeine in order for people to know whether it will actually provide an energy boost.
Nutritional Value: B-. This product contains 9 grams of added sugar (from organic cane sugar). Although it is much less than a traditional soda, this is certainly more sugar than other sparkling waters and slightly more than other sparkling functional beverages on the market.
Overall Score: B. Guarana seed and yerba mate extracts make for a unique combination that supports increased energy and focus; improvements in skin appearance; and protection against infections. They are well studied ingredients that have been used for hundreds of years. However, it is unknown about how much of either extract is included in the beverage. The fact that the two functional ingredients are listed last in the ingredient statement leads to believe that there might be very little of either ingredient. Despite being an energy beverage, this product does not claim any amount of caffeine, so it is unknown whether the beverage provides any substantial amount of energy. Additionally, it contains 9 grams of added sugar. Although much less than traditional soda, it is certainly more than other functional sodas (most functional sodas usually contain 5 grams of sugar or less). At $3/can and containing an unknown amount of caffeine, its hard to justify the purchase of this beverage.
Would you buy this product? Why or why not?