The Internet Is Up in Arms Over the Color Of Fanta...Again

What color is your Fanta? Well, as the internet is once again pointing out, it depends on where you live. 

On Tuesday, Reddit user @Opposite_Strategy_43 uploaded an image of a simple Fanta soda from their home country of Italy, showcasing it in a clear cup. While this would normally be a wholly unremarkable image, what caught people’s attention — especially the Americans on Reddit — was its seemingly bland color. As @Opposite_Strategy_43 noted, is because in Italy, the beverage contains no artificial colors or preservatives. 

"The first time I saw a Fanta in the U.S., I freaked out," one of the nearly 2,000 comments read on the post. "I already didn't like soda in Italy, let alone now that it's fluorescent."

"I really thought I would prefer U.S. Fanta when I visited the States, and it was so awful I couldn't even believe it was the same product. I have a sweet tooth, but this was just too much," another added. 

This isn't the first time this topic has taken over Reddit, either. In the spring of 2023, Redditor @dannybluey uploaded a side-by-side comparison of American versus European Fanta to showcase just how drastically different the two really are.

“As a European, I thought those were two different flavors,” one of that post’s more than 3,000 commenters noted. 

Once you compare the ingredients of U.S. Fanta with U.K. Fanta side-by-side, it’s easy to see where the color change originates. 

In the U.K., Fanta is made with the following ingredients: carbonated water, orange fruit from concentrate, citric acid, sweeteners (acesulfame K, aspartame), preservative (potassium sorbate), malic acid, natural orange flavoring with other natural flavorings, vegetable concentrates (carrot, pumpkin), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), stabilizer (guar gum).

Meanwhile, in the U.S., it’s made with these ingredients: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium benzoate, modified food starch, glycerol ester of rosin, yellow 6, red 40.

So, while the U.K. version gets its color from carrots, pumpkins, and orange fruit, the U.S. version gets it from dyes. And while the U.S. product has 62 grams of sugar, the U.K. version has 22.5 grams of sugar in the same 16-ounce container, making the former much sweeter than the latter. We’re not here to say one is better than the other, just to point out the difference and enjoy this global soda battle as an absolutely neutral Switzerland — a nation that happens to have a totally different recipe for its Fanta, too.