Natural Nutrition

If you are an aware consumer, you know there are many beverage choices today. Before you drink that next high-calorie soda pop, be smart — consider a healthier alternative.

SodaStream appeared on the scene in 1903. Giles Gilby invented a carbonation system which made standard water into fizzy water; it was originally sold to the upper classes. In the 1920s, flavours were introduced. Sarsaparilla and cherry ciderette were among the new choices. In the 1970s and 80s it enjoyed vast success, becoming a big hit in countries such as Australia, the UK, and Germany.

The company underwent numerous changes in ownership, at one stage even being part of the Cadbury Schweppes empire. 1998 saw the company change hands for the final time when purchased by Soda Club, which at that time was Israel’s biggest supplier of SodaStream. SodaStream remained the name of the brand after Soda Club’s unsuccessful bid to change the name to Soda-Club.

More recently Soda Club sought to freshen the SodaStream brand. SodaStream was relaunched along with a new machine and many more new flavours, concentrating on offering a healthy alternative to fizzy, sugar-rich drinks such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, and focused on health and diet issues so prevalent in this day and age.

Essentially, the SodaStream product is a home carbonation kit, which allows you to change water into sparkling water, as well as allowing you to add low-calorie flavours such as cola and orange. A large assortment of calorie-free flavours to flavour sparkling water to great taste is sold at allfreightfree.com.

The SodaStream machine works by forcing co2 into a bottle suitable for pressurising that is filled with water. The co2 turns the water into sparkling or carbonated water. This process (dissolving co2) is what we call carbonation. The carbonated water can then be drunk on its own as sparkling water, or mixed with flavours to create tasty, healthy treats. Once the co2 canisters have been used up they can be sent back to Soda-Club who recycle the canisters by refilling them with co2 then sending them back out.

Regarding actual health and diet benefits gained from drinking SodaStream, the company claims that all their flavours are completely sugar-free and contain a maximum of 2 calories per 100ml; this is, assuredly, good news for every parent concerned about a child’s diet.

The SodaStream machine adds only co2 to the water, meaning it does not have the added sugar that some bottled sparkling water contains; consequently, there is little discernable difference from normal water.

SodaStream have made much of their environmental and health credentials; they say that every one litre bottle of SodaStream made saves three aluminum cans. The result? in just a 3 year span, a family of four could slash their soft-drink-related packaging usage by over 90%. This is quite a claim, one that in this environmentally conscious age will stand them in good stead. Clearly, Sodastream has developed into a viable alternative to the big players in the soft drink world.