You will be surprised: Why do our nasal passages and nose no longer burn when we drink cola?

Today's colas run out of gas/acid a few hours after opening; the "hissss" sound of opening the cap is now much fainter. Whereas in the 90s, colas with the cap on could retain their gas content even after a day or two.

We used to have to pour the cola into the glass slowly because it tended to overflow due to the dense gas, waiting and waiting until the foam subsided. Now it doesn't overflow easily even if we fill it quickly.

In the early moments, we couldn't bring the glass to our face because of the bubbles bouncing on its surface. At the very first sip, we would involuntarily make that famous refreshing sound from the commercials. So what happened over time that made cola taste more like sherbet? Not everyone noticed this at once, as the change actually happened gradually.

When someone started making this observation, people started saying, "It really used to taste better!". When we noticed the taste change, we thought it was just us, but when we saw on social media that there were a considerable number of people who thought like us, we were sure that the taste of cola had indeed changed.

First, let's get this straight: Why does cola burn our nasal passages and nose? As the carbon dioxide gas in cola is released from the liquid as soon as we drink it, it starts to fly with the effect of our body heat, then leaves a refreshing and burning sensation as it leaves our nasal passages and nose. Let's also talk about why there is carbon dioxide in cola.

Coca-Cola answers this question on its official website as follows: We add carbon dioxide gas to Coca-Cola in order to provide the bubbly effect that gives it a feeling of freshness. The use of carbon dioxide gas in beverages is approved by food authorities. Carbon dioxide gas is also naturally present in mineral waters. Carbon dioxide gas added to beverages starts to mix with the air as soon as the product is opened. The amount of carbon dioxide gas reaching the stomach is very small. All our product ingredients are safe and approved for use by relevant national and international organizations.

Let's come to our main question: Why doesn't the acid/gas burn our nasal passages and nose after drinking Coke anymore? The first reason that comes to mind: More carbon dioxide is more expensive, which may be the reason for this situation. After all, due to the economic conditions in our country, many companies either raise the price or reduce the size of the product instead of raising the price, or even reduce the quality of the ingredients. The amount of gas in Coke may have been reduced for this reason. Since there is no information on whether the cost of producing and adding carbon dioxide is high, we can only consider this as a possible reason for now. Second possible reason: It may have been realized that too much carbon dioxide is bad for health. But cola is not a healthy drink in any case. The sugar in it is much more harmful than carbon dioxide. Moreover, if there were health concerns, it would have been mandatory to use natural sugar instead of glucose sugar, as is the case in Europe.