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Today's Poll: Coke or Pepsi?

By Howard B. Owens
C. M. Barons

...Nevermind that Pepsicoke contain High Fructose Corn sweetener. ...Nevermind that cola drinks contain phosphoric acid, an industrial solvent used to clean toilets and strip paint. As long as the two giants wage a market war that closes out competition, preventing me from buying soft drinks I want- well, a pox on both of them! I haven't purchased or consumed Pesicoke in thirty years. Left with those choices, I'd drink pond water. You may add Budweiser to that list.

My preferences: Wild Fruitz (which the schmucks at Wegman's stopped selling), Reed's Extra Ginger Beer and Izze.

Aug 19, 2011, 11:13pm Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Sierra Mist Natural - carbonated water, citric acid, natural flavor and potassium citrate. NO HFCS!

A study of 500 patients with recurrent stones found that potassium citrate reduced the frequency of kidney stones from 2 per year to a half per year. I've had kidney stones 3 times over the years so I forgo other soft drinks while opting to enjoy this beverage. I don't have soft drinks very often and have cut my beer consumption considerably. I used to always have beer in the fridge and now if I do, it's usually something dark like Guinness.

Aug 20, 2011, 11:48am Permalink
Billie Owens

I've never heard of Pepsi Throwback. Might try some. I enjoy on rare occasions the old classic Coca-Cola in small glass bottles, which is now made in Mexico and available in the ethnic section at Tops. C.M. Barons and others concerned about the ubiquitousness of high-fructose corn syrup might enjoy reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" if they haven't already done so. It's mindboggling. I really like ice-cold fizzy water, like San Pellegrino's, or unsweetened ice tea. My favorite evil soda pop is tamarind-flavored Mexican soda by Jarritos, also in the ethnic section at Tops.

Aug 20, 2011, 1:14pm Permalink
RICHARD L. HALE

Che-burger....... Che-burger......No Coke....Pepsi....

No fries........ cheeps

(John Belushi, Saturday Night Live...."70's)

Aug 20, 2011, 7:42pm Permalink
Billie Owens

There is a restaurant in Rochester called "Cheeburger, Cheeburger."
It's open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 1,000 N. River St.

I want to go there!

Aug 20, 2011, 7:54pm Permalink
Neil Richardson

Well, this poll has been done thousands of times before but honestly I have not seen it for quite a while so this will be real good to see which soft drink won after all these years.

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Aug 21, 2011, 2:55am Permalink

I know that there are things in Pepsi that are not good for me so I drink it on occasion, but not as often as I drink say a glass of ice water. I still voted for it because I prefer it over Coke. And if I feel like a carbonated drink with no caffeine, I enjoy Canada Dry Ginger Ale, again not as much as I drink water. I sometimes thing stressing over every little thing I consume can be as detrimental to my health as the occasional ingestion of unhealthy food. Besides, who knows what they will tell me next week is bad for me.

Aug 21, 2011, 8:15am Permalink
C. M. Barons

I don't fret over the health-impact of what I consume- nor do I obsess over what "they" say, "eat or don't eat." It's intuitive. When I see a can of paint remover and a bottle of cola and both share a primary ingredient... Well, it doesn't require confirmation from a nutritionist to draw a conclusion.

Prior to the great battle of the colas, both Batavia and LeRoy had soft drink bottler/distributors. I believe the one in LeRoy was called "Fizz Beverages;" it was located on Mill Street. They sold quart bottles by the case of multiple flavors (including creme soda, sarsaparilla, vanilla soda and quinine water) of soda pop. One could purchase at the plant or have the product delivered by route truck. LeRoy also had a dairy (Elm Dairy) and a bakery (Hall Bakery)- both offered route delivery within the eastern portion of the county. Growing up in Bergen, my family received deliveries from the Elm Dairy and Hall Bakery. There was also a Riga farm that delivered eggs and butter, a business that pre-dates my recollection but must have operated in the 1940s - 50s. There was also an ice house in LeRoy at the creek end of Erie St. ...Had both block and cube ice. They delivered through the era of "ice" boxes and were still operating in the 1960s.

...So, aside from Madison Avenue propaganda techniques, what makes Pepsicoke more desirable than the colas bottled by any of the independent bottlers- past or present? Why forsake local businesses and become patrons of big corporations? I was looking for sweet corn the other day. (Granted this was a bad summer for some corn crops) Used to be: almost every local farm devoted a parcel to sweet corn and sold it, roadside. I ended up driving to Elba before I found a stand with corn. (Dan, you do have great sweet corn. ...Not to mention, tomatoes!)

I'm curious if any of the Pepsi votes can be attributed to Coke leaving Batavia and Pepsi staying on. Both Coke and Pepsi had distribution centers in Batavia. Coke was on East Main St.- beyond Cedar St., Pepsi remains on West Main.

Aug 21, 2011, 1:16pm Permalink
Billie Owens

I still buy Fizz Beverages and also College Beverages at the Pittsford Dairy in Pittsford. We lived in Pittsford briefly before moving here and now whenever I'm out that way, I stop by the dairy and get milk and this retro pop. My favorite is the pineapple soda. I tried Birch Beer, which is like sassafras soda, but didn't care for it. I actually never knew that cola drinks had some of the same ingredients used for industrial purposes. I don't drink a lot of soda pop regardless, but Howard loves his Coke Zero!

Aug 21, 2011, 3:16pm Permalink

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