Soft Drink

A soft drink (also called soda, pop, coke, soda pop, fizzy drink, tonic, seltzer, mineral, sparkling water or carbonated beverage) is a beverage that typically contains water (often, but not always carbonated water), usually a sweetener, and usually a flavoring agent. The sweetener may be sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, sugar substitutes (in the case of diet drinks) or a combination of these.

Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives and other ingredients.

Soft drinks are called "soft" in contrast to "hard drinks" (alcoholic beverages). Small amounts of alcohol may be present in a soft drink, but the alcohol content must be less than 0.5% of the total volume if the drink is to be considered non-alcoholic.

Widely sold soft drink flavors are cola, cherry, lemon-lime, root beer, orange, grape, vanilla, ginger ale, fruit punch, and sparkling lemonade.

Soft drinks may be served chilled or at room temperature. They are rarely heated.