Truth Behind the Ale

Yes, that's right.  Here is the "skinny" on Ginger Ale.  


I recently found myself under the weather:  aka massively achy body, fever, and total loss of appetite.  The best thing to do in those scenarios is run yourself a diet of ginger ale (to help the upset stomach), tea and soup (hot liquids do wonders for achy bodies), and a little sweet and salty food + protein (to keep your blood sugars in place).  


Ergo, I grabbed for my favorite Ginger Ale of all times: Canada Dry. This stuff is amazing and has happily gotten me through lots of other colds in the past.  I love the flavor and feel it's less "syrup"-y and fake tasting than a number of other GAs.  (That's Ginger Ale for short).  Plus, being a bit of a health nut, you can imagine my ecstatic pride when the commercials for Canada Dry boasted the use of "Real Ginger" in the recipe.  I did a little happy dance, patted myself on the back for a product-picking job well done, and grabbed a few more bottles yesterday with added confidence.


Then I looked at the back of said bottles.  I wanted to know just where on the ingredient list "Ginger" fell, because maybe it was second!  How cool would that have been?  Yeah, okay, ready?  Here is the ingredient list:


carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), natural flavors, caramel color.  


?????????  Did I miss something?  I actually re-read the label about four times to ensure I hadn't, in fact, missed anything.  Where was the ginger?  


Then, on a tiny label in the corner it said, "a part of the natural flavors includes Real Ginger".  Ah.  I see.  That is supposed to make me feel better.  I am supposed to be assuaged by the fact that a small portion of the 10% or less of the natural flavors in this is ginger.  Clearly it's not a large enough part or it would be on the ingredient list itself.  I see. Wonderful.  Yes, yes, good job GA.  


*Sigh*.  Unfortunately, my sense of pride in my favorite GA is deflated.  I still love it and will drink it loyally when I'm sick, but it's disheartening that companies can get away with advertising like that when, clearly, it's a misleading ploy.  Sadly, Canada Dry is still my favorite, but I guess I'll have to relinquish my health nut here and just say it's simply because of taste.