ClearExpanse.com

If you are an observant consumer, you know there are many beverage choices today. Before drinking that next high-calorie soda pop, stop and consider a healthier alternative.

SodaStream began 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. The new choices included sarsaparilla and cherry ciderette. It enjoyed widespread success in the 1970s and 80s, becoming a big hit in countries such as Germany, Australia, and the UK.

The company underwent numerous changes in ownership; at one point, SodaStream even became part of the Cadbury Schweppes empire. 1998 was the year the company changed hands for the final time when purchased by Soda Club, which at that time was Israel’s biggest supplier of SodaStream. After Soda Club’s unsuccessful bid to rename the brand Soda-Club, the brand remained SodaStream.

More recently Soda Club sought to retool the SodaStream brand. SodaStream was relaunched along with a new machine and many more new flavours, concentrating on being 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.

The SodaStream product is essentially a home carbonation kit, allowing 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 and which is filled with water. The water is turned into sparkling water by the co2. This process — dissolving co2 — is referred to as 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.

As far as the actual health and diet benefits gained from drinking SodaStream, it is claimed that all their flavours are completely sugar-free and contain a maximum of 2 calories per 100ml; this is, assuredly, good news for any 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, so there is no major difference between it and 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. This, in turn, means that over 3 years, 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.