Cola: how many calories?

Where do the calories come from?

• Protein 0%
• Carbs 100%
• Fat 0%

Each macro's grams are multiplied by its own calorie value: 4 for protein and carbohydrate, 9 for fat. Fibre sits inside the carbohydrate figure and alcohol is not in the list at all, which is why the three shares add up to exactly one hundred.

What do these numbers mean on the plate?

Cola carries 0.4 calories per gram: it takes 238 grams to reach 100 calories. In this band the portion is hard to misjudge by eye, because piling up calories means genuinely filling the plate.

A typical portion is 330 g. Because tables are written per 100 grams, counting the portion as 100 grams too is a common mistake; for Cola that means understating the calories by 70%.

In calories, one portion (330 g · 139 kcal) comes to: 338 g Carrot. Carrot page

One portion every day adds up to 50,589 calories a year — roughly a 6.6 kg difference. This is a linear estimate and an upper bound: as weight changes, daily needs change with it. Build your own timeline

Calories in a drink go down without chewing, so they turn into little sense of fullness; the same calories from solid food would have covered part of a meal.

Household measure equivalents

A household measure measures volume and a scale measures weight; what links the two is the food's bulk density, and the table goes that way round. The same cup holds 10-20% more once the contents are packed down or chopped finer. Convert your own measure

How much of the daily reference intake?

The reference values are the figures EU Regulation 1169/2011 gives for an average adult — the %RI column on labels rests on the same numbers. They are not a personal target; the fibre row is not in the regulation, the 25 grams there is EFSA's adequate intake for adults. Work out your own calorie needs

Where does it sit within its group?

It is number 8 of the 13 foods in the Drinks group by calories per 100 grams. The group averages 32 kcal; Cola is 32% above that average.

Lighter options at the same 330 grams

The “good swap” mark only appears when an option lowers the calories without also lowering protein and fibre per 100 calories. Unmarked rows save calories but give up nutrient density. Try it with your own portion

How long does it take to burn one portion (330 g)?

• Walking — brisk (5.6 km/h)34 min
• Running — 8 km/h (7:30 min/km)15 min
• Cycling — 16-19 km/h20 min

These minutes are the NET burn for a 70 kg body: the resting calories that would have been spent sitting on the sofa anyway are already taken out of the total. A heavier body gets the same work done in less time. Calculate with your own weight

Foods with similar calories

• Carrot100 g · 41 kcal
• Orange100 g · 47 kcal
• Broccoli — boiled100 g · 35 kcal

Which claims could its label carry?

EU Regulation 1924/2006 ties every label claim to a numeric threshold. Cola meets 1 of them:

• Fat-free100 ml → 0.0 g fat · threshold: at most 0.5 g

The thresholds apply to a product's OWN analysis; the values here come from average composition tables. So this list is not an authorisation, only an estimate of which side of the threshold a product sits on. For drinks the energy and fat thresholds are per 100 millilitres and lower. Interpret your own label