Americans drink a lot of soda. A lot. According to data analytics firm IBISWorld, soda consumption in the U.S. is expected to reach 42.2 gallons per capita in 2025. That’s approximately 450 12-ounce cans of soda consumed per year, per person. Despite soda sales falling for about a decade, the category is experiencing a revival with new additions like Poppi and Olipop revitalizing the space with their marketed “health benefits.”
It’s not just the soda aisle that’s expanding, though. Soda’s comeback comes in tandem with an enormous surge in popularity for energy drinks like Celsius and Alani Nu, which each deliver 200 milligrams of caffeine per 12-ounce serving. It’s no secret that most of the sodas on the market contain caffeine, too, and with all of the soda downed in the U.S. every year, how much caffeine are Americans actually consuming?
We examined each of America’s most beloved soda brands — with the addition of popular new entries Poppi and Olipop — to determine just how much caffeine is in a 12-ounce can of each. From Coke and Pepsi to Canada Dry, Poppi, and beyond, keep reading to discover how much caffeine is in your favorite soda.
| Soda Brand | Milligrams of Caffeine per 12 oz Can |
|---|---|
| A&W Root Beer | 0 |
| Canada Dry Ginger Ale | 0 |
| Fanta | 0 |
| Sprite | 0 |
| Coca-Cola | 34 |
| Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (Coke Zero) | 34 |
| Diet Pepsi | 35 |
| Pepsi | 38 |
| Poppi (Classic Cola, Cherry Cola, Doc Pop) | 40 |
| Dr Pepper | 41 |
| Diet Coke | 46 |
| Olipop (Vintage Cola, Cherry Cola, Doctor Goodwin) | 50 |
| Mountain Dew | 54 |
| Poppi (Alpine Blast) | 55 |
| Olipop (Ridge Rush) | 60 |
A&W Root Beer
Unlike other soda brands on this list, A&W is both a soft drink and a restaurant chain. Both started in 1919 when Roy W. Allen opened a root beer stand on the side of the road in Lodi, Calif., selling root beer made from a recipe he purchased from a pharmacist. Three years later, Allen partnered with Frank Wright, thus inspiring the name A&W, and the two opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant location in Sacramento in 1923. In 1925, A&W started franchising its restaurants, becoming the first franchise restaurant chain in the U.S., beloved for its burgers and indulgent root beer floats. For 52 years, A&W Root Beer was only available in restaurants, but that all changed in 1971 when the soda became available in bottles and cans. Today, the restaurant concept is entirely owned by franchisees while the soda brand rights are controlled by Keurig Dr Pepper. A&W Root Beer is entirely caffeine free.
Canada Dry Ginger Ale
Canada Dry Ginger Ale was developed by John H. McLaughlin, who operated a sparkling water plant in Canada. In the later 1800s, McLaughlin noticed the rising popularity of syrupy ginger ales, so he created Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a lighter, less sweet alternative. Originally called Pale Ginger Ale, the soft drink first hit the market in 1904, though it skyrocketed in popularity during Prohibition as a mixer for the period’s crudely produced liquor. Today, the non-caffeinated soda remains a common choice for mixing drinks and serves as a popular home remedy for soothing stomach aches.
Fanta
In the beginning stages of World War II, the United States placed a trade embargo on Nazi Germany and mandated that all American-owned businesses cease operations. Unable to receive the syrup necessary to produce the company’s flagship soda and in need of a product to keep the company afloat, Coca-Cola Deutschland factory managers like Max Keith had to pivot. So Keith developed a soft drink using ingredients he had on hand. Dubbed Fanta, it was originally made with ingredients like apple fibers, whey, and leftover mash from cider production, though they often varied depending on what was available during wartime. When the war ended, the rights to Fanta were reabsorbed into the Coca-Cola Company, though production ceased entirely in 1949. That was until 1955 when the company reintroduced Fanta as an orange soda, more similar to the beloved flavor we know today. Though the bright neon soda will certainly deliver a jolt of energy via its 44 grams of sugar, the liquid surprisingly doesn’t contain any caffeine.
Sprite
Sprite might be one of the most popular sodas in the U.S., but it actually wasn’t created in America. Like Fanta, Sprite’s roots can be traced back to Germany, where it was first produced in 1959 in West Germany under the name Fanta Klare Zitrone. Roughly translating to “clear lemon Fanta,” the drink was introduced to the U.S. market in 1961 under the name Sprite to compete with 7-Up, the leading lemon-lime soda at the time. Today, Sprite leads the lemon-lime soda category in sales volume. Another caffeine-free option, Sprite contains 31 grams of sugar.
Coca-Cola
The very first glass of Coca-Cola was sold in 1886 at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. First formulated by pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton, Coca-Cola has been caffeinated since its inception, though the original version of the drink looked much different than it does today. Marketed as a health tonic, early Coca-Cola was caffeinated with extracts from the kola nut as well as cocaine from the coca plant. Six years after Dr. Pemberton debuted the beverage, Asa Griggs Candler officially purchased the business and established the Coca-Cola Company. In 1903, Coca-Cola stopped using fresh coca leaves, which drastically reduced the amount of cocaine in the drink, and by 1929, Coke was entirely coke-free. Today, a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 34 milligrams of synthetic caffeine and 39 grams of sugar.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (Coke Zero)
Coke Zero first hit the market in 2005 as a way to offer a taste of classic Coca-Cola to consumers looking for less sugar. Intended to serve as a zero-calorie and zero-sugar stand-in for Coca-Cola, Coke Zero is formulated to taste as close to the flagship as possible, while Diet Coke delivers a completely different flavor profile. Initially launched in white cans reminiscent of the Diet offering, Coke Zero struggled to take off until its packaging was updated to a sleek black design in 2007. From there, the soda skyrocketed in popularity, delivering 18 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in North America as of October 2010. In 2017, the company rebranded Coke Zero to Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and debuted a new recipe said to taste even more similar to Coca-Cola. Still containing zero sugar and zero calories, a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar has 34 milligrams of caffeine.
Diet Pepsi
When Diet Pepsi officially hit the market in 1964, it was the first mass-distributed diet soda in the U.S. (The company first tested the product under the name Patio Diet Cola in select markets before taking it nationwide.) Originally sweetened with saccharin, Diet Pepsi swapped in aspartame as its artificial sweetener in 1983 following public panic over saccharin’s potential links to bladder cancer. In 2015, the company removed aspartame, a controversial ingredient, from its diet soda, but was forced to bring it back the next year following an 11 percent sales decline in the first quarter of 2016. Like Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi contains 0 grams of sugar and 0 calories, but just 35 milligrams of caffeine.
Pepsi
Similar to Coca-Cola, Pepsi was originally formulated by a pharmacist. Its creator, Caleb Bradham, first served the soda in 1893 at Bradham’s Drug Company in New Bern, N.C., under the name Brad’s Drink. In 1898, Bradham changed its name to Pepsi-Cola, which many believe was in a nod to pepsin, a digestive enzyme rumored to be used in the drink’s original formula. Despite early success, Pepsi-Cola went bankrupt in 1923 and the company changed hands a number of times over the course of the next decade. In the mid-1930s, Pepsi was reformulated, packaged in 5-cent 12-ounce cans twice the size of Coke’s, and advertised as “twice as much for a nickel.” The rivalry between Coke and Pepsi — now referred to as the “Cola Wars” — continued through the late 20th century. Today, Coca-Cola might be ahead in terms of market share, but Pepsi wins on caffeine levels with 38 milligrams per 12 ounces — 4 more milligrams than Coca-Cola.
Poppi
Easily the largest name on the functional soda market, Poppi got its start in 2015 when founder Allison Ellsworth started making sodas in her Dallas kitchen. Ellsworth wanted to create a soft drink that would help soothe her own stomach issues. The original result was Mother Beverage, an “apple cider vinegar beverage” with prebiotics in every serving. While Mother Beverage was initially somewhat successful, it wasn’t until a few years later when Allison and her husband Stephen appeared on “Shark Tank” that the drink really took off. Following a $400,000 deal made on the show, the Ellsworths rebranded from Mother Beverage to Poppi. To say the pivot was wildly successful would be an understatement — in May 2025, PepsiCo officially acquired the company for a whopping $1.95 billion. Poppi currently offers 17 flavors, four of which contain caffeine. Classic Cola, Cherry Cola, Doc Pop each deliver 40 milligrams of caffeine, while Alpine Blast contains 55 milligrams.
Dr Pepper
Famous for its mysterious 23-flavor blend, Dr Pepper is yet another soft drink first developed by a pharmacist. The now popular soda was created in 1885 at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, by Charles Alderton, who mixed syrups for the pharmacy’s soda fountain in his spare time. His syrup was so popular that he and shop owner Wade Morrison started selling it to other fountain operators in the Waco area. Eventually, the two needed to expand their operations to keep up with demand, so they partnered with beverage chemist Robert S. Lazenby to create the Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company. The business later transformed into the Dr Pepper Company, which merged with Keurig in 2018 to form Keurig Dr Pepper. Today, Dr Pepper has remained one of America’s favorite soda brands, with each 12-ounce can containing 41 milligrams of caffeine.
Diet Coke
While there are now countless iterations of Coca-Cola on the market, before the 1980s, extending the trademark beyond the flagship soda was considered a big “no no.” But in the late 20th century, diet sodas were gaining popularity and Tab, the diet soda produced by Coca-Cola at the time, didn’t include the company’s famous moniker. So a handful of senior executives led a top-secret plan to develop a diet version of Coca-Cola, betting that it would add value to the brand overall. Needless to say they were right. Introduced in 1982, Diet Coke — originally called Diet Coca-Cola — contains 0 grams of sugar, 0 calories, and 46 milligrams of caffeine, slightly more than its standard counterpart. Famously beloved, Diet Coke has a cult-like following, recently earning the nickname “Fridge Cigarette.”
Olipop
Ben Goodwin and David Lester founded Olipop in 2018 with the goal of bringing health-conscious, gut-friendly sodas to the masses. The wellness-oriented soda contains 9 grams of fiber per 12-ounce can, almost one-third of the daily recommended fiber intake. Olipop currently has 19 flavors in its lineup, though only four contain caffeine. Vintage Cola, Cherry Cola, and Doctor Goodwin — sodas inspired by Coca-Cola, Cherry Coke, and Dr Pepper, respectively — each contain 50 milligrams of green tea-extracted caffeine. Ridge Rush, on the other hand, a soda widely considered to be Olipop’s version of Mountain Dew, offers a substantial 60 milligrams.
Mountain Dew
Though most sodas on the market have been mixed with alcohol, it’s not often you hear of a soft drink explicitly created for that purpose. And yet, that’s exactly the case for Mountain Dew. Created in Knoxville, Tenn., by brothers Bernard and Aloysius Hartman, Mountain Dew was developed as a beverage to mix with moonshine to soften the drink’s harsh flavor. The name itself serves as a nod to its original purpose, with mountain dew being an old slang term for the illicitly distilled drink. Originally an uncaffeinated, lemon-lime flavored soda, Mountain Dew first hit the market in 1948. The Tip Corporation purchased Mountain Dew’s brand rights in 1957, and the company reformulated the soda to the caffeinated citrus version known today. Now owned by PepsiCo., Mountain Dew contains 54 milligrams of caffeine per 12-ounce serving.
