Soft drinks have a bad reputation of not being very healthy and that includes Fanta and Sprite. However, if you need to choose between the two, which one is healthier? Is it better to drink Fanta or Sprite? In this article, we scrutinise their ingredients and look at their nutritional values to determine which drink is better for you.
Fanta vs Sprite – Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients found in Fanta and Sprite are in the table below:
| Drink | Ingredients |
| Fanta | Carbonated Water, Sugar, Orange Juice from Concentrate (3.7%), Citrus Fruit from Concentrate (1.3%), Citric Acid, Vegetable Extracts (Carrot, Pumpkin), Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Malic Acid, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Stabiliser (Guar Gum), Natural Orange Flavourings with Other Natural Flavourings, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). |
| Sprite | Carbonated Water, Sugar, Citric Acid, Sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Aspartame), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Natural Lemon and Lime Flavourings. |
Both Fanta and Sprite contain carbonated water, sugar and sweeteners. The sweeteners they use in Fanta are Acesulfame K and Sucralose while in Sprite you will find Acesulfame K and Aspartame.
The drinks are flavoured with natural flavourings – in the case of Fanta, natural orange flavourings dominate and in Sprite, lemon and lime flavourings are used.
Fanta has a much longer list of ingredients as it also has an addition of juices from concentrate and vegetable extracts to enhance the flavour.
Both drinks have citric acid which further improves the flavour and is also used as a preservative.
In Fanta, you will also find preservative Potassium Sorbate which is something not added to Sprite.
Acidity regulator Sodium Citrate is found in both drinks.
Out of all these ingredients, the most concerning are sugar and artificial sweeteners. Sugar, because its excessive consumption is linked to weight gain and has many negative health effects. And artificial sweeteners, because they alter bacteria balance in the gut and come with other drawbacks.
Looking at the ingredients of both drinks, it’s difficult to say which one is healthier, so we will look at their nutritional values next.
Fanta vs Sprite – Nutritional values
Both Fanta and Sprite have no fat or protein and pretty much no salt. Fanta has no salt at all while Sprite has only 0.01g of salt per 100 ml.
Here is a comparison of the nutritional values of both drinks (values per 100ml):
Fanta vs Sprite – Sugar content
Sprite contains 3.3g of added sugar per 100ml while Fanta contains 4.6g. This makes Fanta higher in sugar.
Just to imagine how much sugar is in both drinks, Fanta contains more than one teaspoon of sugar per 100ml. So, if you drink 200ml of Fanta you will have more than 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Sprite, on the other hand, contains slightly less than a teaspoon of sugar per 100ml. If we compare this to Coke, for example, it’s not a massive amount of sugar as Coke contains about 2.5 teaspoons of sugar per 100ml.
Which has more calories: Fanta or Sprite?
Fanta has 19kcal per 100ml while Sprite has 14kcal per 100ml. That makes Fanta higher in calories. This is because it has more added sugar.
Which is healthier: Fanta or Sprite?
Fanta and Sprite are both soft drinks and none of them is considered healthy. They don’t offer much in terms of nutrition and have added sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Although they are not that high in calories and don’t contain excessive amounts of sugar, they are still not healthy as they contain artificial sweeteners which come with their own drawbacks.
However, if you need to choose between the two, go for Sprite as it has less sugar but only drink it once in a while to avoid the side effects of artificial sweeteners.