title: Analysis of sugars and pH in commercially available soft drinks in Saudi Arabia with a brief review on their dental implications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the amount of sugar and pH in commercially available soft drinks in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. This was further compared with their labeled values in order to inform the regulations. The effects of these drinks on teeth is reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten brands of popular soft drinks including 6 regular carbonated drinks and 4 energy drinks were obtained from the local markets. Their pH was determined using a pH meter. The amount of total sugar, glucose, fructose, and sucrose was estimated using high performance liquid chromatography (using Dionex ICS 5000 ion chromatography) at the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. Descriptive statistics was done to obtain the mean and standard deviation. Intergroup comparison was performed using independentt-test, and the labeled and estimated values within the group were compared with pairedt-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The labeled and estimated sugar in energy drinks (14.3 ± 0.48 and 15.6 ± 2.3, respectively) were higher than the carbonated drinks (11.2 ± 0.46 and 12.8 ± 0.99), which was statistically significant. In addition, there was a significant difference in the concentration of glucose in energy drinks (5.7 ± 1.7) compared to carbonated drinks (4.1 ± 1.4). The pH of these drinks ranged from 2.4 to 3.2. The differences between the estimated and labeled sugar in carbonated drinks showed statistical significance. Mild variation was observed in total sugar, glucose, fructose, and sucrose levels among different bottles of the same brand of these drinks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low pH and high sugar content in these drinks are detrimental to dental health. Comparison of the estimated sugar with their labeled values showed variation in most of the brands. Preventive strategies should be implemented to reduce the health risks posed by these soft drinks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ali Mohamed
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Idris
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Nandimandalam Venkata
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Vani
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Dhafi A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Almutari
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jafar
authors.affiliation: Department of Restrorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Nezar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boreak
keywords: Dental caries; Saudi Arabia; energy drinks; pH; soft drinks; sucrose; sugars; tooth erosion