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  • Harry: From calorie count to portion sizes,

  • we wanted to find out all the differences between

  • Mountain Dew in the UK and the US.

  • This is "Food Wars."

  • In the UK, Mountain Dew comes in three portion sizes.

  • Firstly, we have this 330-milliliter can.

  • Then we have a 500-milliliter bottle.

  • Then we have our largest size,

  • which is a 1-liter bottle.

  • In the US, Mountain Dew comes in six portion sizes.

  • The smallest is this 7.5-ounce mini can.

  • Then we have our standard 12-ounce can,

  • then a 16-ounce,

  • or 1-pint, can.

  • Then we go to bottles.

  • We have a 16.9, or 500-milliliter, bottle.

  • Jump up to the 20-ounce bottle,

  • and our largest size,

  • the 2-liter bottle.

  • As you can see, I don't currently have a 1-liter bottle,

  • as it was surprisingly hard to track down.

  • I finally thought I'd found some on Amazon

  • and ordered a six-pack.

  • Then this showed up.

  • They helpfully sent me 12 500-milliliter bottles,

  • which is the same as six times 1 liter.

  • However, not really what we were going for. Thanks, guys.

  • Ha! Our largest size is double the size of the UK's,

  • and we don't even stop there.

  • In the US, our largest single Mountain Dew item is this.

  • [cheering]

  • 24-pack of 12-ounce cans.

  • That's 8.52 liters of Mountain Dew,

  • or 2.25 gallons.

  • It's a little unclear what our largest single item is.

  • On the UK website, there is a multipack listed,

  • but it doesn't say how many cans are in one,

  • and I also couldn't find one anywhere.

  • So I called Britvic, who manufacture Mountain Dew

  • here in the UK on behalf of PepsiCo,

  • and an employee for them told me that

  • the multipack actually doesn't exist.

  • The largest item that the company had

  • on their own records that they produce is this.

  • A 24-pack of cans.

  • However, this is technically marketed at retailers

  • rather than consumers, as you can see

  • by the fact that they have prices on the cans.

  • We don't usually count wholesale on this show,

  • so technically a 1-liter bottle is our largest size,

  • if you can find one.

  • Joe: That makes the US's largest item

  • 752% larger than the UK's.

  • It's also worth pointing out the difference in price

  • between Mountain Dew in the two countries.

  • Sugary sodas in the UK get hit with a sugar tax,

  • which raises their price

  • in an effort to stop people from drinking them.

  • If you buy a 500-milliliter Mountain Dew

  • from a Sainsbury's in the UK, for example,

  • it will cost you 1 pound 25 pence,

  • which was around $1.69

  • at the time of recording this.

  • Nice.

  • The closest thing at that price point in the US

  • is this 2-liter.

  • According to Target, this is listed as $1.98.

  • You must be joking.

  • This isn't even $2?

  • Look at this.

  • That is alarmingly cheap.

  • For every milliliter in the UK bottle,

  • you're paying 0.338 cents.

  • Every milliliter of this 2-liter

  • costs 0.0995 cents.

  • That's 70% cheaper than the UK price.

  • Hang on.

  • Don't you feel like when you go to a bodega or something,

  • this is, like, a dollar?

  • So not only is Mountain Dew super cheap,

  • but then when you get it at a sandwich shop

  • or something, you're getting gouged!

  • Oof!

  • Here are all the Mountain Dew products in the UK

  • that you won't find in the US.

  • Here are all the Mountain Dew products

  • you can find in the US you will not find in the UK.

  • [groans]

  • Show this video to the paramedics.

  • We can actually only get

  • three Mountain Dew products in the UK,

  • one of which I couldn't even find today.

  • I guess you could sort of call

  • our standard Mountain Dew in the UK an exclusive,

  • because here it's marketed as Mountain Dew Citrus Blast,

  • while in the US, it's just Mountain Dew.

  • This also comes in a diet version,

  • which is the thing that I couldn't find today.

  • The only other thing we can get in the UK is this,

  • which is a SodaStream Mountain Dew syrup.

  • For those of you who don't know,

  • SodaStream is a device which lets you

  • carbonate your own drinks at home.

  • PepsiCo owns both Mountain Dew and SodaStream,

  • so I guess it made sense for them to just

  • mash their products together.

  • Now, I love sparkling water,

  • so I actually own my own SodaStream,

  • and we can use it to make our own Mountain Dew.

  • Take one of your little SodaStream water bottles,

  • fill it with water, screw it into the machine.

  • Once it's nice and secure, press the magic button.

  • SodaStream, if you want to sponsor me,

  • you know where to find me.

  • And bang. You have fizzy water.

  • Ta-da.

  • Nice splash of the syrup.

  • That is a strange color on that.

  • I don't think that's what I was expecting it to look like.

  • So, I think our homemade stuff actually

  • might look slightly more appealing.

  • You could kind of pass this off as more of a fruity soda

  • rather than Mountain Dew from the bottle,

  • which is a bit more translucent,

  • just a bit more pallid and weak,

  • and not really sure what's going on there.

  • That's actually not bad.

  • That's actually not bad. It's quite a mild flavor.

  • It's not actually aggressively sweet.

  • Also not too bubbly. I guess you have a bit more

  • control over the bubble level with the SodaStream.

  • Despite the difference in the color,

  • they actually taste really similar.

  • That's actually a pretty accurate recreation.

  • [exhales]

  • Jesus Christ.

  • That's one of the sweetest things

  • I've ever tasted in my entire life.

  • God.

  • It's like they've crammed more sugar

  • than there is space into that. Ugh.

  • I am guaranteeing, Yuelei,

  • I'm going to throw up in the middle of this.

  • In the US, we have something you can't get in the UK,

  • and it's Mountain Dew zero sugar.

  • Apparently even diet Mountain Dew

  • still has some sugar in it.

  • I'm not surprised at all.

  • Let's see what we got.

  • Regular.

  • Zero sugar.

  • Wow, that's, like, really close.

  • I don't mean to do the

  • Mountain Dew zero sugar commercial here,

  • but it tastes exactly like regular Mountain Dew.

  • Mountain Dew Frost Bite.

  • I have no clue what this is.

  • Oh, that's terrible. I don't even know what that is.

  • This is an Avella classic.

  • I'm not playing. I love Mountain Dew Code Red.

  • It tastes likewhat's that drink that you give kids

  • when they want alcohol?

  • Shirley Temple?

  • Right? What is that?

  • That's just Sprite and cherry grenadine, right?

  • That's exactly what this tastes like.

  • Oh, man.

  • It's back, baby. Mountain Dew Snap'd.

  • It's the gingerbread Mountain Dew.

  • I mean, it still even has Christmas shit on it, so.

  • It smells just like gingerbread cookies.

  • It's good. It's really good.

  • Mountain Dew Voltage.

  • "Dew charged with raspberry, citrus flavor, and ginseng."

  • It says "charged," guys.

  • Look at this. This is like Windex!

  • Oh, no.

  • Yeah, it has, like, a melted-popsicle flavor.

  • It's a really strong flavor.

  • It's Mountain Dew Spark.

  • "Dew with a blast of raspberry lemonade." OK.

  • I've already hit a wall.

  • Oh, God.

  • It's like if you tasked a child

  • to make Kool-Aid.

  • It's, I can't believe how strong this stuff is.

  • Mountain Dew Major Melon.

  • Watermelon Mountain Dew.

  • Look what's on here. Look at what they put on here.

  • Do you see this?

  • Like, look at the nightmare that's on here.

  • Oh, it smells exactly like a Jolly Rancher.

  • I like Jolly Ranchers, but in liquid form?

  • No. Oh, this is really bad.

  • It's the most artificial-tasting thing we've had so far.

  • To save me from getting too bored in this section,

  • Joe was kind enough to send me

  • some Mountain Dew from America

  • as well as some Mountain Dew Code Red.

  • Let's do a little side by side

  • of British and American Mountain Dews.

  • Getting a rare taste of yellow 5 in the UK.

  • Chin, chin.

  • Whoa.

  • What was that?

  • You know in the film "Limitless" when he takes that pill

  • and it just completely rewires his brain?

  • I think that's what yellow 5 now does to British people.

  • I've had, like, two sips of this,

  • and I feel like I could fight God.

  • Now that I've tried the American version,

  • the British version kind of just tastes like sadness.

  • There's basically no flavor to it other than sugar,

  • whereas at least I think with this,

  • you get obviously a lot of sugar,

  • but then there's a bit more citrus as well.

  • This has even more illegal food colorings in it.

  • We have red 40 and blue 1,

  • which, again, hard to come by in the UK.

  • OK, OK.

  • I think I actually might just prefer

  • classic American Mountain Dew.

  • This one felt like a religious experience,

  • whereas this one just felt OK.

  • So I'll stick to the classic Dew for now.

  • If that wasn't enough, we also have a range of

  • Kickstart Mountain Dews.

  • These are cans of Dew mixed with fruit juice and caffeine.

  • Imagine that. Caffeine.

  • Black cherry.

  • Now that it said juice in there,

  • I really taste the juice here.

  • Ooh, and electrolytes. It's like Gatorade.

  • Fruit punch. Love fruit punch.

  • Oh, no. That's very bad.

  • Full disclosure, pineapple orange mango,

  • I had to get a case of these

  • just to get the one for the video, so,

  • been working on these all week.

  • This one's pretty good.

  • Oh, man. Caffeine meter is just exploding.

  • Orange citrus.

  • Yeah, it's not bad.

  • Grape.

  • [burps]

  • That's the grapiest-tasting grape thing, yeah.

  • The flavors aren't as harsh,

  • 'cause they cut it with juice.

  • So, yeah, I kind of like the Kickstarts.

  • Is that everything? 'Cause I'm getting

  • a bit bored over here.

  • I might just go and make a cup of tea.

  • Sorry, Harry, we have even more options.

  • We have Mountain Dew Amp energy drink.

  • More caffeine, I'm assuming.

  • This is the original. You can also get it in Cherry Blast.

  • [Windows shutdown sound]

  • Oh, man, that's really weird.

  • Whoa.

  • [inhales]

  • [exhales]

  • [kettle boiling]

  • Ha ha, if that wasn't enough,

  • we also have Mountain Dew Energy.

  • Why?

  • What was this?

  • Oh, Jesus.

  • They even brokeoh, my God, look,

  • they even broke it down on here.

  • Two cups of coffee.

  • 5% juice, no added sugar, zinc.

  • Zinc?

  • What's zinc got to do with anything?

  • For all I know the can's made of zinc.

  • Oh, here it goes.

  • "Zinc helps support immune function."

  • I mean, I feel like I'm gonna drink this

  • and, like, try and run through a brick wall.

  • What's that doing for my health?

  • "Citicoline and caffeine in combination

  • have been shown to help improve attention."

  • Get

  • get out of my face with this on here!

  • [groans]

  • [echoing] Show this video to the paramedics.

  • [groans]

  • Let's do this. Orange Breeze.

  • Orange Breeze, right?

  • A nice breeze of orange?

  • Moments before you

  • tackle a stranger, bite into their neck for sustenance?

  • Oh, that's really bad.

  • I don't think so.

  • They shouldn't even have it here.

  • They should just have like a Capri Sun,

  • like, two holes here,

  • and you just bite into it, like "Teen Wolf,"

  • and drink it that way.

  • Is that possible to do that?

  • Pomegranate Blue Burst.

  • This is driving me out of my mind.

  • I've never had a pomegranate that tastes like that,

  • and if I did, I would spit it out.

  • Oh, Strawberry Melon Spark.

  • Ugh.

  • No. Melon drinks are bad.

  • Peach Mango Dawn.

  • The dawn — a new dawn is here.

  • Oh, my vision is starting to blur.

  • Tropical Sunrise.

  • They've somehow bottled energy.

  • Ah!

  • Like licking a 9-volt!

  • The last exclusive Mountain Dew product

  • we're gonna cover

  • before I go totally blind

  • is Mountain Dew Game Fuel.

  • It's the first beverage, quote, "designed just for gamers."

  • For real?

  • Hey, sitting for 12 hours at a time

  • doing literally nothing

  • staring at a flashing screen?

  • Drink this. Your muscles won't atrophy as fast?

  • I'm not quite sure what's in here

  • to make it better for gaming,

  • but the flavors they have is Cherry Burst,

  • Berry Blast, original,

  • Tropical Strike, and Orange Storm.

  • Let's take out the flavors

  • and go through those words one more time.

  • Burst!

  • Blast.

  • Strike.

  • Storm.

  • Stupid.

  • You know, it's not as strong as the energy drinks.

  • The Charged Berry Blast.

  • Charged Berry Blast.

  • Ooh.

  • Ah, man.

  • Feel like I'm pulling the tab out of a grenade.

  • You know, I'm surprised. These aren't as harsh

  • as the energy drinks.

  • I'm feeling myself getting ready to game, Yuelei!

  • Getting ready to do some gaming!

  • Eh? I'm about to whoop some Candy Crush ass!

  • This one is the Charged Tropical Strike.

  • This one's not that bad.

  • Full disclosure, I thought these were going to

  • hands down be the worst.

  • I still don't like them, but.

  • Ooh! Charged Cherry Burst.

  • Bursting with cherry.

  • Here's the issue. Are they going to make me a better gamer?

  • There's only one way to find out.

  • I'm going to play an extreme game.

  • That's right.

  • Let's do today's Wordle.

  • I'm going to take a sip and then put in a five-letter word.

  • An extreme five-letter word.

  • Skate.

  • Board.

  • Mm.

  • Yuelei: How about blast?

  • There you go!

  • This Game Fuel's not helping.

  • Taste. Oh, wait, not E though.

  • OK, blank, A S T, blank.

  • Let's do casts.

  • OK. Maybe nasty?

  • N A S T Y?

  • All right, Wordle, here we go!

  • Is nasty it?

  • Oh-ho-ho!

  • That's right.

  • So what have we learned?

  • Uh, me?

  • Nothing.

  • Carry on, don't let me interrupt.

  • If that wasn't enough, Mountain Dew

  • recently partnered with the Boston Beer Company

  • to create hard Mountain Dew,

  • a boozy spiked-seltzer version of Mountain Dew.

  • And it comes in four flavors,

  • original Mountain Dew,

  • Baja Blast, oh, God,

  • black cherry, and watermelon.

  • And you're asking, "Joe, where is it?

  • I wanna see you get drunk!"

  • Well, I'm in California,

  • and it currently is only available in the United States

  • in Tennessee, Iowa, and Florida.

  • Of course it's in Florida.

  • Joe, I think we're gonna need the lab coats for this one.

  • Let's do it.

  • There's a fun FAQ on the UK Mountain Dew website

  • explaining why the American version of the product

  • isn't sold here, citing EU regulations.

  • There are some pretty major differences between the two,

  • some of which are potentially harmful.

  • The US sweetens its Mountain Dew

  • with high-fructose corn syrup instead of sugar.

  • Well, it's not necessarily any worse for you.

  • It provides an even sweeter taste

  • with a slightly more chemical flavor.

  • The US also flavors its Dew with orange juice,

  • which isn't specifically listed in the UK ingredients.

  • One thing to look out for in the US is sodium benzoate.

  • This is a sodium salt

  • which food producers use as a preservative.

  • On its own, it's harmless,

  • but when it's mixed with certain acids,

  • like erythorbic or ascorbic acid,

  • it can form benzene.

  • Benzene is a known carcinogen linked to causing cancer

  • in factory workers who've been exposed to it.

  • The good news is US Mountain Dew also contains

  • calcium disodium EDTA,

  • aka calcium disodium ...

  • Automated voice: Ethylenediaminetetraacetate.

  • This can't be spelled right. Terraacetate?

  • Look, there's two A's next to each other in that word!

  • With the exception of aardvark,

  • I've never seen two A's next to each other.

  • And that's how that word starts!

  • This is a flavor enhancer, but it actually helps

  • mitigate the formation of benzene.

  • Fantastic. They added poison chemicals into it,

  • then they just added more chemicals

  • to stop it from being so poisonous.

  • Studies have shown that it chelates the metallic ions

  • that catalyze hydroxyl radical formation.

  • It's a complicated way of saying that

  • it removes the fuel from the fire.

  • Mm.

  • Talk about teeth for a second,

  • because Mountain Dew is pretty bad for your teeth.

  • When a man sued PepsiCo in 2009,

  • he alleged that he found a mouse

  • in his can of Mountain Dew.

  • But experts called in by PepsiCo said

  • that couldn't have been true

  • because Mountain Dew would have dissolved the mouse

  • into a jellylike substance.

  • Oh, my God.

  • If it is strong enough to dissolve an entire mouse,

  • you can imagine the effect Mountain Dew has

  • on the enamel of your teeth.

  • But why is this happening?

  • It comes down to two things.

  • Sugar and acid.

  • Tooth enamel will start to erode

  • if your mouth's pH level drops below 5.5.

  • Mountain Dew has a pH of around 3.3, which is acidic,

  • but actually on the better end of the spectrum

  • as far as sodas are concerned.

  • Sugar itself has a neutral pH,

  • so why does it aid tooth decay?

  • Our mouths play host to a range of bacteria.

  • They're usually harmless and can even be helpful

  • by fighting things like gingivitis.

  • However, they also love sugar,

  • and when they eat it, they produce acid.

  • Bacteria like Streptococcus mutans

  • will metabolize sugar into lactic acid,

  • which will then erode your teeth.

  • The more sugar in a soda, the more food these bacteria have

  • and the more acid they'll produce,

  • so sugar isn't causing it per se,

  • but it is aiding tooth decay.

  • Acids commonly used in soda

  • include citric acid and phosphoric acid.

  • Firstly, these acids will lower the pH of your soda

  • and contribute to regular erosion.

  • But they're also examples of polybasic acids.

  • These bind to the calcium in our teeth

  • and cause us to lose enamel through dissolution.

  • It's kind of like how you can use acid

  • to dissolve rust on a metallic object.

  • All in all, while Mountain Dew might not have

  • one of the lowest pHs when compared to other sodas,

  • its sugar content combined with its other ingredients

  • means that it is one of the worst for your teeth.

  • A 2004 study place it as the second-worst offender

  • for the dissolution of tooth enamel,

  • second only to Sprite.

  • Really? Sprite's worse? Hm.

  • And the bad news is the sugar-free versions of sodas

  • don't seem to be any less harmful.

  • The replacement sweeteners have the same effect

  • on the bacteria in your teeth.

  • If you're worried about your teeth,

  • it's better to drink a soda quickly

  • than it is to continuously sip it

  • and prolong the exposure.

  • Or, you know, you could just stop drinking soda.

  • Interestingly, the UK version

  • actually has 1 more gram of sugar

  • when compared to the American version.

  • But our Mountain Dew is slightly more calorific

  • and has double the sodium of the UK version.

  • The bottles contain 132% and 130%

  • of your daily sugar allowance, respectively.

  • Let's find out what that looks like.

  • Wait, this is for how big of a thing?

  • No, way. Yeah!

  • Oh, my God.

  • That's 50. We're not done yet.

  • That's an appalling amount of sugar.

  • I'm still gonna drink it.

  • Another thing worth pointing out

  • is the caffeine content of your Mountain Dew.

  • In the UK, many supermarkets will actually

  • list Mountain Dew as Mountain Dew Energy.

  • This is because we have stricter rules in the UK

  • about what does and doesn't count as an energy drink.

  • In the UK, sugar is a major factor

  • in deciding whether or not something is an energy drink,

  • as opposed to just caffeine.

  • Mountain Dew doesn't actually

  • disclose its caffeine content in the UK.

  • All I could find was this Twitter reply from 2018

  • where they said it used to be an energy drink,

  • but then they reformulated it

  • and now it has a similar amount of caffeine to Pepsi.

  • They claim that this is less than half

  • the caffeine content of a cup of coffee.

  • Regular Mountain Dew contains 72 milligrams of caffeine

  • per 16 ounces.

  • There's around 92 milligrams of caffeine

  • in the same amount of Kickstart,

  • almost one and a half espressos' worth of caffeine.

  • Moving up, Mountain Dew Amp, original and cherry,

  • contain 142 and 160 milligrams of caffeine

  • per 16 ounces,

  • more than a double espresso.

  • The worst offender is Mountain Dew Energy.

  • One of these cans contains 180 milligrams of caffeine

  • per 16 ounces, which is basically a triple espresso.

  • For reference, the FDA recommends that

  • the average healthy adult shouldn't consume

  • more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

  • That's just over two of those Mountain Dew energies.

  • It's around the 1,200-milligram mark

  • where you're actually putting yourself in danger.

  • According to the FDA,

  • ingesting 1,200 milligrams of caffeine,

  • and you may experience seizures

  • or put yourself at risk of cardiac arrhythmia.

  • So please do not drink more than six of these at one time.

  • The "good" news is that the lethal dose of caffeine

  • is around 5 grams,

  • so to actually overdose on Mountain Dew,

  • you'd need to chug 28 of the Mountain Dew Energies

  • in pretty quick succession.

  • What a way to go.

  • Charlie: You're loving that one, aren't you?

  • I can't stop drinking it. I'm slightly concerned.

Harry: From calorie count to portion sizes,

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