Ingredient: Bitter Lemonade

Bitter lemonades are soft drinks to which bitter substances such as quinine have been added.

The composition, in particular the amount of the so-calledaroma quinine according to food labeling, is regulated by food law. For example, the Austrian Food Codex (Codex Alimentarius Austriacus) stipulates that a maximum of 85 mg of quinine (calculated as quinine) per liter may be added. If the termtonic is used in the name of the product, it contains at least 15 mg of quinine. In Germany, too, the maximum amount in non-alcoholic soft drinks is 85 mg/kg. According to studies by the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), tonic water contains the highest amounts of quinine of the bitter soft drinks, with an average of 61 mg/l. The highest value determined was 75 mg/l. Significantly less quinine, at 29 mg/l, was detectable inBitter Lemon andBitter Orange.

Bitter lemonades include the following sodas:

• Bitter Grapefruit
• Bitter Lemon
• Bitter Orange
• Ginger Ale (depending on its specific composition)
• tonic water