Caffeine
How much caffeine is in Guaraná Antarctica?
The short answer: some, from the guaraná, and no US label we could read says how much. The longer answer is below, with what the FDA says about caffeine in a day.
You will not find caffeine in the ingredient list of a Guaraná Antarctica can. You will find guarana extract, third on the list of the Original and second on the list of Zero, and the caffeine rides in with it. Guaraná seeds are one of the richest natural sources of caffeine there is: the University of Texas at El Paso puts them at 3.3 to 5.8 percent caffeine, several times what a coffee bean holds.
That is why the soda tastes faintly bitter at the end and why people reach for it in the afternoon. It is also why the question in the title keeps coming up, because the can does not answer it.
Why the label prints no number
The FDA explains how caffeine shows up on a label. Caffeine added as an ingredient on its own has to be listed. Caffeine that comes from another ingredient does not appear as a separate line. The FDA's own example is chocolate. Guaraná extract works the same way on a label: the extract is listed, the caffeine inside it is not.
The amount is voluntary: the FDA notes that many drinks print their caffeine on the label of their own accord. These labels do not. The front panel of the older green can gives calories, sugar, fat and sodium, and stops there. The Nutrition Facts box on the 2-liter bottle does the same. Numbers for "caffeine in Guaraná Antarctica" do circulate online, but none of them comes from a label we could read, so this guide does not print one.
| Pack | Caffeine source on the list | Milligrams on the label |
|---|---|---|
| Original cans | Guarana extract | Not stated |
| Zero Sugar cans | Guarana extract | Not stated |
| Diet cans | No ingredient list given | Not stated |
| Original 2-liter bottles | Guarana extract | Not stated |
What a soft drink usually carries
For a sense of scale, the FDA gives a range for caffeinated soft drinks in general: 23 to 83 milligrams in a 12-ounce serving. A can of Guaraná Antarctica holds 11.83 fluid ounces, a sip under twelve. That range is for soft drinks as a group, not a measurement of this one, and we use it only to say what kind of drink you are holding: a soda, not an energy drink and not a cup of coffee.
A 2-liter bottle holds about five and a half cans' worth. If the bottle goes round a table of six, that is roughly a can each. If it stands in the fridge for one person over a weekend, it is several.
How much caffeine in a day
For healthy adults the FDA cites 400 milligrams a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects, and it describes that as about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee. It also notes that people differ: some feel caffeine more, some clear it more slowly, and some medicines change how the body handles it.
- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the FDA points you to your health care provider for how much caffeine is right.
- The UTEP page advises pregnant women and children to ask a health professional before caffeinated energy drinks. Guaraná Antarctica is a soda, but the caffeine comes from the same plant.
- If you are counting caffeine across a day, remember the coffee, the tea and the chocolate as well as the cans.
Does Zero have less caffeine than the Original?
Both lists carry guarana extract and neither states an amount, so the labels cannot tell you. What changes between them is the sugar, not the guaraná. If caffeine is the reason you are choosing, a can of either is a can of soda with some caffeine in it. If sugar is the reason, our comparison of the three recipes has the numbers the labels do print.
Every can and bottle in this guide belongs to the Guaraná Antarctica family of sodas, and each product page repeats the caffeine line exactly as above: from the guaraná, amount not stated.