By Hyun Cho, Austin Allen

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Smith

Abstract

The global market for caffeinated soft drinks is diverse and growing in consumer base, and Kong Strong is a Danish beverage manufactured for American consumption. Kong Strong is an energy soft drink containing caffeine, which is known to elevate metabolic rates and increase alertness. We sought to quantify caffeine concentration via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (QP2010-SE GC-MS) and using a standard calibration curve of caffeine and propyl-benzene as internal standard. This procedure allowed us to compare reported versus actual concentrations of caffeine within Kong Strong. The results of this experiment give insight into potential misreporting of caffeine concentration to consumers. Future testing could include multiple samples of Kong Strong from various times or batches to compare manufacturing consistency.