How much caffeine is in soda? Every can compared
A 12 oz can of Coca-Cola has 34 mg of caffeine, a Diet Coke 46 mg and a Mountain Dew 54 mg. That is a third to a half of a mug of filter coffee per can. Coke Zero has the same 34 mg as regular Coke, and Sprite, Fanta and 7UP have none.
Soda rarely keeps anyone up on its own. Where it matters is the total: a Diet Coke at lunch and another at 4 pm sit on top of the morning coffee that has not cleared yet.
Caffeine in every common soda
| Soda | 12 oz can | 330 ml can | Latest for an 11 pm bedtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Dew | 54 mg | 50 mg | 8:20 pm |
| Diet Coke | 46 mg | 43 mg | 9:40 pm |
| Dr Pepper | 41 mg | 38 mg | 10:15 pm |
| Pepsi | 38 mg | 35 mg | any time |
| Coca-Cola | 34 mg | 32 mg | any time |
| Coke Zero | 34 mg | 32 mg | any time |
| Sprite | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
| Fanta | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
| 7UP | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
| A&W Root Beer | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
| Ginger ale | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
| Caffeine-free Coca-Cola | 0 mg | 0 mg | any time |
Figures are for the US 12 oz can, as the makers list them. European 330 ml cans hold a little less, shown in the second column. Bottles scale up: a 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke is about 77 mg, close to a mug of coffee.
The last column is the latest you could drink one can and still fall asleep at 11 pm, worked out the same way as everything else on this site. "Any time" means one can alone stays below the 40 mg line. Two cans do not.
Why Diet Coke has more caffeine than Coke
It surprises almost everyone. Diet Coke is not Coca-Cola with the sugar taken out. It is its own recipe, built in the 1980s around a different flavour, and it carries about 35 percent more caffeine: 46 mg against 34 mg per can.
Coke Zero is the one that was made to taste like Coke without sugar, and its caffeine matches Coke exactly. The two are set side by side here.
The strongest and the weakest
Strongest: Mountain Dew at 54 mg, about 60 percent more than Coke. It is the soda most often mistaken for a caffeine-free one, because it is not brown.
In the middle: Dr Pepper at 41 mg and Pepsi at 38 mg, slightly ahead of Coke. The Coke against Pepsi comparison has the details.
None at all: Sprite, Fanta, 7UP, A&W Root Beer, ginger ale, and the gold-cap caffeine-free versions of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. If you want a cola late in the evening, caffeine-free is the only version that adds nothing to your total.
Soda against coffee and energy drinks
| Drink | Caffeine |
|---|---|
| A 12 oz can of Coke | 34 mg |
| A shot of espresso | 64 mg |
| An 8 oz mug of filter coffee | 96 mg |
| A 16 oz can of Monster | 160 mg |
It takes almost three cans of Coke to match one mug of coffee, and nearly five to match a Monster. The Mountain Dew against Coke comparison shows how far apart even two sodas can be.
How late can you drink soda?
For most people one can of Coke, Coke Zero or Pepsi in the evening will not cost sleep by itself. Diet Coke and Mountain Dew are over the line: for an 11 pm bedtime, finish a Diet Coke by about 9:30 pm and a Mountain Dew by about 8 pm.
What actually matters is what else is still in you. A mug of coffee at 3 pm still leaves almost 50 mg at 9 pm, and a Diet Coke on top of that is enough to make falling asleep slower. The cutoff for your own bedtime counts every drink, and the daily limit guide shows how quickly cans add up across a day.
Sources
- The Coca-Cola Company. Diet Coke, 12 oz: product facts and Caffeine Free Coca-Cola, 12 oz.
- PepsiCo. Product facts for PepsiCo beverages.
- US Food and Drug Administration. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
Common questions
How much caffeine is in a can of Coke?
A 12 oz can of Coca-Cola has 34 mg of caffeine, the figure Coca-Cola lists for the US can. A 330 ml European can has about 32 mg. That is roughly a third of a mug of filter coffee.
Which soda has the most caffeine?
Among the common colas, Mountain Dew at 54 mg per 12 oz can, then Diet Coke at 46 mg. Both have more than regular Coca-Cola. Energy drinks are in a different league: a Celsius has about 200 mg.
Does Coke Zero have more caffeine than Coke?
No. Coke Zero and Coca-Cola both have 34 mg per 12 oz can. Diet Coke is the one with more, at 46 mg, because it is a different recipe rather than Coke without sugar.
Which sodas have no caffeine?
Sprite, Fanta, 7UP, A&W Root Beer, most ginger ales and the caffeine-free versions of Coke, Diet Coke and Pepsi. Root beers other than Barq's and most orange sodas are usually caffeine-free too, but check the can.
Can a can of soda keep me awake?
One can of Coke on its own is below 40 mg, the level Cira treats as low enough to sleep on, so for most people it will not. It still adds to whatever is left from coffee earlier in the day, and two cans in the evening are a different story.
