How many calories in cola: a can, 0.5 L, a litre and sugar-free

42 kcal per 100 ml

Classic cola with sugar has about 42 kcal and 10.5-11 g of sugar per 100 ml. A 0.33 L can therefore holds 139 kcal and 35 g of sugar, a half-litre bottle 210 kcal and 53 g, a litre 420 kcal, and the 1.5 and 2 litre bottles that end up on birthday tables 630 and 840 kcal. Sugar-free versions, zero or light, have 0-2 kcal a can.

Table: calories in cola by volume

The same figures by serving size, with sugar counted in 5 g teaspoons:

The colas sold in Russia hardly differ in calories, by 1-3 kcal per 100 ml at most, and the exact figure for any bottle is on its label.

Cola at fast-food chains

Chains publish drink calories per serving. Figures from the menus in our catalog:

Catalog pages: Vkusno i Tochka, Burger King, Rostics.

Note that in a fast-food cup part of the volume is ice, but chains calculate calories for the stated drink volume.

Is that a lot or a little

A can of cola has 139 kcal, about as much as a large banana, except that the banana fills you up and the cola doesn't. In 2000 Daniel DiMeglio and Richard Mattes at Purdue University gave volunteers an extra 450 kcal a day for a month, some as soda and some as jelly beans. Those eating jelly beans naturally ate less at lunch and dinner, while the soda drinkers cut nothing and gained weight. Half a litre of cola a day comes to 210 kcal a day and about 6,300 kcal a month, and for many people that's exactly the "unexplained" gap that keeps the scale from moving.

The World Health Organization advises keeping free sugars under 10% of daily calories and ideally under 5%, which on 2,000 kcal means 50 g, or ideally 25 g. A single half-litre bottle of cola holds 53 g, the whole day's limit at once.

Sugar-free cola: can you drink it while losing weight

Calorie-wise you can, since sugar-free cola has practically none and gets its sweetness from aspartame, acesulfame potassium and sucralose. Swapping regular cola for sugar-free is one of the easiest savings there is, minus 210 kcal on every half-litre bottle. In 2023, though, the WHO advised against using sweeteners for weight control because long-term observations found no real benefit for weight loss, which doesn't mean they're harmful in normal amounts, only that they're not a magic pill. The same year aspartame was classed as "possibly carcinogenic", group 2B, while its acceptable daily intake stayed at 40 mg per kg of body weight, so a 70 kg adult would need 9-14 cans a day to get close. And any cola, with or without sugar, is acidic and wears down tooth enamel if you sip it often. If you're used to cola, the sensible route is to switch to sugar-free first and then gradually replace some of it with water.

Other sodas

Other sweet sodas, from Soviet-style Duchesse and Tarhun to tonic and kvass, land in roughly the same range as cola:

Kvass, the fermented bread drink, and bottled iced tea often aren't thought of as soda, but in calories they're close to cola.

How to account for cola in your diary

Drinks are the most common invisible part of a diet, since nobody photographs them and people forget to log them. In MyFoodMate AI you can just write or say "cola 0.5" or "sugar-free cola, can" and the app counts the calories and sugar, and if the can is standing next to your plate, it's included in the photo breakdown along with the food.

MyFoodMate editorial team

We check blog materials against current WHO recommendations.