My colleague has decided that I’m her own personal investigative reporter. She asked me to find out how much ginger is actually in ginger ale and to report on it in my blog. Unfortunately, my investigation hasn’t been particularly fruitful. Here’s what I was able to find out: I went to the Canada Dry website and found the ingredients in their ginger ale: Carbonated Water, Sugar/Glucose-Fructose, Citric Acid, Natural Flavour, Sodium Benzoate, Colour. In their little write-up they state that their ginger ale has “100% natural flavours, including real ginger”. Their FAQ section has the question: “How much real ginger is in Canada Dry ginger ale?” and the answer: “That information is part of our proprietary formula and is not divulged.”  Clearly, the “real ginger” is just one of the ingredients included under “Natural Flavour.” I emailed the company to ask what the other “natural flavours” are and what form the “real ginger” is in (e.g. ginger syrup). This is the response I received: “The amount and source of our natural flavors is considered proprietary information. The “natural flavors” listed on the ingredient statement contains flavor from many types of real ginger roots. The ginger flavor in ginger ale is extracted from the ginger roots and then blended with other citrus flavors to produce the unique flavor in ginger ale.  Since the ginger flavor is combined with natural flavors, we chose to label the combination “natural flavors” on the ingredient statement.” I can understand that Canada Dry would be concerned that someone might steal their secret recipe. However, I am a little surprised that they wouldn’t reveal the source of the other “natural flavours” as this would be important information to someone with a food allergy or intolerance. I’ve hit a dead end with my investigation, so this is where my conjecture comes into play. As ingredients are listed by weight (therefore the most common ingredient is the first ingredient and the last ingredients are generally quite negligible) and ginger is part of “natural flavours” (not even listed individually) I don’t think that there’s a whole heck of a lot of “real ginger” in Canada Dry’s ginger ale. If you want to be sure that you’re getting ginger root in your ginger ale, and you have a little bit of time on your hands, you could try making your own. I found a recipe on Simply Recipes for homemade ginger ale. My only suggestion would be to use less simple syrup than the recipe recommends. Try adding to your glass by the teaspoon, stirring, and tasting until you obtain the desired sweetness. I’m not endorsing this as a healthy recipe, but in relation to the questionable quantity of “real ginger” in commercially produced ginger ale it’s a better option.