Bubble path: Cola as medicine? The surprising history of our snacks

Decades before Eno’s book, by the early 19th century, in fact, Britain and America were both nations of dyspeptics.

Amid the industrial-era boom in urban populations and the lifestyle changes that followed, this disease, which had been something of a status symbol as an indication of a rich and debaucherous diet, became rampant.

This was a time of immense pollution in cities, as well as cramped and poorly ventilated housing and industrial paces, largely-non-existent sanitation, long work hours, erratic sleep cycles as people worked in shifts, and, to top it all off, continuing poor oral hygiene (with toothpaste still a new concept in the 1820s and not mass-produced until half a century later).

Why dyspepsia? Because after living and working conditions, perhaps the biggest shift was food.

In expensive cities where rent took up much of one’s weekly pay, hearty farm meals were replaced, for the working-class, with low-cost, high-calorie fare. For the elite and newly rich, meanwhile, a large gut was still a status symbol, a sign that one could afford the many rich foods now being shipped steadily in from around the world.

More-serious diseases were common too. There were regular outbreaks, for instance, of cholera, influenza and typhoid. In response to it all, the field of modern pharmaceuticals began to emerge, in Europe and the US. Penicillin would be discovered in 1928, sparking a movement.

Before all that, in these smoggy and sickly cities, governments began to approve “patent medicines”.

These were proprietary formulations that usually bore a trademark or a name on their packaging, were made locally, and were sold by pharmacists based on a customer’s description of their symptoms; there was no doctor’s prescription required.

Unlike with an official patent, the ingredients were not made public. Instead, there were grandiose claims, with no medical evidence to support them. The mixes themselves were often common-sense salves combined with traditional home remedies.

Pop quiz

“Cures” for dyspepsia in particular flooded urban markets.

In the UK, Abernethy biscuits (c. 1830), Beecham’s Pills (1840), Eno Fruit Salt (1868) and McVitie & Price’s digestive biscuits (1892) were all positioned as relievers or cures.

In the US, c. 1885, Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, which later became Coca-Cola, was sold as a cure for ailments ranging from “nerve trouble” and dyspepsia to coughs and constipation. Brad’s Drink (1893), which became Pepsi, began to be sold soon after. Other formulations, such as Carter’s Little Liver Pills (1868) and Johnson & Johnson’s papaya-extract Papoid tablets (1887) were launched.

British patent medicines found their way to colonies such as India, and in newspapers from the early 1900s on, advertisements abound for cure-all “tonics” such as the British brand Phosferine and the homegrown Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works’ Asvan.

No one has actually been able to “cure” issues of the gut caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. Today, influencers peddle “remedies” that have about as much effect, ranging from proprietary apple-cider-vinegar gummies to mislabelled and toxin-containing homemade whey protein-magnesium mixes. Once again, governments grant permission for sale, not as pharmaceuticals but as food supplements this time, which is bad news because, once again, far-more-lenient rules apply.

Back in the 20th century, as regulations on proprietary medicines were tightened, some of the companies peddling what were in effect placebos had to reinvent themselves.

Johnson & Johnson took on the challenge and became a go-to brand for medical supplies ranging from adhesive bandages and surgical equipment to (controversially) cough syrup and baby powder.

Eno and McVitie’s stayed the course. The former’s fizzy concoction remains a stomach-soothing fixture in many households, and is sold as an over-the-counter antacid (no more a medicine than a cough lozenge is). The latter’s biscuits are sold as a snack that still claims to aid digestion.

Coca-Cola removed cocaine from its formula and it and Pepsi repositioned themselves as refreshing beverages, dropping the healing claims altogether.