OK, carbonated beverage production is part of what I do for a living, and I see these articles all the time. They are mostly FUD. Yes, most soda comes in a cle

OK, carbonated beverage production is part of what I do for a living, and I see these articles all the time. They are mostly FUD. Yes, most soda comes in a clear bag, and light could be detrimental, but that bag is in an opaque cardboard box. The system is literally called BIB (bag in box) and the box has a nozzle that pokes out of the side. They’re usually in a rack in a closet or cabinet. Soda syrup is exposed to little to no light anywhere. Nobody takes the bag out of the box. The bag just shrinks as the syrup is pumped out, no air enters. The stainless steel tanks are simply an economical function. I guarantee nobody could taste the difference between plastic and stainless steel containers if nothing else were different. It is true that most places don’t adequately chill the liquid which decreases carbonation. I’m not sure what McDonald’s actually does in this area, they may just run it through a second pass of a cold plate. Which I advise anyone to do. I don’t know what water filtration McD’s uses but I doubt it’s any different than anyone else. All soda machines are just installing the same carbon filters. Even if theirs was better, I don’t think any minerals in the water would taste noticeably different. (I will say, lots of crappy restaurants/gas stations don’t do a good job of changing filters at regular intervals, so McD’s may have better quality control there than a lot of places.) The straw width may be important. I’m not sure. The biggest factor by far is they simply use more syrup than everyone else. Soda syrups are meant to be mixed 5:1 with water. There’s a little adjustment screw you can use to calibrate it and change the ratio. Crappy gas stations dial it down a little. McDonald’s dials it up a little (I think approx 4.8:1). They syrup is very strong so it definitely makes a big difference. If you ever goof around with a soda gun and the little brixing cup (named after the measurement brix that really just means percent sugar, even though the cup is really just collecting the syrup and water separately because they come out of the nozzle separately and mix in the glass, and is used for sugar-free syrup as well) while calibrating and taste the results, you’ll see the massive difference an extra 5% syrup can have.