Table 1 Category scheme to classify beverage purchases entered in the Nutrition Data System for Research into sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), artificially sweetened beverage (ASB), and unsweetened water categories and sub-categories

SSB

 Regular Soda

Carbonated non-alcoholic beverage with added sugar or a combination of sugar and artificial sweeteners; sweetened soft drinks.

 Fruit Drinks

Non-carbonated, non-alcoholic fruit drink with added sugar or a combination of sugar and artificial sweeteners; fruit drinks; does not include 100% fruit juices.

 Sports Drinks

Sweetened sports drinks; hand-coded from nondairy-based sweetened meal replacement/ supplement beverage category; includes Gatorade, Powerade, and thirst quencher or sports type ready-to-drink beverages.

 Energy Drinks

Sweetened energy drinks; hand-coded from nondairy-based sweetened meal replacement/ supplement beverage category; includes AMP Energy, Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster Energy, Venom, Full Throttle, and special formulated energy drink products.

 Sweetened Tea

Sweetened tea drinks; tea with added sugar or a combination of sugar and artificial sweeteners.

 Other SSBs

Ready-to-drink sweetened water; dairy/milk-based drinks with added sugar; sweetened coffee/ coffee substitute drinks; combined due to limited purchases across time points.

 Overall

Any purchase from the SSB sub-categories above.

ASB

 Diet Soda

Carbonated non-alcoholic beverage with only artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners (no added sugar); artificially sweetened soft drinks.

 Other ASBs

Ready-to-drink artificially sweetened fruit drinks; nondairy-based artificially sweetened meal replacement/ supplement drinks, including artificially sweetened sports and energy drinks; artificially sweetened tea; artificially sweetened water; artificially sweetened milk/dairy-based drinks; artificially sweetened coffee/ coffee substitute drinks; combined due to limited purchases across time points.

 Overall

Any purchase from either ASB sub-category above.

Water

 Overall

Ready-to-drink unsweetened bottled water; includes unsweetened coconut water.