(Ok! Don’t get shocked after reading the next few lines). I never knew that the colour of Mountain dew was lemon yellow. I always assumed it to be transparent in colour.
First of all, I was confused as to what they have offered me. I was cynical if they had mixed any chemical to it and targeted me as a model organism. Secondly, I didn’t know if I should pour the drink in my mouth or drink it in the usual manner. Finally, I decided to drink in the normal way. I didn’t want to face the thwarting situation in which instead of pouring the drink in my mouth, I pour it on my dress.But still, the confusion persisted in my mind. I wanted to be sure that I was drinking a healthy drink, and not a chemical. I ask one of the ladies present there “Madam, why is this drink yellow in colour?”
The lady puckered brow, gave me the “Mr.Bean “look and said – “Obviously because the PepsiCo has set that standard colour for it.”
“But mountain dew.... is...tr-an-sp-ar-ent.... “. I got rebuked and that too on the first day itself. I felt embarrassed. Silently, without asking any more questions, I gulped the whole drink in just one go.
(Have you seen the Melody chocolate advertisement? The boy asks the girl – “Melody itni chocolaty kyunhai?”.And the girl goes mad! Yes! I was in the same situation. It was just that, I was the boy of the add and the lady was the girl. )The wait ended up late in the afternoon. The lab-incharge entered. I wished him and the series of questions started again!
As, there was only an hour left for my dismissal, he ordered his assistant to take me for a plant visit.
I felt like I was in cloud nine. I was about to witness beverage making in reality. All these years, I had watched it on National Geography – “Food Factory”.
The assistant gave me a cap to wear. She took me in a huge room which had six extremely gigantic steel barrels containing syrup, sugar, treated water and mixture of all the three. This is usually done at a particular temperature and pressure. She has promised to tell me that in the coming days (I guess she didn’t know herself!).
The syrup is then transferred to different intermediate tanks for storage.
Then, she took me to another unit where they make PET bottles and wash the glass bottles.