This study aimed to determine the potential of hydrogen (pH) of non-alcoholic beverages (NABs) marketed in Peru. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study including a sample of 83 brands of NABs obtained in triplicate (249 containers) of regional (21.7%; 12 cities), national (47%), and international (31.3%; 14 countries) origin distributed into 10 types (sparkling water, flavored water, tonic water, energy, light/zero soda, regular soda, hydrating, non-natural fruit juice, prepared soft drinks, and tea-based beverages). The mean of triplicate pH measurements was classified according to the erosion potential (EP): no (≥6), minimum (4-<6), medium (3-<4), and extreme (<3). Analysis of variance and chi-square statistical tests were used with p<0.05. The NABs had a pH of 3.31±0.71 (range: 2.16 in regular soda of national origin to 5.74 in sparkling water of international origin) and a medium (50.6%), extreme (37.3%), and minimum (12%) EP. The pH from lowest to highest values was tonic water (2.62±0.16), flavored water, energy, regular/light soda, hydrating and tea-based (3.16±0.48), prepared soft drinks (3.41±0.43), and sparkling water (4.59±1.13) (p<0.001). A minimum EP was associated with sparkling water (75%), medium with flavored water, energy, hydrating, fruit juice, and prepared soft drinks (62.5% to 81.8%), medium-extreme with regular soda (92.9%), and extreme with tonic water, diet, and tea-based soft drinks (100.0%) (p<0.001). The NABs marketed in Peru present an acidic pH with frequent medium and extreme EP. The results indicate the need to establish actions to raise awareness on the EP of different types of NABs.
