Diet Cola

[Gonzo the Face]

Not to belabor the fact if someone has already found some, but just back from Makro 108 and they have a pallet or two of cases of Coke Zero for those in need.... didn't see any Coke Light or Pepsi Max but its a start.

G

[paulchiangmai]

Didn't see any Scheppes [?] tonic water while you were there did you? What is the matter with that company, I havn't been able to get any for ages.

[hellodolly]

Didn't see any Scheppes [?] tonic water while you were there did you? What is the matter with that company, I havn't been able to get any for ages.

Can't swear to it but I believe Rimping by the river has it.

I was in Macro on the superhighway yesterday no coke zero and even worse no Pepsi Max.

I know Tops at the airport got a lot of Pepsi a while ago but no Pepsi Max.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Didn't see any Scheppes [?] tonic water while you were there did you? What is the matter with that company, I havn't been able to get any for ages.

Big C Hangdong has Schweppes tonic

[msg362]

Many thanks Gonzo,

got to Makro Hang dong at 8.15 this morning. Only one pallet of coke zero and that was 3/4 gone! I helped by taking my ( unfair) share.

I would guess it will all be gone by lunchtime today ( Sunday)

Thanks again

[Mekong Bob]

Many thanks Gonzo,

got to Makro Hang dong at 8.15 this morning. Only one pallet of coke zero and that was 3/4 gone! I helped by taking my ( unfair) share.

I would guess it will all be gone by lunchtime today ( Sunday)

Thanks again

Pepsi (Lemon) Twist now on shelves in 7-11. Ugggghh! Perhaps Pepsi Max will soon follow.

[NancyL]

Maybe the drought is over! The little shop just outside our condo just got a case of Coke Lite cans today and we've been able to find Coke Zero (in 500 ml bottles) at a 7-11 down the street for several days. No ability to make bulk purchases, yet! But, if I get 3 or 4 cans a day, I can avoid withdrawal.

[Krupnik]

Maybe the drought is over! The little shop just outside our condo just got a case of Coke Lite cans today and we've been able to find Coke Zero (in 500 ml bottles) at a 7-11 down the street for several days. No ability to make bulk purchases, yet! But, if I get 3 or 4 cans a day, I can avoid withdrawal.

Oh, great news! I've been really suffering these last few weeks. I haven't had to go without yet, but hunting the stuff down (and then buying the shop out of their complete stock) has been tiresome. Yay bring back the Diet Coke! Phew!!! Glad there are a few other Diet Coke addicts on here to emphathise with me!

What I can't understand is how certain places such as the UN Irish Bar for example never ran dry. Great, but how did they get their supply!

[siam2007]

so many small Mom-and-Pop-shops still have Coke Light, Coke zero, and even Pepsi Max. Just walk around in the downtown neighborhoods.

I had to print something a few days ago and went to Buddy Internet opposite Kad Suan Kaew. After finishing I incidentally walked past their fridge and saw an army of PEPSY MAX cans inside. Need less to say, I bought 10 of them, but there are still a lot left - at the regular price of THB 15.-

2 weeks ago I saw plenty of Coke Zero at several small Mom-and-Pop-Shops when I walked around within the moat area...... just try your luck

[ThePunPun]

GOOD NEWS ! ! !

Coke light seems to be back in town..... The Coca Cola route salesman stopped in this afternoon and said Coke Light and Zero are available now. Should be delivered tomorrow [sat.]

also

saw at the Coke Warehouse on the Superhighway about an hour ago 2 huge 40 footer tractor-trailers unloading. Could only see one side of one of them and it was chocker-block, full to the brim with silver cans..... was a moment of spiritual awakening, a revelation, and I am sure the other truck was the second coming of another..... so just a few more hours fellow slurpers...... and nirvana.......

course I never ran out of my old stock yet

Gonzo the great

[BKKdreaming]

Please give us back our Coke lite !

None at the few 7-11s I went to in BKK, in fact no cans either , Coke or Coke lite.

BK

[ThePunPun]

Please give us back our Coke lite !

None at the few 7-11s I went to in BKK, in fact no cans either , Coke or Coke lite.

BK

will not.....won't , won't, won't and u can't make me

[Gonzo the Face]

Something fishy going on here, more than meets the eye.

Two weeks ago today, the Coca Cola route salesman came in and took an order for Coke Lite, indicating that it was available and could be delivered tomorrow , which was Saturday 13 days ago.......well guess what , have not seen any such delivery, nor have I seen the route salesman since. I did drive by the Coke warehouse, that day, on the way back from a Makro run and saw a truck with the sides up and was unloading pallets of silver cans.... so I thought no problem....

I did pick up some at Makro but since have not seen any Coke Lite or Zero anywhere.

Don't know if they are stock piling or just distributed in small amounts in a lot of places and its now vanished.

Did stop by the Coke office yesterday and they told me none available and they could not tell me when any would be coming..... same for zero....

Big problem, as my personal private stock is running low and into the red zone....

....and its not only Coke lite and Zero, but more and more of once plentiful items are now not available. Com'on guys the flood is long gone now and trucks have no delivery problems. There were certainly many plants and factories flooded, but not the thousands of factories that now have products that are in short supply or not available....

Fishy

G

[ignis]

never mind you up there are a long way from the flooded factories, down here in what was the flooded area we also have NO Coke or Pepsi of any kind, Makro, Supermarkets, even garages with there drink machines are turned off or if on have notices over the Coke and Pepsi taps, a very few places do have something call 'The Big Coke' 1.5 lt bottles, also noticed yesterday that supermarkets and 7/11 also have rows of empty shelves were chocolate was ??

[Mekong Bob]

To my fellow diet cola drinkers: please be aware that our PepsiMax, Coke Zero, and Coke Light use either aspartame or sucrose as sweeteners and, as such, have a limited shelflife. Chiang Mai shopowners do not know and do not care about this - they will sell you "expired" diet cola. Likewise, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola in Thailand do not want to bring this to our attention. The production date is stamped on the bottom of each can. Count 90-120 days forward, and you will experience the chemical breakdown of the aspartame or sucrose. The carbonation remains, but the taste is gone. It now tastes like soda water. I understand that the artificial sweeteners break down into some harmful chemical compounds, but I defer to others to identify these compounds and tell us what weffects these can have on our stomachs!

Attached is a tally sheet of key ingredients in our diet colas. Too bad that the Thailand FDA does not require these companies to use full disclosure of contents on their labels, including a warning to "consume before certain date".

Pepsi and Coke.pdf

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Agree with the above, though note that the expiration date is also on the bottom of the can, together with the production date.

It seems Coke Light is more susceptible to this than Pepsi Max, for some reason.

Coke does acknowledge this; its' not their responsibility if people don't pay attention to the expiration dates, AND for places on contract for Coke product delivery (bars and restaurants) they will take back un-sold and expired cans and replace with new. (If they're a good customer, I suppose)

[hellodolly]

Don't know where but my wife scored three cases of coke zero yesterday. Would like to get Pepsi Max as I do prefer it. Have noticed some 7 11s have regular Pepsi in cans.

Does any one know what is really happening. I notice toilet paper is once again disappearing from shelves. Was in Rimping by the river yesterday and their stock was way down.

But they had lots of cans of regular Coke.

[uptheos]

Don't know where but my wife scored three cases of coke zero yesterday.

I suppose you could have asked her?

[Gonzo the Face]

Don't know where but my wife scored three cases of coke zero yesterday.

I suppose you could have asked her?

I have read what all have said and accept it as such, but I have found just the opposite with Coke Lite vs Pepsi Max.

I stopped stocking Pepsi Max just for that reason. On 3 separate occasions I had cases of P Max go bad , finally stopped providing it. I have never had a case or individual cans of Coke Light go off.

I too would like to know the real story behind these and other various out of stock items. It just seems to be the local way to tell any story no matter how wacko it may seem, rather than tell the simple truth.

On a couple of occasions I have found Coke Zero at the Makro on 108, but not at the other...... once about 3 weeks ago found a pallet of Coke Lite in Makro on the superhwy, but never again anywhere. For the Zero I would suggest giving Makro108 a try on just a maybe.

If anyone else has an update, would sure like to hear of it

Gonzo

just a little add on ..... the date on the can bottom of my last batch of Zero is 31/03/12.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Gonzo the Face

[licentiapoetica]

To my fellow diet cola drinkers: please be aware that our PepsiMax, Coke Zero, and Coke Light use either aspartame or sucrose as sweeteners and, as such, have a limited shelflife. Chiang Mai shopowners do not know and do not care about this - they will sell you "expired" diet cola. Likewise, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola in Thailand do not want to bring this to our attention. The production date is stamped on the bottom of each can. Count 90-120 days forward, and you will experience the chemical breakdown of the aspartame or sucrose. The carbonation remains, but the taste is gone. It now tastes like soda water. I understand that the artificial sweeteners break down into some harmful chemical compounds, but I defer to others to identify these compounds and tell us what weffects these can have on our stomachs!

Attached is a tally sheet of key ingredients in our diet colas. Too bad that the Thailand FDA does not require these companies to use full disclosure of contents on their labels, including a warning to "consume before certain date".

I bought a 3-month supply of Pepsi Max on Oct 15. It is almost gone now. I'll run out in 3-4 days. But. About expiration dates. Most of the bottles I bought expired on Jan 10 - and they are all fine: 100% taste and bubbles/carbonation. But a few of the bottles I bought ran out on Dec 16. These have fewer bubbles (50%) in them, but the taste is still fine. Nothing wrong with it that I can taste anyway. It's not "off" in any way.

So it looks like I'm going to have to go out looking for some Coke Zero - at Macro maybe. Coke Zero is drinkable to me, but I don't really enjoy it. Coke Light I can't drink - it tastes horrible. I am actually considering switching to water until Pepsi Max comes back. It would be better for both my health and my wallet.

[Mekong Bob]

Agree with the above, though note that the expiration date is also on the bottom of the can, together with the production date.

It seems Coke Light is more susceptible to this than Pepsi Max, for some reason.

Coke does acknowledge this; its' not their responsibility if people don't pay attention to the expiration dates, AND for places on contract for Coke product delivery (bars and restaurants) they will take back un-sold and expired cans and replace with new. (If they're a good customer, I suppose)

WinnieTheKhwai, You appear to be quite knowledgeable about the diet cola situation in Chiang Mai. Can you tell us how to de-code the date stamps on the bottom of cans of Pepsi Max, Coke Zero, and Coke Light? "B/F" on Pepsi Max cans means "drink before this date," right? If so, what is Pepsi's shelf life? 120 days after production date? For Coke Zero, is the date shown the date of production? What guide does the customer use - add 120 days to production date?

Thanks very much.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

As far as I know there are two dates on there. The later date being the use-by date. It's DDMMYY format, so for Feb 8, 2012 you will find '020812'

Not sure if Pepsi only has one date on it but if so then that's the expiry date.

[Mekong Bob]

Thanks, WinnieTheKhwai

I'll stick with my 90-120 day shelf life rule, after which bad things start to happen.

And for the time being, I'll be drinking the (doubly-high caffeine) Coke Zero in 1.25 liter bottle.

Perhaps the Public Relations folks at Pepsi and Coke producers in Thailand will issue a statement soon as to the status of their canned diet drinks (?)

[licentiapoetica]

It's DDMMYY format, so for Feb 8, 2012 you will find '020812'

or '080212'...

[ignis]

No problem with sell by dates by me, as still NO Pepsi or Coke of any kind.......

In 2 Villages near me have asked in 2 x Tesco Express and 7/11... Yes they get Coke + coke Zero, Pepsi 1x per week delivered......... 6x Coke bottles, 3 x Coke Zero bottles, Coke Cans but never more than 4 packs, Pepsi between 6 and 8 bottles so far since floods still unable to get cans........ The Big Coke can get what they order...

Yesterday in 7/11 they had non + NO bread, cakes or chocolate, No sausage in packs or warm, so since re=opening after the floods still appears a big problem to get supplies......... Both Tesco Express and 7/11 still have many empty shelves

[Krupnik]

Why is it, that whilst Coze Zero seems to be pretty much available again now there is still no Diet Coke! Weird...

[NancyL]

Hubby and I have made it a habit now to enter KSK thru the Tops entrance and look for diet coke products even if we aren't otherwise going to Tops. So, between us, we've been checking out Tops KSK nearly every day lately.

I was in for a welcome shock today. They had Coke Zero! Hubby had checked around 10:30 am and it was mai mee, but I received some happiness when I walked thru at 1:30 pm. It has an April 2012 expiration date and the packages look brand new. There was a sign on the shelf saying something about getting 100 baht if you buy 1000 baht, so I loaded up the cart. After checking out, I learned the 100 baht deal was just if you paid using a credit card from a certain bank. Oh well, we'll go thru 1000 baht of Coke Zero in a few weeks.

Price was 69.5 baht per six-pack of cans. A bit higher than the special price of something like 64 baht they had before the flood, but not really price gouging.

It will be interesting to see if they can keep it in stock. For the past month, their toilet paper supply as been on-again, off-again. It doesn't help when people buy a month's supply of toilet paper (or Coke Zero!) at once, but you can't blame 'em.

Edited January 18, 2012 by NancyL

[licentiapoetica]

I have read what all have said and accept it as such, but I have found just the opposite with Coke Lite vs Pepsi Max.

I stopped stocking Pepsi Max just for that reason. On 3 separate occasions I had cases of P Max go bad , finally stopped providing it. I have never had a case or individual cans of Coke Light go off.

I too would like to know the real story behind these and other various out of stock items. It just seems to be the local way to tell any story no matter how wacko it may seem, rather than tell the simple truth.

On a couple of occasions I have found Coke Zero at the Makro on 108, but not at the other...... once about 3 weeks ago found a pallet of Coke Lite in Makro on the superhwy, but never again anywhere. For the Zero I would suggest giving Makro108 a try on just a maybe.

If anyone else has an update, would sure like to hear of it

Gonzo

just a little add on ..... the date on the can bottom of my last batch of Zero is 31/03/12.

I bought a 3 month supply of Pepsi Max 3 months ago. It consisted almost entirely of plastic bottles, some 1.25l and some 0.5l. But I bought 4 sixpacks of 0.33l cans also. I drank all the plastic bottles first, and they were all fine, even those few that were 1 month over the best before-date when I drank them. But then I tried the cans yesterday. And they tasted off! And they were only 10 days past their best before-date.

I had this gut feeling that Pepsi Max in cans would keep better than Pepsi Max in plastic bottles - but it's the other way around! (for some to me unknown reason)

If it wasn't for the 2011 flood I never would have learned this vital truth.

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

Maybe the drought is over! The little shop just outside our condo just got a case of Coke Lite cans today and we've been able to find Coke Zero (in 500 ml bottles) at a 7-11 down the street for several days. No ability to make bulk purchases, yet! But, if I get 3 or 4 cans a day, I can avoid withdrawal.

Oh, great news! I've been really suffering these last few weeks. I haven't had to go without yet, but hunting the stuff down (and then buying the shop out of their complete stock) has been tiresome. Yay bring back the Diet Coke! Phew!!! Glad there are a few other Diet Coke addicts on here to emphathise with me!

What I can't understand is how certain places such as the UN Irish Bar for example never ran dry. Great, but how did they get their supply!

How often do you go in the un? They have ran out several times, you must have fell lucky when they do have some in

[Krupnik]

Maybe the drought is over! The little shop just outside our condo just got a case of Coke Lite cans today and we've been able to find Coke Zero (in 500 ml bottles) at a 7-11 down the street for several days. No ability to make bulk purchases, yet! But, if I get 3 or 4 cans a day, I can avoid withdrawal.

Oh, great news! I've been really suffering these last few weeks. I haven't had to go without yet, but hunting the stuff down (and then buying the shop out of their complete stock) has been tiresome. Yay bring back the Diet Coke! Phew!!! Glad there are a few other Diet Coke addicts on here to emphathise with me!

What I can't understand is how certain places such as the UN Irish Bar for example never ran dry. Great, but how did they get their supply!

How often do you go in the un? They have ran out several times, you must have fell lucky when they do have some in ��

Only about once a week, they have never run out when I have been there. I was at Zoe last night and they had run out for the first time that I'd been there. Lucky I was able to get some from the small shop around the corner. Only Coke Zero though. Diet Coke is not to be found in Chiang Mai to my knowledge.