Diet Pepsi dropping aspartame on customer concerns

[Lite Beer]

Diet Pepsi dropping aspartame on customer concerns
By CANDICE CHOI

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo says it's dropping aspartame from Diet Pepsi in response to customer worries and replacing it with sucralose, another artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda.

The decision to swap sweeteners comes as Americans keep turning away from popular diet sodas. Rival Coca-Cola said this week that sales volume for Diet Coke, which also uses aspartame, fell 5 percent in North America in the first three months of the year.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said in a statement that it has no plans to change the sweetener in Diet Coke, which is the country's top-selling diet cola.

The Food and Drug Administration says aspartame, known by the brand names Equal and NutraSweet, is "one of the most exhaustively studied substances in the human food supply, with more than 100 studies supporting its safety."

More recently, a government advisory committee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines said aspartame appears to be safe in the amounts consumed by Americans. But it added that there is still uncertainty about whether the sweetener increases risk for some blood cancers in men.

Executives at Coke and Pepsi blame the declines on perceptions that the sweetener isn't safe.

John Sicher, publisher of industry tracker Beverage Digest, noted that attitudes about aspartame can be very negative. Using an online tool called Topsy that measures Twitter sentiment on a scale of 0 to 100, he noted "aspartame" got a 22 ranking, below a 38 ranking for "Congress."

By comparison, "love" had a ranking of 96 and "Christmas" had a ranking of 88.

The negative attitudes about aspartame don't seem to extend to sucralose. Sparkling Ice, a zero-calorie drink created in the 1990s, is sweetened with sucralose and has been enjoying strong growth in recent years.

"Aspartame is the No. 1 reason consumers are dropping diet soda," said Seth Kaufman, vice president of Pepsi.

In tests, Kaufman said, people still recognized the reformulated drink to be Diet Pepsi, but that it might have a "slightly different mouthfeel."

Diet Pepsi will also still have acesulfame potassium, or ace-K, which PepsiCo said it added to the drink in late 2012 to help prevent its taste from degrading over time.

PepsiCo says reformulated Diet Pepsi will start hitting shelves in August, with cans stating that the drink is "Now Aspartame Free." The change only applies to the U.S. market and will affect all varieties of Diet Pepsi, such as Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi. It will not apply to other PepsiCo drinks, such as Diet Mountain Dew.

Coke also introduced a version of Diet Coke made with Splenda in 2005, but the brand remains small.

Sicher of Beverage Digest said he thinks Diet Pepsi's change could get some people to try or retry the drink. But he said it's too early to say how big of an impact it will have over the years.

Volumes for Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke began falling in 2005 and 2006, respectively, according Beverage Digest. Volumes have continued falling since then, and the decline has accelerated in the past two years.

____

AP Writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed from Washington, D.C.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-25

[clockman]

Poisoning the people!

[boomerangutang]

I knew about the bad effects of aspartamine 25 years ago. Does it take Pepsi chemists a quarter century to figure out what a layman like me has known all along?

Remember the ''Big Tobacco" lawsuits from between 10 and 30 years ago? Well, expect the same types of lawsuits erupting soon, this time re; BIG SUGAR. US and EU governments will be at the vanguard of legislating about sugar. Thailand will follow, but about 15 years later, because it always follows what farang countries do. It never takes the initiative on public safety issues. Thailand probably wouldn't even require floating vests on boats or seatbelts in cars (which are rarely used, btw) if it didn't take direction from western countries. When will Thailand start introducing toddler safety seats for cars? It's only been 40 years since farang countries required them, so expect another 5 to 10 years for Thailand. ....safety aparatus for motorcycles in Thailand? Fogedaboudit. Mothers holding their babies with one arm is sufficient, isn't it?

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

sludge for the soul

[Tchooptip]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

[HerbalEd]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

So, do you never eat anything made by "big food corporations"? Why would you if you think they're in the business of "poisoning the people."

BTW, for the past 40 years it's been extremely rare for me to consume any foods produced by "big food." It's been 40 years since I drank a Coke, Pepsi or the like ... or eaten in McDonald's, KFC, etc. During that time approx. 95% of my food has been organically cultivated, mostly vegetarian with lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, unrefined whole grains, zero white sugar, and very moderate alcohol consumption.

That lifestyle is the best investment I ever made and after 40 years (I'm now 70) it's paying off very well in health dividends.

[zydeco]

Attention: Food Nazis at Work!

[ezzra]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

So, do you never eat anything made by "big food corporations"? Why would you if you think they're in the business of "poisoning the people."

BTW, for the past 40 years it's been extremely rare for me to consume any foods produced by "big food." It's been 40 years since I drank a Coke, Pepsi or the like ... or eaten in McDonald's, KFC, etc. During that time approx. 95% of my food has been organically cultivated, mostly vegetarian with lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, unrefined whole grains, zero white sugar, and very moderate alcohol consumption.

That lifestyle is the best investment I ever made and after 40 years (I'm now 70) it's paying off very well in health dividends.

Now that make sense, herbal Ed, and all that time I was sure you were referring to the ' other herb ' :-)

[Prbkk]

For "customer concerns" substitute Sh!t Scared of law suits and potential loss of profits.

[HerbalEd]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

So, do you never eat anything made by "big food corporations"? Why would you if you think they're in the business of "poisoning the people."

BTW, for the past 40 years it's been extremely rare for me to consume any foods produced by "big food." It's been 40 years since I drank a Coke, Pepsi or the like ... or eaten in McDonald's, KFC, etc. During that time approx. 95% of my food has been organically cultivated, mostly vegetarian with lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, unrefined whole grains, zero white sugar, and very moderate alcohol consumption.

That lifestyle is the best investment I ever made and after 40 years (I'm now 70) it's paying off very well in health dividends.

Now that make sense, herbal Ed, and all that time I was sure you were referring to the ' other herb ' :-)

Well, maybe that herb too. But actually I've been in the legal medicinal herb business for 38 years.

[HerbalEd]

For "customer concerns" substitute Sh!t Scared of law suits and potential loss of profits.

Actually Pepsi is taking a chance of precipitating new law suits. By removing the aspartame they're indicating something is wrong with it ... or, at least, that's what some ambulance-chasing lawyers would claim.

[thaibeachlovers]

As I formerly lived with fluridated water supply, I am used to being poisoned by the government. However, I don't drink anything with aspartame as it taste horrible.

[Crossy]

I note that the change only applies to the US market, evidently Aspartame is only hazardous to Americans.

[suzannegoh]

I note that the change only applies to the US market, evidently Aspartame is only hazardous to Americans.

You'll notice that they did not admit that aspartame is hazardous, they are framing this as being a matter of customers preferring sucralose to aspartame..

[tifino]

out with the Old, and in with the New - the Pepsi True with Stevia

we were recently passing a public release of this stuff in Melbourne, and

they couldn't even give it away, such

is the way the public is blindly shrinking away from 'alternatives', even if the New one is not as bad...

[Grouse]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

So, do you never eat anything made by "big food corporations"? Why would you if you think they're in the business of "poisoning the people."

BTW, for the past 40 years it's been extremely rare for me to consume any foods produced by "big food." It's been 40 years since I drank a Coke, Pepsi or the like ... or eaten in McDonald's, KFC, etc. During that time approx. 95% of my food has been organically cultivated, mostly vegetarian with lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, unrefined whole grains, zero white sugar, and very moderate alcohol consumption.

That lifestyle is the best investment I ever made and after 40 years (I'm now 70) it's paying off very well in health dividends.

Have you enjoyed life ? Really? Fancy a pint?

[boomerangutang]

Why don't vendors use natural sugars? I'm referring to vendors on all levels, from corporate towers in NYC to the fruit vendor on the sidewalk.

If the US, a person can find natural unadulterated fresh fruit juice in some places. In Thailand, near impossible. Thais can't fix food unless it's adulterated with salt, sugar, and a slew of herbs. All the fruit juices one finds in stores have been flash-heated to kill bacteria/fungi/viruses - so their nutritional value plummets.

When a person thinks of Thailand in relation to fresh fruits, one usually thinks of a plethora of colorful and tasty selections. However, Thais don't eat much fruit, particularly compared to rice and meat. Perhaps 1:200 ratio. Yet, even with the large variety of fruits in Thailand, when has anyone seen fresh-squeezed fruit juice (without sugar or salt added) available for sale? Almost unheard of. One main reason: corporations have become so successful at peddling their brands - which have big bright pictures of fruit on the labels, but are mostly water, sugar, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and corn syrup. If I still had little kids, I would adamant about keeping them clear from fattening, teeth destroying, health-debilitating drinks which are available everywhere in the US and Thailand. Come on people, vote with your pocketbooks. If you're an adult and choose to drink the corporate crap, that's your choice (though my tax dollars will probably be contributing to your health bills when you get too sickly and fat to function). .....but give the younger generation a break. Don't buy them sugar-laden health-destroying drinks! It's better to get a little frown ("oh, come on daddy, buy me the cola drink!"), then to wind up with 330 pound sickly offspring - 20 years hence.

[suzannegoh]

I've been told, by several folks, that an antidote to MSG is to drink cola immediately after. Funny how that dovetails with what suzannegoh mentions above.

The chances of that being coincidence are infinitesimally small.

[boomerangutang]

I've been told, by several folks, that an antidote to MSG is to drink cola immediately after. Funny how that dovetails with what suzannegoh mentions above.

The chances of that being coincidence are infinitesimally small.

it may have more to do with its CO2 bubbles, than with its ingredients.

[JLCrab]

Poisoning the people!

Poisoning the people!

...the business of ALL big food corporations

So, do you never eat anything made by "big food corporations"? Why would you if you think they're in the business of "poisoning the people."

BTW, for the past 40 years it's been extremely rare for me to consume any foods produced by "big food." It's been 40 years since I drank a Coke, Pepsi or the like ... or eaten in McDonald's, KFC, etc. During that time approx. 95% of my food has been organically cultivated, mostly vegetarian with lots and lots of fresh veggies and fruits, unrefined whole grains, zero white sugar, and very moderate alcohol consumption.

That lifestyle is the best investment I ever made and after 40 years (I'm now 70) it's paying off very well in health dividends.

Now that make sense, herbal Ed, and all that time I was sure you were referring to the ' other herb ' :-)

A friend-of-the-family had a Southern diet of fried chicken with red-eye gravy, collard greens in bacon fat, and other similar foods -- died a few years back in her mid-90's.

[Grouse]

Aspartame breaks down to wood alcohol causing blindness and cancer. Its made using the Recombinant DNA process i.e. the sh*t from bacteria. I am no fan of sugar but honestly you'd be better of with plain sugar rather than the artificial sweetners.

At least sugar breaks down into Glucose and Fructose - the Glucose is OK, but the bad bit is the fructose that gets turned into VLDL (very low density lipoprotein). Check out the YT video "Sugar the Bitter Truth".

If you're going to go down the chemistry illiteracy rathole, you should also warn people that surcalose has three highly toxic chlorine molecules (the same as the mustard gas used in WW1) synthetically linked to each sucrose molecule. And water, that's the worst of them all, with highly explosive hydrogen atoms (same as used in the Hindenburg) bonded directly to highly flammable oxygen.

Haha! Great stuff!

[Grouse]

Why don't vendors use natural sugars? I'm referring to vendors on all levels, from corporate towers in NYC to the fruit vendor on the sidewalk.

If the US, a person can find natural unadulterated fresh fruit juice in some places. In Thailand, near impossible. Thais can't fix food unless it's adulterated with salt, sugar, and a slew of herbs. All the fruit juices one finds in stores have been flash-heated to kill bacteria/fungi/viruses - so their nutritional value plummets.

When a person thinks of Thailand in relation to fresh fruits, one usually thinks of a plethora of colorful and tasty selections. However, Thais don't eat much fruit, particularly compared to rice and meat. Perhaps 1:200 ratio. Yet, even with the large variety of fruits in Thailand, when has anyone seen fresh-squeezed fruit juice (without sugar or salt added) available for sale? Almost unheard of. One main reason: corporations have become so successful at peddling their brands - which have big bright pictures of fruit on the labels, but are mostly water, sugar, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and corn syrup. If I still had little kids, I would adamant about keeping them clear from fattening, teeth destroying, health-debilitating drinks which are available everywhere in the US and Thailand. Come on people, vote with your pocketbooks. If you're an adult and choose to drink the corporate crap, that's your choice (though my tax dollars will probably be contributing to your health bills when you get too sickly and fat to function). .....but give the younger generation a break. Don't buy them sugar-laden health-destroying drinks! It's better to get a little frown ("oh, come on daddy, buy me the cola drink!"), then to wind up with 330 pound sickly offspring - 20 years hence.

Just got off a Bangkok Air flight.

Hostie comes around offering fruit juice? Does it contain sugar says I

Of course comes the reply

On inspection Malee catering orange juice contains, wait for it ........20% orange juice.

What else?

My money would be on corn syrup and tartrazine for starters....

Other things is, why can we not get slim line tonic here?

Ah well, back to the beer Singh........

[Grouse]

Joking apart, I find it VERY difficult to obtain scientific facts on several of these issues.

I have type 2 diabetes brought on in part by drinking excessive quantities of full sugar Sprite when on a construction project.

Don't know the precise mechanism but that was the root cause.

I try to minimise blood sugar and try to eat and drink sensibly.

However, I can not get hold of real facts about the suitability or otherwise on a whole host of artificial sweetners

If i find Diet Coke has been harming me I shall be off to Atlanta with my wooden leg to beat them about the head and body......

[suzannegoh]

Joking apart, I find it VERY difficult to obtain scientific facts on several of these issues.

I have type 2 diabetes brought on in part by drinking excessive quantities of full sugar Sprite when on a construction project.

Don't know the precise mechanism but that was the root cause.

I try to minimise blood sugar and try to eat and drink sensibly.

However, I can not get hold of real facts about the suitability or otherwise on a whole host of artificial sweetners

If i find Diet Coke has been harming me I shall be off to Atlanta with my wooden leg to beat them about the head and body......

There have been studies suggesting that aspartame & sucralose might have longterm effects such as brain tumours or leukemia. There also have been studues refuting that. While drinking water would be better still, it would seem that for a diabetic it would be an easy choice to take the longterm risk of consuming the artificial sweeteners instead of taking the immediate risk of having a seizure from consuming sugar.

[Grouse]

Joking apart, I find it VERY difficult to obtain scientific facts on several of these issues.

I have type 2 diabetes brought on in part by drinking excessive quantities of full sugar Sprite when on a construction project.

Don't know the precise mechanism but that was the root cause.

I try to minimise blood sugar and try to eat and drink sensibly.

However, I can not get hold of real facts about the suitability or otherwise on a whole host of artificial sweetners

If i find Diet Coke has been harming me I shall be off to Atlanta with my wooden leg to beat them about the head and body......

There have been studies suggesting that aspartame & sucralose might have longterm effects such as brain tumours or leukemia. There also have been studues refuting that. While drinking water would be better still, it would seem that for a diabetic it would be an easy choice to take the longterm risk of consuming the artificial sweeteners instead of taking the immediate risk of having a seizure from consuming sugar.

OK Thanks!

Now where's that bottle of Famous Grouse!

[JLCrab]

That's right -- a shill for the FDA. There may be a close correlation between the numbers of those who believe in homeopathic/alternative remedies and those who believe the 1969 Moon landing was faked in a studio.

[suzannegoh]

That's right -- a shill for the FDA. There may be a close correlation between the numbers of those who believe in homeopathic/alternative remedies and those who believe the 1969 Moon landing was faked in a studio.

The FDA is a criminal organization funded by Monsanto and Monsanto is the big loser in Pepsi switching away from aspartame. I can understand your disappointment in that, but look at the bright side, the Pepsi cans will still be lined with toxic BPA.

[boomerangutang]

Ive googled quite a lot and have read everything that Dr. Mercola has to say and Ive never heard anything about CO2 bubbles offsetting the deadly toxins in MSG. Its definitely the essential oils that are doing it.

I don't know Dr. Mercola and am the first to say I'm not a scientist studying the effects of MSG in a lab setting. However, MSG should be studied. The reason there's scant data is, like so many other questionable food additives, there are vested corporate interests who want their additives to continue to sell, because that's how they make their salaries.

It's similar to the reason exotic/endangered animal parts are not studied in China (for their supposed curative effects, and enabling flaccid men to get hard-ons) ....because there are too many vested interests involved. To prove, for example, rhino horn has no more curative effect than drinking tea made of fingernail clippings, would be anathema to those in the biz of poaching/selling rhino horn.

Why don't vendors use natural sugars? I'm referring to vendors on all levels, from corporate towers in NYC to the fruit vendor on the sidewalk.

If the US, a person can find natural unadulterated fresh fruit juice in some places. In Thailand, near impossible. Thais can't fix food unless it's adulterated with salt, sugar, and a slew of herbs. All the fruit juices one finds in stores have been flash-heated to kill bacteria/fungi/viruses - so their nutritional value plummets.

When a person thinks of Thailand in relation to fresh fruits, one usually thinks of a plethora of colorful and tasty selections. However, Thais don't eat much fruit, particularly compared to rice and meat. Perhaps 1:200 ratio. Yet, even with the large variety of fruits in Thailand, when has anyone seen fresh-squeezed fruit juice (without sugar or salt added) available for sale? Almost unheard of. One main reason: corporations have become so successful at peddling their brands - which have big bright pictures of fruit on the labels, but are mostly water, sugar, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and corn syrup. If I still had little kids, I would adamant about keeping them clear from fattening, teeth destroying, health-debilitating drinks which are available everywhere in the US and Thailand. Come on people, vote with your pocketbooks. If you're an adult and choose to drink the corporate crap, that's your choice (though my tax dollars will probably be contributing to your health bills when you get too sickly and fat to function). .....but give the younger generation a break. Don't buy them sugar-laden health-destroying drinks! It's better to get a little frown ("oh, come on daddy, buy me the cola drink!"), then to wind up with 330 pound sickly offspring - 20 years hence.

Just got off a Bangkok Air flight.

Hostie comes around offering fruit juice? Does it contain sugar says I

Of course comes the reply

On inspection Malee catering orange juice contains, wait for it ........20% orange juice.

Thai-run airlines (and other Thai corps) are to healthy food what ducks are to auto mechanics, or what Thai politicians are to environmental husbandry. The first thing Thai corp heads need to learn is: What is healthy. The next thing is to decide whether they want healthy practices within their corporations, or just continue to take the common unhealthy path that's so convenient - and pleases their buddies in corporate food/drink businesses.

[JLCrab]

That's right -- a shill for the FDA. There may be a close correlation between the numbers of those who believe in homeopathic/alternative remedies and those who believe the 1969 Moon landing was faked in a studio.

The FDA is a criminal organization funded by Monsanto and Monsanto is the big loser in Pepsi switching away from aspartame. I can understand your disappointment in that, but look at the bright side, the Pepsi cans will still be lined with toxic BPA.

Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, I'll stick with Coke.

[boomerangutang]

That's right -- a shill for the FDA. There may be a close correlation between the numbers of those who believe in homeopathic/alternative remedies and those who believe the 1969 Moon landing was faked in a studio.

The FDA is a criminal organization funded by Monsanto and Monsanto is the big loser in Pepsi switching away from aspartame. I can understand your disappointment in that, but look at the bright side, the Pepsi cans will still be lined with toxic BPA.

Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, I'll stick with Coke.

And years later, when you suffer debilitations from ingesting sugar or fake-sugar every day for decades, it will most likely be tax money (and medics) which will try to keep your body functioning. Some of those tax dollars will be from people who embrace healthy lifestyles, other taxes will be provided by people who ingest what the multi-billion $$ corporations entice them to eat and drink with their multi-million $$ slick ad campaigns.

"Come up, Come all the way up, to the refreshing taste of Terryton cigarettes!" (soundtrack to image of a young healthy handsome couple, blissfully lost in puppy love, puffing away.)

remember this one? ....."Suprise Suprise, Coca Cola now comes in a brand new half quart size!"

or (roll the kids' chorus, Bob): "I'd like to buy the world a Coke .....in perfect harmony."