To despise the rise of artificial sweeteners in soft drinks

It's never the carcinogen, I was just using an example that goes against common belief

Personally I don't mind drinks with sweetners, but I do think they should be more clearly marked with what sweetner it contains for people who have issues with them. I work in a shop and occassionally people will ask me what sweetners are in which drinks, as they are avoiding certain ones and the print on the ingredients list is often so tiny.

I have started buying Lowicz fruit syrups and adding them to (full sugar) lemonade- game changer and they do a really nice range of flavours. Can also be added to water to make squash, or poured over ice cream as a topping. I pick them up at my local Polish convenience store, but Lidl /Tesco/ Asda sometimes get them in as well.

Nobody is forcing your to eat anything? You choose what goes in your body, don't like it, don't consume it

I agree with Pepsi I used to prefer it to coke, I don't understand when they already sell Diet Pepsi and Pepsi max why they had to put sweeteners in normal Pepsi like you say.

coke so far doesn't put sweetener in their full sugar version.

The exposure limit for it to become carcinogenic is far higher than a consumer is able to drink/eat.

Oxygen kills you in vast volumes but is essential for life. Stark comparison but sort of makes the same point

Because it would taste disgusting and wouldn't sell?

My guilty pleasure was my can of pepsi at the weekend. Opened one last Summer and it tasted a bit flat.. opened another and it was the same. Realised that half the sugar had been taken out and replaced by sweeteners.

Packaging and branding hadn't changed.

I mean why? There was already many diet and max options already.

I don't think Coke has done the same but I don't like the taste so much.

One less sale for Pepsi.

Nicotine isn’t usually the carcinogen with cigarettes it’s mostly the other stuff that’s dangerous. It’s just addictive as hell.

Sweeteners are hideous. They taste nasty, and they upset the gut badly. I recently stopped drinking no added sugar stuff and just drink water now. I keep seeing ads for stuff to add to water, but they're all riddled with sweeteners. Stuff like xylitol and stevia is just as bad, they bloat me up and create gut problems too.

My brother hates sweetener and orders a drink called Enerade online. It’s meant to be like lucozade. I wasn’t a fan but there is a lucozade likeness to it.

Me too

Couldn't agree more. 👏

How did I fail to mention tonic water? On my first trip to the UK from Australia back in the 90s I ordered a G&T and was horrified to be presented with a small wine glass, room temperature, no ice or lemon. But further horrors awaited when I tasted it - slimline tonic!!! Disgusting chemically aftertaste. And so many pubs stocked nothing else. Obviously the G&T game has gone to new levels these days but my first question is always what kind of tonic do you have?

For anyone interested there is a large Facebook group called SOS (save our sugar) where safe products are discussed and often companies complained at over their decisions to replace sugar with chemicals.

Currently the best sweetener free lemonade is to be found in Lidl. It’s made by Freeway and is 39p a can from memory. Pics of the can are on the group.

I could cry over the state of Irn Bru now. I don't like Coke and it was my favourite

Tbf that's cos there's no good evidence to say it isn't rather than it is. Nevertheless, by their ranking system, nicotine is safer than aspartame 🤷🏼‍♀️

There's no incentive for them to change. It will be much cheaper to use sweeteners than sugar. Stable market price vs unstable farmed product. Requires MUCH less by weight so cheaper to transport etc etc

You'll notice the drinks industry didn't fight this at all, there's a reason for that. And consumers can't vote with their feet to another product cos there aren't any.

The WHO has listed aspartame as a carcinogenic so I don't understand why anyone would drink diet stuff with it in. Madness to give it to kids.

It's such a relief to realise I'm not alone in this. I always feel I'm being the fussy one when people insist I can't tell the fake sugars.

I'm also so depressed about Ribena, that was my favourite drink for years.

I had years of low level distress thinking I was incontinent, when actually just a sensive bladder. I cannot take Artifical sugers without leaking. Avoid them, I'm generally fine - bit of Yoga and I'm completely fine 😊!

Agreed. I have more issue with sweeteners and artificial salt than I do with salt and sugar. Trying to make everyone forcibly eat chemical alternatives which are man made utterly pisses me off. I want to police my intake with ingredients, not eat someone else's chemical laden 'healthier' option.

I can't get away with it either, wanted to like it bought expensive stevia drops online a few years ago but could still detect a funny taste (like liquorice) still found it bothered my stomach

Stevia has a bitter aftertaste to me. I ruined three batches of protein brownies before I worked out what it was.