To think we should be allowed two cokes as part of the Nando’s bottomless drink deal?

It’s in crisps, condiments… it’s just everywhere. Disgusting

I agree it's disgusting I hate the taste. I don't at all find it's in everything though. Sorry but you need to be buying less shite food if there's lots of it in what you're wanting to buy. What crisps are you finding it in?

Glad to see the government dealing with the massive issues first 😂 I actually saw this online earlier in the week and thought it was a prank joke.

Sweeteners ARE bad for you. Suggest you do more research. And they are linked to gastro issues for many people and migraines. They also taste disgusting if you’re not used to them. Sugar isn’t the enemy.

Right now there’s a big sticker on the coke saying it’s illegal to refill. I’m assuming in due course they might take the coke away from the main machine and have it behind the counter?

It you don’t need to drink drinks with artificial sweeteners either. How about water, still or sparkling?

Aha, my specialist subject and sadly the answer is 'not really'.

All mainstream squash has sweeteners in. You used to be able to get blackcurrant and apple/mango flavours but I've just looked on a couple of supermarket websites and they're not there - we only really buy squash in the summer and I remember DP said he couldn't find it when he last tried to buy it.

The posher brands don't have sweeteners in, so if you're trying to find it in a supermarket look for the ones that cost more money for a smaller bottle, eg:

https://www.ocado.com/products/rocks-blackcurrant-squash/585250011

It's incredibly difficult to buy soft drinks without sweeteners in pubs/restaurants etc in the UK.

I thought I had it nailed when I decided that my drink of choice when I wasn't drinking alcohol would be an orange juice and soda. But this is far harder than you'd ever imagine and tends to go like this:

An orange juice and soda please.

Orange and lemonade?

No, fresh orange juice and soda.

Me, watches as bar person starts to put sweetener filled orange cordial in a glass. Hi, sorry, no, fresh orange juice and soda, while pointing to the carton in the fridge behind the bar.

Bar person is apparently lost in their own world and carries on making my drink.

Hands it to me and I tell them it's not what I asked for and I very politely, while screaming inside, explain in words of one syllable and a lot of pointing that I would like fresh orange juice (pointing at the carton that I can see, I'm not expecting them to start feeding actual oranges into a juicer) and soda water, not lemonade.

If I'm lucky, I will get it with a lot of eyerolling, but half the time it's a seemingly impossible task and I wonder if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't happily drink the disgusting tasting artificial shite, which this thread shows, is not the case.

I once gave up at a pub that did table service when the third drink they brought me was still cordial and soda, again pointing at exactly what I wanted in the menu, because I like a lot of fluid with my meal so needed something to drink and fortunately for me, it's only the taste I object to (I don't have a particularly refined palate but to me all artificial sweeteners taste disgusting), they don't make me ill, like they do a lot of people.

Although I've now learned that Appletise is just apple juice and sparkling water so while I'd prefer orange juice and soda, if the pub has Appletise, it's a lot easier to ask for that.

The problem is that a lot of people lie about what food is in the UK and you have to watch them like a hawk if you're unreasonable enough to not go along with it. So they call squash juice and don't pick up that fresh orange juice is something different. See also trying avoid anything except butter on your bread/sandwich.

To me, only pure butter is butter, which is what I want, but I've had the 'butter' version of the above experience when watching servers put crappy spread on my toast/sandwich in cafes etc. If you ask them if it is butter, they will say yes, because in their minds, butter is any old yellow fatty crap that you spread on bread.

Are there any sugared squashes left? Coming for a visit from Aus soon and we can’t stand artificial sweeteners. I nearly cried when I saw my beloved Ribena was filled with the shite. I’d rather my kids have sugar than artificial sweeteners.

I DESPISE the taste of sweeteners. They make everything they are in taste vile. Most days I drink nothing but plain tap water, and tea with milk (no sugar). But when I go out for an occasional treat, I want a nice sugary fizzy drink. I used to love a Fanta, but that's got sweeteners in now (even the "full fat" version) so it tastes revolting.

I was at a Nandos recently and they no longer include full sugar cola in the bottomless drinks offer, they haven't done for a few years now as said due to the sugar tax.

They just give you the glass and assume you'll have one FS then choose a different drink.

As its been so long now I'm not sure why they don't just serve FS cola from the counter and do away with the FS at the refill station.

I'd go back and fill it up with coke a second time. 😈

How do they police it? Thought you went to a drinks dispenser and helped yourself ?

Beer doesn't have sweeteners in!

They are both full of chemicals and rubbish.

Illegal as in under arrest illegal?

That's because it interferes with the body's insulin response and makes you crave sugar. It's nasty stuff.

No it's not 😂
Please don't confuse "illegal" (against the law, a criminal offence) with "no longer included in a bottomless drinks promotion"

It's cos sugar drinks cost more than sugar free, so it's to avoid having to charge you the additional tax each time or losing track of who's had drinks of different prices. If you ask for two cokes you can have two cokes they're just not on the refill.

I love full sugar coke but I also think it's important to tackle childhood (and adulthood) obesity. No matter how much exercise your DH does, he doesn't need 24 teaspoons of sugar along with his Nandos. And if he really really does he can just buy another coke.

For info:

Sweeteners are really unhealthy and have been shown via research to actually lead to weight gain. Hence why they are synonymous with overweight people unfortunately. The artificial crap doesn’t trigger the same ‘I’ve had sugar I am satiated’ and they are awful for gut health which is also linked to metabolism. So maybe they should start a sweetener tax? Sugar, fat and salt aren’t the enemy. Diet products are.

It’s not just about calories though it’s about teeth too.

I’m in my forties and have never had a filling, my dad was in his fifties before he had one because he was brought up to have no drinks with sugar in and did the same for me and my sister.

My sister had some in her thirties but she drinks tea and coffee with sugar and I’ve never drank either of them.

Two of my friends have kids who have had multiple fillings before they were in their teens. One friend constantly gave her daughter coke and she was having fillings in her milk teeth!

I did that thing we used to learn as kids where you put a coin in a glass of coke and told her to put one of the milk teeth in as well and see what happens. Her daughter has had less dental problems but has had fillings since because despite cutting out fizzy drinks with sugar she still has it in hot drinks.

My teeth are also bright white as they aren’t stained from tea and coffee but I won’t gloat because I have my vices 😂.

It is the new law that bans promotions ( 2 for 1, bottomless etc) on unhealthy food. That is food with high fat, sugar or salt. I am someone who thinks it is a good idea. People in this country eat such an unhealthy diet.

Aha, my specialist subject and sadly the answer is 'not really'.

All mainstream squash has sweeteners in. You used to be able to get blackcurrant and apple/mango flavours but I've just looked on a couple of supermarket websites and they're not there - we only really buy squash in the summer and I remember DP said he couldn't find it when he last tried to buy it.

The posher brands don't have sweeteners in, so if you're trying to find it in a supermarket look for the ones that cost more money for a smaller bottle, eg:

https://www.ocado.com/products/rocks-blackcurrant-squash/585250011

It's incredibly difficult to buy soft drinks without sweeteners in pubs/restaurants etc in the UK.

I thought I had it nailed when I decided that my drink of choice when I wasn't drinking alcohol would be an orange juice and soda. But this is far harder than you'd ever imagine and tends to go like this:

An orange juice and soda please.

Orange and lemonade?

No, fresh orange juice and soda.

Me, watches as bar person starts to put sweetener filled orange cordial in a glass. Hi, sorry, no, fresh orange juice and soda, while pointing to the carton in the fridge behind the bar.

Bar person is apparently lost in their own world and carries on making my drink.

Hands it to me and I tell them it's not what I asked for and I very politely, while screaming inside, explain in words of one syllable and a lot of pointing that I would like fresh orange juice (pointing at the carton that I can see, I'm not expecting them to start feeding actual oranges into a juicer) and soda water, not lemonade.

If I'm lucky, I will get it with a lot of eyerolling, but half the time it's a seemingly impossible task and I wonder if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't happily drink the disgusting tasting artificial shite, which this thread shows, is not the case.

I once gave up at a pub that did table service when the third drink they brought me was still cordial and soda, again pointing at exactly what I wanted in the menu, because I like a lot of fluid with my meal so needed something to drink and fortunately for me, it's only the taste I object to (I don't have a particularly refined palate but to me all artificial sweeteners taste disgusting), they don't make me ill, like they do a lot of people.

Although I've now learned that Appletise is just apple juice and sparkling water so while I'd prefer orange juice and soda, if the pub has Appletise, it's a lot easier to ask for that.

The problem is that a lot of people lie about what food is in the UK and you have to watch them like a hawk if you're unreasonable enough to not go along with it. So they call squash juice and don't pick up that fresh orange juice is something different. See also trying avoid anything except butter on your bread/sandwich.

To me, only pure butter is butter, which is what I want, but I've had the 'butter' version of the above experience when watching servers put crappy spread on my toast/sandwich in cafes etc. If you ask them if it is butter, they will say yes, because in their minds, butter is any old yellow fatty crap that you spread on bread.

Are there any sugared squashes left? Coming for a visit from Aus soon and we can’t stand artificial sweeteners. I nearly cried when I saw my beloved Ribena was filled with the shite. I’d rather my kids have sugar than artificial sweeteners.