To wonder if any government ministers have interests in aspartame production...

[scaryclown]

I just tried to buy a bottle of soft drink, you know, water, sugar, flavouring, colour.. And it was nearly impossible to buy any of them without there being loads of aspartame, something k, saccharin, etc..!
In the end I chose 7-up..but even R Whites normal is the same, tango fizzy, vimto, irn Bru, coke... I had no choice at all!

I am ve-ry suspicious...

Anyone know?

It's about sugar reduction.

Yanbu. The fact they're pushing sugar free food and drinks in their fit for life campaigns makes me suspicious too.

See also, our council now charging people to take bricks or large amounts of wood to the recycling centre /tip. I swear someone high up owns or has shares in a skip company.

They are just being very stupid about how sugar reduces toon policies are implemented.

I don't know about government ministers, but the sugar-substitute industry has certainly captured plenty of head-space and knows how to manipulate the debate in their favour. They were in my DCs' school recently running a marketing operation disguised as healthy-eating / science education. DD is far too sharp / cynical not to see through that though, which did give rise to a bit of middle-class dinner-table pride that evening. (As we ladled real sugar on to our desserts...)

It gives me the rage - my DH is allergic to aspartame , and every drink he has ever found then starts saying 'sugar free' . He doesn't like fizzy drinks so 7up and Coke are out ....
And am I being odd in thinking the sugar free drinks actually taste too sweet, so getting children expecting everything to be sweeter?

I agree, surely one should be able to buy simple water and sugar... I wouldn't even mind being on a register to limit my use, but ALL sweet drinks with fake sweet?

Can't they just get us used, incrementally to less sugary tastes?

It's like fucking vaping... The solution is more offensive than the problem!
IMO

Didnt they do the same with margarine, polyunsaturates, salt, fluvaccines..

Ah it's Monsanto... There you go.. The health bs is just government spin...

It is so irritating. I like fever tree and San Pellegrino - they are still good and sweetener free (I'm pretty sure but don't have the label here).

It's like the butter/margarine nonsense.

I'm also allergic to aspartame. Severe migraine, vomiting etc.

I hate the fact it's all gone to shit. I want sugar!!

There used to be 2 versions of everything. Sugar, or diet with sweeteners. Now the sugar versions contain sweeteners too!!

Makes me so cross. Sweeteners are cheap, nasty chemicals, and much sweeter than sugar, so need less.

And with the sugar tax, we will see more sweeteners than ever before. Thanks Jamie fucking Oliver

Thanks Jamie fucking Oliver.

He was banging on about dyslexia recently. I have dyslexia too. He was saying people with dyslexia think our the box. He isn't a good advert, he wasn't thinking outside the box when he decided we shouldn't have anymore sugar, all the while saturating his food in needless oil

He's a paid Monsanto 🙊

Aspartame gives me headaches. Yeah, probably Monsanto is behind it. That shit sure isn't better for the health than sugar. (Anyone wonders why the US has an obesity epidemic despite having so many interesting sweeteners?)

Fortunately I don't much like softdrinks anyway.

Try to buy organic? Aspartame has a bad reputation among people who take healthy eating seriously. They much prefer stevia, xylitol and so on.

Normal coke doesn't have it in. None of sainsburys own brand drinks contain it although they do use other sweeteners. DD is allergic to it - it makes her vomit.

He's doing a webchat tomorrow

Haha. Web chat would be fun. Think he's very loved on here with sugar tax and past breastfeeding comments

He's right about dyslexics though!

The coke in Green cans has stevia and no aspartame, and is good.

Vestal It's down to the corn syrup that is in most things in the U.S. If I want vanilla coke or a Dr Pepper from the supermarket (I'm in Belgium), I have to read the cans to get a a Brit/European can as opposed to a U.S. one, as the U.S. ones have corn syrup.

Yes, corn syrup is a US nasty.

Sweeteners are very cheap for the amount of sweetness offered, compared to sugar.

I blame the dentists...

ChasedByBees It is why I buy Fever Tree. I unknowingly had some diet coke the other day and thought it had a nasty aftertaste. I cannot get my head round the fact that some people actually prefer the taste.

I agree with bookbook who said that these artificial sweeteners are sweeter than sugar and encourage a sweet tooth. I wonder how long it will be when they realise that ingesting these sweeteners are worse for you in the long run.

It used to be that Sprite and 7 Up were both ok but I noticed aspartame in Sprite when I was in Spain so it's 7 Up only now.

Fever Tree and anything organic plus Waitrose and Sainsbury's own label non diet tonics are OK.

Drives me nuts. Don't get me started about children's medicines!

Aspartame tastes vile to me - sort of sweet and bitter at the same time. I hate the fact that it's in everything now! I drink water 90+% of the time. When I want a flavoured drink I don't want to be policed over what I drink! Grrr. Like others on the thread, I buy a Fever Tree and San Pellegrino. A couple of brands of elderflower cordial are also sweetener free.

San pelligrino and innocent fizzy drinks cans are sweetner free.

Innocent bubbles they are called