Tonic water and other drinks with artificial sweeteners

[Chicdrop]

So fed up with drinks with artificial sweeteners-from tonic water, my G & T's not the same anymore.
Also fruit cordials, the only place I can buy from in Jersey is Waitrose, where I can still buy orange, apple & pink grapefruit cordial without artificial sweeteners, thank goodness!
Artificial sweeteners do not agree with me apart from the aftertaste!
So manufacturers please take heed of this!!!

[ProperSugar]

@mrsbyers thanks for the tip re. Soda Stream! Sainsburys Hi Juice is sweetener free too but have to be careful about getting the dark blue lid. I wrote an article about it- can find it on the site I linked in my last comment- I'll find out which soda streams are OK and add those in too :)

[mrsbyers]

Oh and a couple of soda stream syrups are free from artificial sweetners too.
I understand the Hi Juice in Asda to be sugar only but I haven’t been to stock up yet

[mrsbyers]

Sucralose makes me very poorly , I stick to normal coke or Pepsi , roses lime cordial or the expensive fruit cordials that remain artificial sweetener free.

[ProperSugar]

Hey all! This was really bugging me too- I love a G&T and hate the taste of sweeteners so I actually made a website to help keep track of the different brands I can find that don't use artificial sweeteners.

I made a couple of posts which are relevant to this thread:

Tonic Waters Without Sweeteners: propersugar.co.uk/2019/09/06/tonic-water-without-artificial-sweeteners/


Gin in a can: propersugar.co.uk/posts-feed/premix-drinks-artificial-sweeteners/cans-of-gin-no-artificial-sweeteners/

I hope it's helpful!

Thanks @Chicdrop for starting this thread.

[ShinyGiratina]

At least since I had my whinge on this thread a couple of years ago, Morrisons started selling Rocks squash which is lovely, but it is galling having to pay so much for premium products to not have a headache.

The sugar tax has probably increased my sweet drinks consumption as I have to get through my over-priced cordial before it goes mouldy

[bridgetreilly]

HUGE zombie thread so most of the brands listed have changed their recipes. San Pellegrino is full of artificial sweeteners these days.

[SilverySurfer]

I loathe sweeteners and they are on my boycott list along with palm oil. The only lemonade I can find without them is from Waitrose but they also do one with sweeteners so you need to be sure which bottle you pick up because they look virtually identical. I also recently bought from Waitrose some Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water and Fentimans Connoisseurs Tonic Water neither of which contain sweeteners.

[DingDongDenny]

lidl has tonic water without sweetner in both the full sugar and diet version. Much cheaper than fever tree

[BarbedBloom]

It really annoys me. I cannot drink artificial sweeteners without getting the worst headache and stomach problems for days. I mainly drink water, but am teetotal so when I go out I want a soft drink with sugar in. Two pubs near me don't even have alternatives to sweetener based soft drinks now, so I had to drink water all night. Our local cinema chain only has coke and apparently they are considering switching that now.

Adults should be able to make their own choices.

[Over70]

Part of the problem is the govenment sugar tax of either 18p or 24p per litre. To avoid the tax, most manufacturers have replaced most or all of the sugar with artificial sweeteners - aspartame, acesulfame-k, saccharine and/or sucralose. Fevertree and Fentimans have jumped on the bandwagon with no artificial sweeteners, but their tonic water is ridiculously expensive. Fortunately, Waitrose still sell a lovely "light" tonic water under their Essentials label, with reduced sugar, but no artificial sweeteners. The sugar content is just below the sugar tax ceiling, so a litre bottle costs 57p. Lidl also sell small cans of own label tonic water, without artificial sweeteners. However, their litre bottles do contain sweetweners.

[Sezg66]

M&S seems to be the only retailer to sell their own bog standard tonic still without filthy, disgusting sweeteners, that doesn't break the bank. Waitrose don't show it on the label of their own, but they have defo mucked about with their recipe and it's awful now - tastes just like it has sweeteners in it. This for sure has to do with cost of sugar vs sweeteners. I think now G&T is THE drink and there are loads of expensive tonics without crap in them this is paving the way for these supermarket brands to start up their own 'craft' tonics for a hefty price tag ;) Watch this space...

[theSplund]

After going over to Tesco Diet Tonic, and subsequently realising that the sweeteners might have played a part in a possible case of IBS, I thought I'd switch back to the full-fat Sainsburys version as they were the only cheap Tonic that didn't seem to have any artificial sweeteners added. But no! they too have added them now - can anyone suggets a Tonic (that isn't going to break the bank as I drink lots of it) that is sweetener free and all sugar?

[Elphame]

Sweeteners are cheaper than sugar, basically

Probably but I'm voting with my purse - I check all labels for sweeteners (have done for years) and just don't buy so they are losing my custom. Much cheaper and healthier for me too as we now consume very little commercial processed food.

[BitchQueenofAngmar]

YANBU - it's so annoying. They are ruining all the drinks, damnit!! I used to love a proper fizzy drink as a treat, but now they all (apart from proper coke) taste rank. I don't know why society must always cater for the lowest common denominator (in this case the idiots who don't understand moderation). What happened to consumer choice?

[ukelelebanana]

The horrible stuff is invading so many foods now - even peanut butters seem to be sweetened with xylitol. Why?

Sweeteners are cheaper than sugar, basically.

[StrawberrySquash]

It's very annoying, although Schweppes tonic is one of the few sweetener containing drinks that I find tastes good.
But, yes, most of what you drink should be unsweetened. I guess the problem is there's a fair chunk of people who just won't do this. My friend actively dislikes water and so is bad at getting enough liquid.

[Oblomov17]

So few have no sweeteners. Why is this? It’s so poor.

[kali110]

Nope, love them.

[Onthehighseas]

Try Franklins, Fever Tree and Fentimans lighter versions, none contain any sweeteners.

[OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow]

They are Sabine I'm on a testing panel and they were asking for testers for that very thing.
AS are disgusting, I always feel more thirsty after. (But recognise the benefits for diabetics)

[MayorGoodway]

I find it’s not just the taste that’s awful though. After a night on Diet Coke, as the designated driver, I always feel a bit pissed!

[Elphame]

Sarahh2014 - even the non diet Schweppes tonic now contains artificial sweetener. It's getting very hard to get drinks that don't.

I drink a lot of water but just occasionally I'd like a change.

The horrible stuff is invading so many foods now - even peanut butters seem to be sweetened with xylitol. Why?

[BarbaraofSevillle]

Sarah But a lot of non diet soft drinks and mixers also contain artificial sweeteners too, including Schweppes, meaning that they taste disgusting. It's because they're cheaper than sugar and for misguided health reasons.

I'd much rather drink full sugar versions less often rather than ones containing artificial sweeteners at all really.

[SabineUndine]

It used to be possible to get Perrier this was lime or lemon flavoured without sweetener or sugar in. I loved it. Wish they’d bring it back.

[SomewhatIdiosyncratic]

Sweetners still taste rank hours afterwards. They also give me headaches.
If I want low sugar, I know where the tap is. That suits me most of the time, but sometimes a bit of flavour or quick release energy doesn't go amiss.