Artificial sweeteners in everything now?

[Catcatcat12]

Anyone else notice how the regular version of sodas such as San Pellegrino and Schweppes mixers now all have sugar AND artificial sweeteners? Not the diet or slimline versions, the regular ones.

They taste awful, and it’s not advertised clearly on the can or bottle unless you read the ingredients list. I feel I can’t yet the classic versions of hardly anything anymore other than Coke and similar beverages.

I rarely drink soft drinks, I have the odd san pellegrino and I use ginger ale or lemonade in my Pimms, so when I do enjoy one of these drinks I’d like for them to taste nice. Aside from the taste issue, I’d also rather avoid all artificial sweeteners if I can, so I find it annoying that they seem to have changed the recipes for all these beverages in their ‘classic’ non diet options to contain a mix of sugar and other sweeteners.

I would like for both options - regular and diet - to be available, and I would like it clearly labelled when an artificial sweetener has been added.

anyone else?

Sweeteners have been tested endless for decades. They are absolutely safe. Unless you listen to mommy bloggers instead of actual science

If you knew anything about actual science you'd know that it's not possible to prove that anything is 'absolutely safe'. Name anything that exists and someone will have been harmed by it.

But that's not the point of the thread. Sweeteners taste disgusting and take away choice from people who want to consume moderate amounts of drinks sweetened only by sugar.

YANBU. Another IBS sufferer here, these days I’m limited to regular or cherry coke, or M&S lemonade.

FU Jamie Oliver you self righteous twat.

the light fevertree drinks are also only sweetened with sugar.

I have found my tribe! I have yet to find any artificial sweetener that doesn't give me headaches/stomach upsets or both and they all taste disgusting too.

^ this. may he rot in hell.

I actually don't care about the safety aspect of sweeteners. I do care about the fact that they make me feel like shite and taste disgusting.

I get Belvoir lime cordial now and drink it with soda.

Sweeteners are the work of the devil.

I'm another one who hates the taste of the artificial sweeteners, including Stevia which has a soapy tinge to it. Only started tasting then in pregnancy but didn't stop.

It's very frustrating as getting a non alcoholic drink out and about is fraught with difficulty and potential for frustration.

I have found that if desperate for something cold and not water the flavoured colas are my least bad option, but only as far as the taste at the time is concerned...

Fever tree, Fentimans, Nix and Kicks (sp) and Irn Bru 1901 are my only options or non-alcoholic beer.

However even alcoholic ciders have started adding sweeteners. Bastards!

I love artifical sweeteners. Diet pop is the best

Thanks for the thread OP, I am making a note. i'm glad San Pellegrino original still exists!

Just to add, Rocks Organic Squashes have proper sugar. No Stevia, no other artificial crap.actual sugar. Expensive but worth it.

Water or tea here because aspartame especially tastes like burnt plastic smells.

All this sweetener and the population are getting fatter and fatter - talk about emperor’s new clothes. Maybe we just aren’t clever enough to outwit the human body.

Some sweeteners cause insulin to be released thus sweeteners can be fattening. Sounds counterintuitive but it’s true. Even sweet smells and tastes that aren’t sugar will trigger this. Vapes anyone?!

Actually regarding safety there are studies about the impact on the microbiome. Who cares? Well gut health and the microbiome and is responsible for many areas of health

so “absolutely safe” doesn’t exist

but it’s not the point. They taste vile. If I want sugar then that’s up to me.

Christmas day a few years ago, I'd bought myself some Orangina as my special drink. Took one sip and I could tell it had been ruined. They had added sweetener, since the last time I had bought it a few weeks prior, on the sly. Now spend a lot of time trying to find drinks that haven't been ruined.
M&S have just wrecked their high juice which was my go to.
Sainsbury's Classic lemonade is lovely with Pimms, but v small.
It was so lovely living abroad last year in North America and not having to worry about sweeteners in non diet drinks. Ribena, San Pellegrino, Fanta, Orangina and Sprite were all normal and tasted amazing
Currently in France and enjoying normal Orangina.

Complete nonsense.

It was so lovely living abroad last year in North America and not having to worry about sweeteners in non diet drinks.

Although the American love putting high fructose corn syrup in their drinks though. Which is pretty shitty stuff.

Haven’t read the whole thread but just a reminder that the ‘sugar tax’ was necer about health.

The biggest and quietist lobbyists were the food companies. The cost of sweeteners vs sugars saves them a fortune in ingredient costs and reduces their outgoings and boosts profits.

Thankfully real sugared drinks are still available. My DD has a particularly strong reaction to artificial sweeteners and I hate the taste of them, even Stevia.

More sweeteners and still the population gets fatter. There have been studies which show in some people, particularly women, artificial sweeteners increase appetite.

@PartyPlan thanks for the Fever Tree tip. I had been avoiding their tonics since they started calling them all ‘refreshingly light’ because I assumed that meant sweeteners.

I agree. Really bad.

Came on to say Rio too. It's lovely.

And fever tree tonic.

They taste vile, they irritate my gut, they aren't always suitable for dieting and they put way too much in. I don't have a sweet tooth any more. If I'm cooking I reduce the sugar to a half or a third but don't have that option with ready made.

YANBU.

I can tell if a drink has got sweetener in it because it tastes disgusting. Waitrose used to do a really nice lime cordial but switched it to containing sweeteners - there was a rather huffy comment from them on their website in response to a shedload of negative reviews, so it seems manufacturers just don't care.

In terms of drinks that are sweetener free, Fever Tree and Belvoir are brands I like (Belvoir do low sugar versions too) and occasionally I'll have Appletiser (which I love) or full fat coke. I steer clear of Rubicon drinks though, they're heavily sweetener-laden. And it's bloody hard to find a standard bottle of ginger ale that doesn't have sweetener in, which is a pain because I like it with Pimm's.

I'm intolerant to artificial sweeteners and they give me headaches and upset stomach. Some pubs only serve diet drinks or soft drinks with sweeteners. I usually have them getting out all the drinks from the fridge behind the bar looking for one without sweeteners. This is driven by a need to actually drink something in the pub.

I go for Appletiser as it's just sparkling apple juice.

That was me with Shloer. I don't really drink so would have a bottle with Christmas lunch. One sip and the horrid, dry, sweetener aftertaste gave it away. I was gutted.

I've found a little local shop that sells American drinks at £1 a can now, it's a rare treat, but real Fanta and real Dr Pepper is just wonderful.
Meanwhile I've ordered another few bottles of Strawberry Monin Syrup to make my own juice, there are also a few Teisseire syrups making their way onto UK shelves via Ocado etc, which are also wonderful when mixed with a sparkling water.

OMFG - this SITE is so fucking SLOW!! I hate it now.

But I had to respond to this. I totally agree that it's a) a disgrace that artificial sweeteners are almost ubiquitous in soft drinks and b) that they taste disgusting and put me right off.

Whenever I come back to the UK I have a horrible job trying to find cordials/soft drinks without artificial sweeteners - Fever-Tree is good for ginger ale, and Belvoir cordials are lovely! Both found in Waitrose - Belvoir cordials I think are also in Tesco? and maybe Sainsbury's?